Part Eight: Hopeless Ice Battle

The beautiful image of crystal and sapphire, chilly and crisp and pure like a Christmas morning, was spread out before the resting crew of the Dreadnaught like some mythical landscape, painted by a brilliant and loving artist from the merry old days of yore. There was snow everywhere, from the flattened ground to the hills in the distance, and capping off mountains like hairs on an older man's bare head. The sky was a frosty blue, clear and tranquil save for a few puffs of wispy clouds that hung stationary in the sky. The air that came down from the heavens was thin and cold, like a snowflake, and pierced the lungs and nostrils of every boy and girl seated around the campfire.

The Dreadnaught was forced to land several miles away from the Team Rocket base, as a very rare precaution from Captain Thatcher's part. Normally one with a cavalier attitude, Red Thatcher took a step of care as he flew towards the Rocket base in the frosty north, where the Articuno were rumored to thrive and where Jessie and James had been sent on their very last mission for Team Rocket. The enemy's radar was much more powerful up north, where they got less reception from other interfering waves, so Thatcher couldn't just charge forward, at least not until he had a strategy.

Ash, Brock, Gary, James, Jessie, Lenneth, and Misty were all sitting around the fire, each with a warm drink in their hands and warm clothes on their backs. Having just recently settled in and warmed themselves up, they had a bit of time to stare into the fire and contemplate their destinies. It had already been a long road for them; a tumultuous battle for world sanity and peace from Team Rocket's iron grip. Most gathered round the fire once only had their Pokemon journeys to worry about, but this new path in life was shaping their destinies even as they stared at the flames.

Gary couldn't help but notice that Misty was sitting a little closer to Ash than normally. He had spoken to his rival about their relationship, and even though he had been told that there was little there save a balanced friendship and minor competition, the rusty-haired kid couldn't help but think that there was more to it than that. He had a secret crush on Misty, but seeing her (and Brock) easily befriend the younger boy brought a slight stab to his heart. Gary might've had the hereditary know-how his grandfather passed onto him, but all the good genes in the world would not get him true companions.

Brock, of course, was busy talking with Lenneth, smiling and flirting as always, but unlike the rest of his romantic pursuits, this one in particular was not one-sided. Lenneth seemed taken in by the older boy, flattered by his flattery and cheered by his cheerfulness. There was no hiding the fact that she liked him, perhaps as much as he liked her, but there was something about the way her wintry-blue eyes glittered at him that made Gary, Thatcher, and everyone else suspect that there was more to the "simple" girl than met the eye. Whatever it was, it didn't matter--she was a sweet young lady, perhaps what Brock had been looking for all his life.

When thick-headed Ash finally noticed that Misty was scooting closer and closer to him, as they both stared at the fire, she firmly told him (or shouted at him) that it was because she was still cold, and Ash was closest to the fire. James and Jessie didn't doubt her reasoning for a second, but they had to wonder why she was cozying up to Ash when five other people were right there with her. It didn't concern them long; they were more occupied with eating and talking, mostly about themselves or how they would topple Team Rocket with ease.

One thing was definitely shared by everyone around that fire: how long it would take before order was restored and the fighting would stop. Thatcher estimated a year's time; Ash had to wonder if he could keep that kind of pace up, even with his friends with him. Of course, there was only one way to tell.

The seven friends soon heard the familiar sound of stomping boots, and turned around to see Captain Thatcher, tall and proud and standing out boldly with his red button-up jacket still on. He was descending the hatch and joining the others, along with Jennifer and Joyleen at his side. He had a determined look on his face--well, more so than usual--and a rolled-up scroll in his hand. Only he didn't seem to mind the cold; everyone else was dressed up for the chilly weather of the frozen north.

"All right, I think we got something at last," announced the Captain as he emerged, grabbing the attention of the younger ones. He summoned them to gather around a large table that had been set up, and he unrolled the scroll and placed it on the table, creating a kind of large-scale map of the area. He jabbed his pointer to where the Dreadnaught had landed.

"This is where we are… and this is where the base is," he said, tracing a line from the campsite to the base. "Our main problem is getting there. They've got a bloody powerful radar, and there's no way the Euphrates can fly low nuff' for them not to notice us. We could walk, but it's at least five miles away. If they notice us, according to Miss Earp and Mr. Wyatt, they'll activate their defenses, which consist of about a dozen to twenty gun turrets. This can be overcome, though.

"The Euphrates will charge up its main cannon and fire it into the base, disabling its defenses temporarily. Once there's a big gapin' hole in the base, and everyone's confused and scramblin' to put out the fire, that'll be our cue to fly you over there. This baby's fast, so you'll get there in plenty of time. Once you're back on the surface, make tracks to the insides of the base, and the Dreadnaught'll cover you just in case some of the guns reemerge. This place is sparse on Rocket agents, so you shouldn't have any trouble stormin' it and takin' over. Everybody got that?"

"It seems like the best thing to do," agreed James. "If you had a jamming pulsar cannon, you could use it to disable the guns and the radar, but since you don't, this will have to do." Thatcher gave James a friendly snarl, resembling a sea-pirate as his lip curled and nostril flared. The blue-haired narcissist shivered and looked away quickly, back to the map and the written-out plan. He was confident that the insane Captain knew what he was talking about for once, but there was still a chill feeling crawling up his spine, and it had nothing to do with the weather.

"Don't worry about it, Captain!" exclaimed Ash, balling up his fist enthusiastically. "We can do it! We're not afraid! Just give us the signal!"

"All in good time, lad," smiled the doggish man. "First, we'll hafta blast'em. Everyone in the ship! Ya won't wanna be outside when this thing blows!!"

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Safe in the corridors of the Euphrates, the young crew could only wait and prepare themselves for the upcoming battle, leaving the brave but foolhardy Captain Thatcher to fire off the main cannon. They were lucky that the "shark of the skies" was so prudent in approaching the northern base, or else someone would have found them by that point. No, he was free to fire, though the distance would weaken his shot, but that was part of the plan. The point was not to destroy the base, since it had plenty of rare Pokemon inside it, but to handicap it long enough for everyone to dash in and do their business.

The ship whirred to life, and a tremendous quake rocked the entire thing as the main cannon finally blasted at the base. The Dreadnaught immediately took to the skies, flying quickly and low to the ground as the seconds of confusion ticked away. Barely sixty seconds passed before the hatch opened up again for everybody to leap out of.

"The base is disabled and its defenses are down!" shouted Thatcher's voice from the PA system. Everyone cheered and rappelled down the hatch and into the snow as Thatcher's voice repeated itself. "Repeat, the base is disabled and its defenses are down! Now's your chance, lads and lasses!" Everyone had already filed out, not needing to know anything else save an all-out attack, and scrambled towards the base over mounds of snow, all save the boisterous leader amongst them. As the nine team members plowed through sheets of white towards the large building in front of them, it seemed as if they were already overwhelming the enemy, as they could see the smoke, fire, and rubble from the shot.

But just as they neared the base, another quake shook the ground beneath them, and disaster struck as the ground yawned open, erupting frozen lava and soil as a terrifying machine, larger than the largest Pokemon on record, emerged from out of nowhere! Everyone tumbled in their tracks, shocked beyond words as the enormous sentinel slithered in front of them. It was in the shape of a great sea-serpent, with blue scales made of tough armor, several gun turrets where its whiskers were, a razor-sharp tail, and a mouth that surged with energy and crippling force.

"What in the world is THAT!!" screamed Ash, his face as pale as the ground beneath him. Nobody seemed to know or care at the time; the enormous creature dove towards them, its guns already firing at a merciless pace. The nine comrades scattered, their minds racing along with their legs. There was no time to try and understand what the creature was: the key now was to survive it.

The machine drilled through the ground, spewing up snow and dirt at an incredible pace, sending them showering down on everyone as they made a pathetic attempt at running from the immense monster. Its tail, sticking out of the ground, lashed at everything in its path as the main body burrowed through, splitting apart the ground and creating deep gashes in the cold earth. It was absolutely mindless and completely unstoppable, and just when somebody thought they had a strategy to stop it, the bluish monster emerged, roaring fiercely as its guns sprayed the world with bullets.

Ash and Misty dove out of the way, barely escaping the shower of death as they leaped to safety. Shivering with fear and icy cold, Ash rolled around in the snow and sat up, watching helplessly as the monster gave chase to Jessie and James. The blue-haired man had already tried to slow the monster down with his Wheezing, but nothing he had worked at all.

Figuring that a machine would stop if struck by electricity, Ash called out Pikachu to blast the monster. The little yellow rodent summoned up all his strength and sent his mightiest thunderbolt screaming towards the monster, but it did little than tickle its metallic hide. The monster stopped chasing James and Jessie, though, and turned around to leer at the little boy who dared attack it. Slowly, its mouth began to glow a bright blue as it gathered energy for a devastating attack, and it was yawning right at Ash! The young boy screamed and tried to run, but the monster's head moved with him, watching him attempt to scurry away from the upcoming blast.

Suddenly, it was rammed by Brock's Onyx and Gary's Kangaskhan, sending it lurching forward and disrupting its aim. The immense wave of power came belching out of its mouth, flowing into the sky and shredding apart the very heavens. Everyone stared in mindless horror as they saw the blast, some too petrified to thank the two young men for their deed. The blue serpent angrily turned its rage back on Brock and Gary once its blast had subsided, and flicked at them with its tail. They dove away, but the ground shuddered beneath them from the blow, sending them tumbling away head-first into the snow.

Officer Jennifer stepped in, firing precise shots at its head in an attempt to disable something, but all she did was draw its attention towards her. The machine was too big and powerful to be affected, and it returned her fire a dozen times over with its whisker gun turrets. Jennifer barely ducked for cover, one of the bullets grazing past her arm and leg in the process. Joyleen quickly scooped her up and dragged her to safety, but the monster's lack of mercy was deep, and it spewed out snow with a flick of its tail, burying her in the raining avalanche.

With the group split apart in so many directions, Lenneth scurried fast towards those she thought most wounded. She reached the buried Joyleen and Jennifer first, hastily tossing aside handfuls of snow in an attempt to dig them out. She fished out the wounded Jennifer first, her leg and arm with two noticeable but small red scars. Joyleen came next, sputtering out white flakes and gasping for breath. Jennifer assured them both that she was okay, and ran with Lenneth to help Brock and Gary.

Meanwhile, Ash and Misty had called out all their Pokemon, and they were doing their best to keep the monster busy. They were barely able to slow it down, though, since it was slithering towards them like a locomotive, and little save a mountain would have made it crash. They could see James and Jessie running towards them, their own Pokemon trying to slow the beast down, but stopping it didn't seem like their purpose. Wheezing mucked up its gun turrets, giving its master and his partner the time they needed to rush over to Ash.

"What's up, guys?" he asked. The two former Rockets gave him their standard up-to-no-good smiles and displayed what looked like fishing nets.

"The genius of Jessie and James lives on even now!" he declared. "Take these and throw them over that creature!"

"But what will they do?" wondered Misty, taking a handful. "That creature's too big and powerful to be stopped by something so small as this."

"True," noted Jessie, "but these nets can conduct electricity. All we need to do is cover that thing in them, and have your Pikachu blast it. He'll get fried in a snap!" Ash let out an exclamation as his two friends loaned him another one of their trademark schemes, and for the umpteenth time in his friendship with them, he was glad they were on his side. Quickly, the four of them spread out and flung the nets over the monster, slowly covering it as Wheezing, Arbok, and several of Misty's Pokemon kept it still. By the time they had covered it up, Lenneth had managed to gather everyone together.

"We're all okay!" she shouted as she ran towards the other half of the team. "How about you?"

"Couldn't be better!" exclaimed Misty. On Ash's signal, Pikachu let out a second big bolt, this one connecting with shocking force, pun intended. The blast surged across the nets, amplifying the electric power that was sent coursing across the monster's body, trembling it with the power of a storm and disabling it with a mighty BOOM!

Everyone cheered and rushed in to finish the creature, combining all their Pokemon to shred it apart. Every single one of the creatures, when combined, inflicted heavy damage on the wounded serpent, and up from its throat came a groaning sound, as if a true behemoth was being slain. The monster shivered to life suddenly as it was being attacked, struggling to wriggle free and reboot its power systems. But it had been damaged beyond resurrection, and the only thing it could do was move its tail and call forth its brethren.

And to the surprise of everyone on that field of crystal, that was exactly what happened. No sooner did the beast let out a groan, the ground erupted to life as at least a dozen new turrets sprang to life, their mouths ready to spew unholy judgment. The monster, it seemed, was a powerfully effective distraction. Even if it did not destroy any intruders, it would stall them just long enough for the backup guns to finish them off. To make matters worse, the Rocket base decided that that very moment would be good to recover its defenses, and all the original guns blazed back to life as well, firing in every direction.

Immediately, James called Wheezing to use a smokescreen, and everyone hid under a mound of snow as the guns blazed after them. Jennifer, her wounds healing quickly thanks to Joyleen's and Lenneth's work, called Captain Thatcher on her cell phone and gave him the stats.

"Captain! We're bogged down here and there's no way to reach the base! The defenses are back online, and more with them! We were slowed down by a gigantic blue snake-like machine, who we have recently subdued. Requesting backup!"

"Jennifer, you're way outnumbered!" shouted Thatcher over the phone (he literally shouted, since he could be heard even over the gunfire). "Get out of there quickly!"

"Outnumbered? What do you mean?"

"Look!" shouted Joyleen, and as everyone turned around, they saw that the Team Rocket agents, who had been precariously hiding in their base the whole time, were now storming out of it in droves, armed and fresh and ready for combat. Jennifer gasped in amazement and returned to her phone.

"Captain, you're right! We are outnumbered! What should we do?"

"Abort the mission and retreat! There's nothing else you can do!"

"But what about the Pokemon and the base?" shouted Ash, nearly deafening poor Jennifer. Thatcher coughed back at him in a grave voice.

"Sorry, lad, but your lives are more important to me right now. Those Pokemon will have to wait. There's no way you can move any further. Running away is the best option."

"Sounds good to me," agreed Jessie. James gave her the nod, but everyone else seemed doubtful. They weren't used to losing or running away, unlike their two friends, especially when so much was on the line. But Thatcher was right: if they stayed any longer, they would have been mowed down by the guns or else taken prisoner by the guards. They had no choice.

"Understood, Captain," said Jennifer at long last. "We'll be moving out. Request for the main cannon to be fired again in order for our escape to be a success."

"Request being carried out now," replied Thatcher. "Just concentrate on running. Sorry, Officer. Good luck!"

"Thank you." Jennifer put her cell phone away, and quickly took charge as she and Joyleen led everyone in a sprint across the snowy plains, James' Wheezing giving everyone the cover they needed as they ran. Gunfire chased after them like the locusts of Apollyon, and a few arms, heels, shoulders, and legs were nicked and cut as the bullets barely missed their mark. Brock was cut right on the leg and fell, but Lenneth jumped in and caught him before he could slam into the snow.

"Brock! Hang on just a little bit longer!" She gave him a hasty smile behind her shout of desperation, and helped him limp the rest of the way. Suddenly, Nurse Joyleen screamed as she saw the main cannon of the Dreadnaught charge up, and ordered everybody to duck, cover, and shield their eyes and ears from the mighty blast. No Pokemon in existence could have shielded them, so the best they could hope for was to dive behind a snow bank and ball up in dreadful anticipation.

With a BOOM, the Euphrates fired its main cannon for the second time that day, sending it straight to the heart of the turrets. The explosion carved a deep crater in the ground, destroying three guns instantly and five others from the hurtling debris. The pursuing Rocket agents dove for cover as well, reducing the number of attackers in the field and giving everyone else the chance they needed to complete their getaway. As soon as she felt it was safe, Joyleen led everyone on a mad dash towards the ship, where they all filed in as quickly as they could before the thing took off in a hasty retreat.

Everyone let out a breath of relief as they were finally able to stop running, completely exhausted from the lengthy battle--but not just physically. There was inner strain as well, for many among their group had never felt true defeat in their lives. Jessie and James were actually beaming with enthusiasm, glad to have escaped with their lives, but everyone else, once they recovered from physical weariness, was still miserable.

It would definitely not be their first loss.

To be continued…