'Somebody cover me, damn it!' Mira said as streaks of laser fire flew past her. Diving down towards the platform below her, she ghosted through the metal as a laser struck her right calf. It burned a little, and she grimaced as she reappeared at the other side of the platform, forced to lick her wounds while Booster and XR dealt with the sentry gun above her.
'Aim... fire!' XR pointed a hand in the direction of the laser turret and Booster let off his shot. The rocket flew uninterrupted and smashed its way past the shields. The red metal deflected the explosion with little effort, and turned to fire on them.
'Split!' Booster shouted as he dragged the rocket launcher away from the fire. XR procured a laser rifle from his back and began to open fire on the turret, trying to distract it from Booster.
'Eat this!' The red alien said as the second barrel of the launcher spat its payload. Due to the huge amount of suppressive fire the gun was laying down in his direction, the missile missed by a few feet and caused minimal damage.
'I'm getting out of here!' Booster went to full speed as he jetted towards and sideways of the turret, trying to avoid firing. Something caught his eye too late.
'Oh no-' Booster began and ended as a single laser struck his visor, His movement stopped and the launcher drifted from his hand.
'Kara, I need some help!' XR said as the female ranger holding the gatling cannon jetted her way over to his position. XR continued to shoot while trying to avoid the stream of lasers now pointing at him. He had failed to notice Booster's downing and therefore failed to notice the one shot coming from another completely different direction. It hit his left side and he screamed momentarily before going silent.
'Buzz, XR and Munchapper are down. I need some support here.' Kara said as she sprayed energy bolts towards the sentry while strafing out of its line of fire. Seeing as to how her shots were more or less ineffective against the gun, she spoke once more. 'And bring Duna with you! We need his firepower, por lo menos!'
'On my way.' Buzz said, dropping the object he had been carrying. 'Okay, Reine, Duna, you're with me. Megs, get that thing back to base!' He said, firing his jetpack, the two rangers following.
'Yes sir!' Chloe said as she grabbed the object in question.
'Best guess is the sentry got 'em.' Josone Duna said, his yellowish skin paling with rage.
'Maybe.' Buzz said. 'Iota, what's your status?'
'Not good.' Kara replied. 'The sentry's killing me.' as she continued to spray. Her gun clicked precisely as she finished her sentence. 'Shit!' She turned dead around and was greeted by the sight of reinforcements in the form of Buzz and company.
'Reine, give me some fire on that sniper over there.' Buzz said, coming to a stop as Kara was hit by the turret's laser barrage, her body wracked by the continuous laser-fire
'What sniper?' Alex asked, looking around.
'That sniper.' Buzz pointed to a small shape floating behind a platform. Alex squinted, and smiled.
'Gotcha Lightyear.' He said as he boosted off in the direction that Buzz indicated, raising his own gun to his eye.
'Iota, hang in there.' Buzz said, and was rewarded with static on the radio. 'Right.' He said as Josone flew ahead of him, firing both rockets into the sentry. The sentry exploded beautifully as Josone gave a whoop of triumph, waving his arm. A sniper shot slammed into his shoulder and sent his unmoving body spinning.
Far away, the sniper paused to reload.
'Gotcha sucker.' Alex smiled as he fired. His shot hit the sniper's chest, kicking her body backwards as her rifle flew out of her grip, spinning away. The cartridge she'd also been holding floated away as well. 'Defense is offline!' He reported as he flew away from their front line.
'Guard Megs!' Buzz said. 'Nova, where are you?'
'Right here.' Mira flew out from underneath the platform, her rifle at the ready.
'Megs, how's it going?' Buzz said. There was silence in reply. 'Megs?'
'She's dead.' Reine said, coming up beside Buzz. 'Watch for the return team.' He rook aim, in the general direction of their base.
Buzz powered up his gun, Mira coming alongside her commanding officer. She looked scared.
Three red shapes flew towards them, guns blazing fire. Their shots, hugely inaccurate due to range, went every which way, missing them by meters.
A laser hit the red-clad man to the right, and his jetpack immediately stopped as he drifted dead. His comrades carried on without him as Alex chambered his next shot.
'Defenders, move forward!' Buzz said as he took careful aim. 'We need some help here!'
'Sir, yes sir.' A female voice replied. 'You heard the man!' Johnson said, presumably to other members of their team.
The two who remained suddenly realized what Buzz was holding and they split up, each going in completely opposite directions. Josone's (Now Buzz's) rocket launcher let off a single shot that arced towards Meg's killer, It exploded upon his armor and threw him away, his hand releasing its grip upon the flagpole.
'Get that flag!' Mira shouted as she dodged a shot fired by attacker number three. Alex missed, his shot wide by at least six feet. Not having enough time to reload, Buzz let go of the rocket launcher and picked up his gatling cannon.
'Eat this.' He began to unleash a hailstorm of lasers. His shots were barely trailing behind his target, and he tried to move to compensate.
'Lightyear, check fire, check fire!' Alex said as he was hit by one of the shots. A slow gurgle emerged from his throat as the rifle drifted from his fingers.
Rifle fire came from behind the red ranger as Ubatta and Jerome jetted in.
'Got it!' Carl Jerome yelled as he grabbed the flagpole and did a complete one-eighty, heading straight back towards the blue base.
'Nova, cover him!' Ibn Ubatta barked as he shot the enemy ranger in the back. Buzz powered down his gun, as Mira flew away from him in an affirmative to the order.
'We're not out of the woods yet, people. They still have four men left.' Buzz said, angry at himself for hitting Reine.
'Here they come!' Johnson flew in, her scope to her eye.
Alex turned and was instantly hit, the gatling cannon's streaks of red lasers hitting his body several times. Carl looked behind him and muttered something unintelligible while kicking in his afterburners.
'Nova, stay with me!.' He said as Mira activated her burners too. 'There are only three of them there.'
'Team, pull back!' Buzz said as he rained blue flashes of light onto the triangular formation. He downed two of them instantly, as Johnson screamed, a laser throwing her single shot way off.
'Janet!' Ibn said in shock as he watched his teammate float lifelessly away. Growling slightly, he began to shoot at the remaining ranger.
Buzz tried to put down a line of suppressive shots, but his gun gave at the last second, the trigger clicking and the barrel whirring to a stop. He swore as he realized there was no time to change the cell.
The last ranger concentrated on Ibn, firing his gatling for all he was worth. The human tried to return fire while dodging, and it was through sheer force of luck that he managed to wing his enemy's arm, causing him to release the trigger of the cannon. His opponent went into a spin as he lost control of his jetpack, and his weapon, spraying lasers into space without aim or target.
When he stopped, he shook his head to clear his senses and raised his weapon. Buzz took his head off with Janet's rifle.
Mira meanwhile was flying slightly behind Jerome, keeping a sharp eye out for any signs of trouble. She saw a red figure jetting towards them, coming in fast.
'Jerome, two o'clock!' she said, firing her rifle. Carl stopped dead and returned fire, his shots inaccurate due to his other arm being preoccupied. Letting go of the rifle, he fired his wrist laser, the beam cutting towards the attacker.
'Buzz, we need help!' He said, a shot barely missing him.
'On our way.' Ibn said, jetting towards them.
'Agh!' Mira's scream was cut off as she was hit. Carl tucked the flag between his arm and body as he continued to fire his wrist laser at the wildly dodging ranger. He seemed to be more concerned with avoiding fire than giving it, stopping to shoot only when Carl had to recharge.
'Seeya.' Buzz said, taking careful aim. 'Damn.' He said, his shot not meeting its mark.
'Carl, get out of there!' Ibn said as he fired at the enemy. Buzz rechambered and took aim once more. Carl dropped the flag and boosted backwards, firing at the red-armored opponent with his laser.
Buzz fired, and this time it was spot on. The shot nailed the ranger's thigh, and he stopped moving.
'Alright!' Carl said as he reached for the flag once more. 'Pretty sharp shooting, Lightyear!'
'Good work, team.' Buzz said, holding on the rifle. 'Let's get that flag home.'
'I'm with you on that.' Ubatta said as the three of them made their way back to their capture platform on full burners. Carl reached the platform and jammed the flag into the small slot in the center of the square piece of floating metal, giving a victory cry as the music sounded, and the resounding voice saying 'Blue Wins' filled their ears.
The simulator turned off.
'Everybody, good job.' Rocket said as the two teams stepped out of the simulator. 'They got us this time, but we'll try harder.'
'Better luck next time, Rocket.' Buzz extended a hand, which the other ranger took.
'I'd wish you luck Lightyear, but you don't need it.' Rocket said as his team walked away. When they were out of earshot, Alex gave a whoop of success, which was superceded by applause and cheering from Teams Lightyear, Johnson, and Iota.
'While you can, Lightyear.' Rocket said as he skulked away with the other members of his team.
'A toast.' Janet said, raising her glass. 'To the team.'
'To the team!' Everyone said, standing. They drank, and sat down again.
'What a game.' Carl said, shaking his head as he smiled. 'What a game.'
'You can say that again.' XR said, holding some oil in a tall glass. 'Huh, did you see the way they died on us?'
'We beat them to hell and back with that last game!' Alex said a little overconfidently, slamming his large fist down on the table.
'Keep in line, rookie.' Kara said. 'We lost nine men in that arena.'
'No thanks to you, Lightyear.' Alex said, smiling at Buzz.
'My deepest apologies.' Buzz said in the sarcastic tone he used when he jibed with people.
'Maybe you should switch to a different weapon, Buzz.' Mira said, elbowing her commanding officer a little bit for effect. 'We do need another sniper. Or can't you handle that?' She managed a tone of voice that was teasing, bordering on sultry.
'You saying I can't do my job?' Alex said, the spines on his head rising in mock challenge.
'Relax, Al.' Chloe put her hand on his. 'She's just teasing Lightyear.'
'Can't take a joke.' Alex said exasperatedly as he sat down again.
'You keep your boyfriend in line, Megs.' Kara said. 'I'd hate to write a bad performance report on him.'
'You heard your CO. Behave.' Chloe slapped Alex on the arm.
'Yes, dear.' Alex replied, nuzzling her head affectionately.
'Ibn, what did you think about the game?' Fong Han asked, leaning forward. The dark-skinned Arab sipped his juice as he thought.
His name was Ibn. Pronounced Ibnu. He hated it when people got it wrong the second time.
'I think that the team effort was what paid off.' He said at last. 'It was a shame to lose our artillery to the sentry at such an early stage in our attack, though.' He indicated Booster.
'I got whacked pretty early too.' Fong Han said, disappointment evident in his voice. 'Damn sentry.'
'I didn't like getting killed either.' Booster said.
'That was simply bad planning.' Buzz pointed out. 'If we had flanked the cannon with Booster's and Josone's heavy guns we would have taken it out earlier.'
'What happened to you, Chloe?' Janet asked. 'You were with the flag, didn't our sentry cover you?'
'When Buzz went with Josone and Alex to assist Kara, I headed back to base. I didn't see the sniper.' She explained.
'Mira is right, though.' Carl said, in a thoughtful pose. 'We do need more snipers.'
'You're a pretty good shot yourself.' Mira said. 'Why don't you train for it?'
'Me? No.' Carl shook his head, closing his eyes momentarily. 'I'm comfortable with my role.'
'I could do it.' Josone said in earnest.
'You're a rocketeer, Duna.' Kara said. 'Stick to that unless I order you to.'
'Yes sir.' The Marinane said, his yellow skin pulsating under his cheeks.
'What about Booster?' Mira said. There was a brief moment as everyone looked at the red giant.
'Oh no.' He said, shaking his hands. 'I couldn't. I mean, I'm too...' He paused as he searched for a word. 'Conspicuous.' He said, intertwining his fingers.
'Right.' Janet said.
'We'll decide on that later.' Kara stood up once more. 'For now, let's have another toast to the team.'
'Lightyear thinks he can take us on. We'll show him a thing or two.' The black man said to the other eleven members of his team. 'Okay, next practice is at 1300 tomorrow. Your schedules should be clear.'
'Who's against who, Rocket?' A man in the back of the crowd asked.
'Google, you take your team against ours. Any questions?'
'Take it easy, girl.' Mira said as Chloe let another punch from her lower left arm connect with the bag. 'You're going to break it.'
'That's the idea.' Chloe gave her trademark one through four combo, then did a reverse. Mira watched as the Lozackian beat the stuffing out of the padded bag with all four fists. She was hitting two at a time now, her large hands hitting for all she was worth. Her large frame seemed to take no recoil from the hits, her body moving like a machine, striking with an efficiency and grace learned since childhood.
If there was one thing you learned early in the Academy, it was never to pick a fight with a Lozackian. You didn't stand a chance.
Chloe gave it one final battering, then stepped back, sweating. 'Your turn.' She indicated to Mira with a her chin. She didn't actually look tired, it was more of a good psychical fatigue. Given a short rest, she would be at it again soon enough.
'Okay,' Mira said, stepping forward, raising her fists. She took a soft one, then a hard left followed by another left, then a downward stroke from the right. The next series included a barrage of alternating punches, then a couple of side hitters, a sucker punch to approximate jaw level, and various other combinations.
After about a minute of pummeling, Mira stepped back, and exhaled.
Then she ran at it.
Somersaulted.
Ghosted through.
And came out the other side, smacking either side of the bag with her feet before landing on her back. An 'Oof' escaped her as the wind was knocked out of her momentarily. She breathed deeply and got to her feet.
'I just love being a Tangean.' She said, smiling as she playfully hit the bag a few more times. Chloe was clapping with her upper set of arms.
'Nice moves.' She said.
'You're not so bad yourself.' Mira said teasingly.
'Yeah, well.' Chloe said, clenching her bottom set of fists. Mira waited for her breath to return to her while Chloe stared blankly into space.
'Why don't you become a rocketeer?' Mira asked, suddenly. 'You're strong.'
'My aim sucks.' The other woman replied as she stepped up to the bag, fists raised. The tank top she was wearing was darkened down the front and her back by sweat. She hit the bag once, with three arms.
'Then you should be in the practice range, not here.' Mira said, crossing her arms. 'We need as much as we can get.'
'I know.' Chloe said in that expression that someone uses when they really do know, but don't want to do anything about it.
'Then why aren't you practicing?'
Chloe's reply was slowed by her constant panting. 'I'm lazy, damn it.' Chloe said, circling the bag and throwing her fists at it in a series of motion so fast Mira saw blurs. They say that a Lozackian in full battle lust has fists like a hummingbird's wings. Mira believed it, seeing Chloe pound the bag with frightening speed.
Stopping, she clenched both her upper fists together and brought them down hard. They simply scraped off the bag, vertical surfaces being a little hard to hit that way.
'Oh damn.' Chloe said, looking at a cut on her hand, running across two of her fingers.
'What?' Mira asked, trying to get a look.
'It's just a scratch.' Chloe replied, squeezing her fingers. Greenish blood oozed out from the wound.
'You know, you'd better have that looked at.' Mira said in concern as a few drops of blood touched the floor of the gym. 'Looks nasty.'
'I said I'll be fine.' Chloe said. 'Get me my towel, would you?' She said. Mira reached into the bag by the side of the mat and grabbed a towel, handing it to Chloe, who immediately clamped it down on her wound.
'Yucgh. I'm glad I'm not squeamish. You sure it's okay?' Mira asked.
'Pretty darn sure.' Chloe said dismissively. 'We Lozackians just have a lot of blood, that's all.'
Mira was about to reply when Janet walked into the gymnasium. Instead of being dressed in the track pants and tank tops that both Mira and Chloe were wearing, she was in full uniform, armor included.
'Chloe.' She said. 'Why aren't you wearing your commlink?'
'I'm off duty, sir.' She said, holding the, now green, towel to her hand. Janet noticed.
'Why are you bleeding?'
'Accident, sir.'
'Have it looked at.' She said. 'We're taking off in twenty minutes, so hurry.'
'Yes sir.' Chloe said as Janet walked out. 'Seeya.' She said to Mira as she picked up her duffel bag.
'Yeah, seeya.' Mira said. 'Don't forget to have the doctor bandage you.' She called after the retreating figure.
Chloe held up a couple of fingers on her upper hands, and Mira laughed.
'Stay low, stay low!' Google said to his partners as Rocket's team fly over the canyons above them. One of them happened to glance below and saw them. Too late.
'Open fire!' Google said as he fired one of his two tubes. The gatling cannons streaked the red sky as they chalked up another victory.
'Pull!' XR said.
Booster pulled hard on the lever. A large bag of clay flew high up into the air, and XR fired. The shot incinerated the pigeon, and Booster began to reload the catapult.
'That's the tenth one in a row, XR!' Booster grasped the lever. 'You really should try for sniper.'
'Being a robot has its advantages, my friend.' XR said, recapping the chamber. 'Pull!' He said, as the pigeon shot up into the air once more. He didn't even wait for it to reach the height of its parabola, nailing the bag while it was still rising.
'Buzz will be so happy.' Booster said as he put another pigeon on the catapult, while XR rechambered. 'We'll be unbeatable!'
'Yeah, true.' He said, shouldering the sniper rifle. 'Pull!'
'Ah, Lightyear.' Commander Nebula said, putting his papers to one side as Buzz walked in. 'There's something I want to discuss with you.'
'What's this about, sir?'
'It involves Johnson and Iota. Listen carefully.'
The Cruiser landed slowly, its thrusters slowing down its descent until finally, it stopped, coming to rest as the engines turned off. The hatch opened, and Buzz stepped back.
A body poked out of the hatch, and began to climb down the ladder already sliding down the side of the ship.
'Long trip?' Buzz asked as Kara and crew stepped out of Cruiser 57.
'Exceptionally.' Fong Han said, a tired look in his eyes as he got off the ladder.
'Hola, Buzz.' Kara said, stepping off the last rung. '¿Qué tal estás?'
'Uhm, bien, gracias.' Buzz said as the other Ranger chuckled.
'On your way there, Lightyear.' She said just as Josone began climbing out of the ship. Buzz noticed because it was difficult not to notice Josone. He was bigger than Booster.
The Marinane walked past him, saluting Buzz before heading off.
'Josone, where are you going?' Kara asked the alien, who didn't seem particularly articulate at the moment.
'To swim.' He replied as he walked off.
'That's all he ever does.' Alex said, flexing two of his four arms.
'It's the species, I imagine.' Buzz said, turning back to Kara. 'May I speak with you?'
'Of course.' Her accent rolled off her tongue. Buzz found it intriguing.
'Ahm.' He said, looking at the rookies.
There was a brief moment.
'Hey, I can take a hint.' Alex held up two hands, putting another one on his crewmember's shoulder. 'Come on, Han. I'll get you a drink.'
'I'd much rather sleep, actually.' Fong Han replied, as they disappeared out of view.
'What is it that's so important, Lightyear,' Kara asked. 'That you can't share it with my crew?'
'I merely wanted your unbiased opinion.' Buzz explained.
'Are you saying that my crew impedes my judgment?' Kara looked a little ruffled now.
'Not in any way.' He said, then revised. 'Well, yes actually. They may affect your decision-making in this situation.'
'Then by all means. Elaborate, el rapido.'
'You know CTF is just a game, right?'
'Right.'
'Not anymore.'
'They what?' Janet said in surprise as Kara told her the news.
'They did.' The other ranger replied as Janet processed the information.
'A tournament?' Janet said. 'You can't actually be serious.'
'Right up until now, CTF has been a game for rookies and people in their off time.' Buzz said. 'As you know, it's standard programming on most simulators across the galaxy. The Tangeans have their own version, the Rhizomians, too. They play it in the Lozack Armed Forces, as evidenced by Megs and Reine. Thing is,' Buzz leaned in a little. 'They actually have a ladder tournament on Trade World. The Commander tells me it's a profitable little game they have there. People bet on these games, and it's apparently quite popular in the little underworld they have on that planet.'
'I had no idea.' Janet said, folding her arms.
'When the three of us started organizing teams, Commander Nebula took notice. He saw the potential, and he's submitting a proposal to the Alliance about having an intragalactic tournament.'
'What for?' Janet asked.
'It's one of those political things, actually.' Buzz said. 'Think about it. Besides treaties and trade agreements, there is nothing really else that strengthens the bond between worlds. This,' He sought a word. 'Sport could really help diplomatic ties.'
Janet pondered this.
'A CTF Tournament?'
'Look, how many times do I have to say it?' Buzz asked. 'The proposal states that we could move the venue to Capital Planet, or have it at different places each year. He also proposed a set of rules, or we could just modify the ones they use on Trade World.' Buzz said. 'I'll have more information by tomorrow, when the reply comes from the Alliance.'
'This is interesting.' Melket said. 'Take a look at this, Madam President.'
'What is it, John?' She asked, turning to her Chief of Staff.
'It seems Star Command wants us to organize a tournament of some sort.' He said, looking at the document. 'Capture The Flag, it's called.'
'Heard of that.' The president said, waving her hand in a dismissing motion. 'It's a rogue's game, played by scoundrels and ragamuffins on Trade World.' She returned to the new bill on environmental control currently sitting at the top of the documents on her desk.
'Apparently, they play it at Star Command, too.' Melket said. 'And Tangea. And Rhizome. And Lozack.' He read off the list.
'Lozack?' That got her attention quickly. 'Are you sure?' She asked, her eyebrows furrowing in thought.
'Quite sure, Madam President. Buzz Lightyear happens to be one of their key players. At Star Command, I mean.' Melket continued to skim the document.
'Let me see that.' She held out a hand, and Melket passed her the data pad. She read for a while.
'You know what?' She said, finishing the section on diplomatic ties. 'This might actually be a good idea.' She said, continuing to read the document.
'Quite so, Madam President.' The human said with a thin smile.
It was actually two days later that Star Command received a reply from the Alliance. Earth's ambassador, Yelena Shabayev, thought it was a good idea, as did the President. The rest of the council was still voting, as the matter had been brought up only recently.
So far, the Rhizomians and the Lozackians liked the idea. The Lozackian ambassador, Julian Tons, felt that it was good a way to showcase Lozackian fighting technique and battle skills. Gurm Werem, the Rhizomian representative, saw it as a way to highlight his homeworld's technological superiority.
Tangea was awaiting the King's decision. Marina was sold on the idea, and had already begun to assemble a team. Jo-Ad chose to beg out, since an agricultural society really had no place in wargames. They did, however, note that Booster was an exception.
The new set of proposed rules were scheduled for revision and debate at the next council meeting, to be taken care of by the vice-ambassadors for each world.
But Lightyear and company didn't care much for that right now.
'On your six! On your six!' Kara repeated herself as three rangers chased Alex and Chloe down the canyon. She couldn't provide any cover fire because of her unsuitable weapon, and instead kicked on full burners to try and cut them off.
'Dive!' Alex said as he steered even lower towards the floor of the canyon. 'Iota, where are you? We need your help, pronto!'
'Ahora mismo, mi amigos.' Kara said as she flew down into the canyon, gatling blazing.
They were prepared for her. Rifle fire flew at her, forcing her to fly away before she got hit. She took cover above the canyon walls.
'Lightyear!' She cried out as more shots flew past her. 'I need a hand here!'
Chloe and Alex, meanwhile had managed to escape, and were now hiding in a section of the cliff that had been broken away by previous fire. Leaning out of their alcove, Alex took aim at the three rangers shooting at Kara. His scope caught one of them in the head, and he curled his finger around the trigger.
'Lightyear!' Kara shouted once more as she held her position, the three enemies flying up the cliff wall. 'Where's that-'
She was cut off as a rocket flew downwards into the canyon. It exploded in the midst of the three of them, sending them all adrift in different directions. Looking up, she saw the familiar figure of Booster, waving. XR was faithfully by his side.
'Gracias.' She said, boosting off down into the canyon. 'Megs, are you still alive?'
'Yes, sir.' Chloe said, holding the flag tightly in one hand. 'Why am I always the runner?' She asked. Having the flag was like pasting a big 'Kill Me' sticker on your armor.
'Because you always get there first, sweetie.' Alex said, looking around. 'Ah, Iota, this canyon's a little dangerous to be in. We need some cover here.'
'Copied that.' Kara said. 'Munchapper, XR, keep an eye out for enemy rangers. Johnson, I need your gun. Get your ass here, ahora! Lightyear!' She said, getting impatient. 'Dammit, where are you?'
'Lightyear's dead.' Janet replied as she made her way to the canyon. 'What's your position?'
'We're at Needlepoint, about halfway down the main curve.' Kara said, looking around her. 'Reine, guard Megs. I want Ti and Ubatta to fly overhead. Watch for bandits.' She said as she kicked full burners back towards the base. The canyon was the main point of conflict in that arena, the area above being mountainous and difficult to traverse. An ideal hiding place for snipers. The capture point was in the end of the canyon, in a cave.
'Sir.' Fong Han said, upon hearing his last name. 'Come on, Ubatta.' The riflemen flew from their current positions, heading towards Needlepoint.
'Grizzly Team, report. What's your status?' Kara said as she reconnoitered the canyon ahead. Google was famous for his flanking maneuver, and there could be snipers anywhere. If she got hit, at least Johnson or Reine could take them out.
'Very bad, Iota.' Mira said. 'I still say we need more firepower down here.'
Kara ran a mental list of the defense, and admittedly, it wasn't good. Having eight people run the flag was not very good for base protection.
'It's up to you to hold down the fort, Nova.' Kara said. 'I'm six clicks from your position by canyon, and we'll try to reinforce you as we can.'
'We can't defend with just three people!' Mira shouted back, slamming her hand on the makeshift bunker Carl and Josone had constructed. 'What are we supposed to do if they roll on us with rockets, build stone forts? I need more men here!'
Kara grit her teeth.
'Fine. Ubatta, Ti, go reinforce Grizzly Team. You're the closest to their position.'
'Roger that.' Ibn said, as he turned dead around. Janet arrived on the scene, sniper rifle at the ready.
'I'm in position.' She said.
'Gotcha. Eagle Team, mobilize!' Kara said as she boosted ahead of the pack. 'Hit your burners and prepare to move, cause we're going through this one fast and clean.' The rangers behind her, in formation, began to move through the canyon, Booster and XR taking up the rear while Johnson flew backwards, keeping her scope to the Red team's front line, glancing behind her every once in a while to ensure she wasn't going to hit anything.
Kara regretted the decision to take Janet off Grizzly Team. She worked so much better as a defensive sniper. Too late now.
Everything went well. Fong Han and Ibn reached the flag base. They flew past all the major enemy camping areas without problems, and Eagle Team was only two clicks from the base when
'Eagle Team! This is Nova! We're under heavy attack!' Mira's frantic voice shouted over the transceivers built into their helmets.
'Nova? Kara stopped, switching to hover mode. 'What's going on down there? Nova?'
Static. Then she heard another voice.
'Nova's dead!' Duna shouted as he interrupted. 'Sir, we need reinforcements. I'm all out of ammo here!' There was a scream as Ibn died. 'We're three men down, and-' There was a brief moment of static.
'Duna?' Kara said. All of Eagle Team had stopped dead in their tracks. 'Jerome? Ubatta? Anyone?' She said, praying silently. No reply.
'Poor Mira.' Booster said slowly.
'No time for sorrow.' Janet took charge for a moment. 'They probably have our flag already!'
'We don't know how many of them were there.' Kara said. 'Their defense was virtually nil, we've taken down five men...'
'Could be all seven of them there.' Chloe surmised, her voice sticking to her mouth.
'They took down our defense in under fifteen seconds.' Alex said. 'We should be prepared for anything.'
'Continue on course. XR, I want you to scout ahead.' Kara said as she fell back to near the rear of the group.
'Oh, boy.' XR said under his breath as he flew to the head of the group. 'Why do I have to go first? Always send the robot in, yeah, that's great...'
Kara ignored him. 'Reine, Johnson, up front.' She ordered, as the two of them complied, boosting ahead of the group. 'Remember, everyone keep an eye out for-'
'SNIPERS!' XR screamed as he hit his afterburners and dived straight down to the canyon floor. Two shots rang clear above him as he continued his vertical descent.
'Take cover!' Booster said as he fired a missile in the direction of the laser fire. Everyone scrambled in different directions before the snipers could rechamber their guns. Kara considered firing at their positions, but decided against it as she made her way behind an outcropping with Alex.
'Reine, give me some cover fire!' Booster said as he struggled to get to safety. He had started out quite high, and was trying to make for the canyon floor.
'Munchapper, look out!' Janet said as the sniper took Booster's leg out from under him. An unsuitable phrase, since he wasn't actually standing on anything. There was a short scream, then silence. Kara watched as Booster and his weapon fell, spinning head over legs (And barrel over stock) to the bottom of the canyon.
XR had made it to the relative safety of a rather large rock. He was about three hundred meters from Kara's position. She could see Janet and Chloe hiding in another alcove below their position.
'Everyone okay?' Kara shouted out.
'I'm not okay! I'm not okay!' XR said, pushing himself up against the rock and trying his very best to be inconspicuous. Alex, meanwhile, detached his scope from his rifle and slowly leaned over the side of the outcropping, trying to spot the snipers.
'Reine?' Kara asked softly. It was amazing; Even though someone could hear you perfectly well at any distance, you still whispered at short range and shouted at long. What a game.
Running his scope over all the place where he though the sniper could be, Alex frantically searched for a hint of red armor, a glimpse of visor, the glint of gun metal, anything. All he could see was a large crater where Booster's shot had impacted, and that was it. They obviously weren't dead, so where were they?
'I can't get a visual.' Alex said, as he saw Johnson doing the same thing, looking through her scope as she adjusted the zoom setting. 'Johnson?'
'Negative.' She replied, ducking back behind the rock, shaking her head in the negative. 'No sign of them.'
'But I saw them!' XR said, holding his rifle close to him. 'You saw the shots!'
'Sir, why don't you provide suppressive?' Alex turned to his commanding officer.
'Are you kidding? We're seven hundred meters from their position.' Kara said. 'No way I can be effective at that range!'
'I see something.' Janet said. 'A- er, a rifle barrel.'
'Can you see the enemy?' Kara asked.
'No.' Janet said, as she recognized the shape of the gun. 'It's a sniper all right. XR was correct.'
'Told ya!' XR said, scrabbling against the rocks. He reached out with his rifle, placing it on the rock, and blindly fired off a few shots. They missed by meters, hitting the canyon wall, the floor, everywhere.
'XR!' Janet screamed at him. 'You're giving away your position!'
'Stop shooting, you moron!' Chloe shouted at him.
'XR!' Alex shouted as the robot's gun went klik.
'Do you mind?' XR said, pausing to reload. 'I'm creating a distraction!' He jammed a new cartridge into the breech of the gun. 'Take the opportunity, Johnson! Kill the sniper!'
'He's just, sitting there.' Janet said, referring to the sniper, leaning out as far as she dared, keeping her eye to the scope.
'We're going to be pinned here for a long time if we don't resolve this situation.' Kara said, mostly to herself. It was a deadlock, if anything.
'Hold on.' Janet said as she retreated to the safety of the alcove, setting her gun firmly on her shoulder and reattaching her scope. 'I'm going to try something.' She said, coming back out as quickly as she dared, aiming slightly below and to the right of the gun barrel. Her crosshair rested on the middle of a rock.
'Well, try it quick!' XR said. 'I'm down to my last power cell!'
'Johnson?' Kara said. 'What're you doing?'
'If this works.' Janet repositioned herself for maximum effect. 'Charge their position.'
'What?'
'Trust.' Janet prepared to fire. 'Me.'
She fired, the laser shooting through the yellow, sun-baked granite. The rifle fell to the ground.
'Charge!' Janet said, opening her rifle chamber and letting the empty cartridge fall to the ground half a mile below as she boosted full throttle out of the alcove, Alex and Chloe close behind.
'All units, fire for effect!' Kara ordered as she too came out of her hiding place. Alex reassembled his rifle and flew out behind her.
All of Eagle Team came out of their cover and charged, firing their weapons, all the while yelling unspeakable war cries. The sniper's shot lost itself in the salvo of blue lasers heading towards his position. You could almost taste his fear as he watched his impending death in five rangers flying straight towards him. Alex lined up his shot, and took it, missing by a fraction of an inch. He opened his chamber and let the used shot fall.
Kara opened the gatling to full velocity, churning out twelve hundred rounds a minute as her fuel cell quickly depleted itself. Chloe, holding the flag with a death grip, fired as accurately as was possible with one hand. Janet reached for a new cartridge, fumbling a bit as she pulled it out of her bandolier.
The shots were surprisingly accurate. XR, who was closest, nailed the first shot as he tried to flee. It hit his back, and three more followed. Everyone stopped firing.
The whole thing lasted less than four seconds.
Janet finished reloading.
Kara's gun powered down.
Chloe ejected her cartridge, and reached for another one with her lower left arm.
Alex reloaded.
'Wow.' XR said, looking at his weapon's power gauge. 'Nobody died.'
Let's pause for a minute, shall we?
We both agree (I think) that this pace is a tad frenetic. So let's take a breather from the action. Whew. Breather.
Back to it.
Oh, damn. We missed the good part. Ah, well. Rewind...
Fwipfwipfwipfwipfwip...
-one with her lower left arm.
Alex reloaded.
'Wow.' XR said, looking at his weapon's power gauge. 'Nobody died.'
A missile (Six, actually) slammed into the ground below the rangers. Since their charge had led them pretty close to ground level, the warheads had maximum effect.
Kara got struck by a direct hit, her body breaking in half. Her last line of thinking went something like
'A trap.'
'But that's not fair.'