Author Note: Alright, many of you disagreed with my definition of 'Blitzkrieg'. The fact is, it's all that you said, and my definition as well! And whoever thought a mesa was something to do with cliffs (can't remember your name), they are in fact large flat-topped rock formations with steep cliffs, common in America.

Also, from this chapter on you will notice the story getting darker. I am cutting out most of the humour to fit the storyline, but there will be dark humour here and there.

Disclaimer: Advance Wars, Advance Wars 2, and their content are copyright Nintendo and Intelligent Systems. Red Mesa and its CO's are my intellectual property. Heh, intellectual...I said a long word...

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Advance Wars: Red Mesa – Chapter 6: Turning Point.

By CO Shade.

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Location: Orange Star Capital City, Orange Star.

Time: 1345 Hours OS time.

Explosions and gunfire rent the air as Orange Star and Black Hole forces clashed in a heated battle for control of the city. Andy's men were getting tired after three days of no-holds-barred fighting, but they held a grim determination not to lose: this was their capital city, they were fighting to defend the entire country, their families, their way of life. The Black Hole forces fought ruthlessly and unemotionally, pushing towards the Presidential Building. president Shawnson, Nell, and Andy had retreated to a fortified bunker underneath the building, but it would be only a matter of time before the bunker itself was attacked. Andy paced back and forth, his happy demeanour gone, while Nell sat, head in hands, a picture of desperation. President Shawnson was dressed in his old military uniform (having hand a long CO career in the Army), medals and all, saying that "If I die today, I die as a Commander as well as a President." Techs were working away at computers dotted around the room, monitoring the entire battle and relaying orders. One of them spoke up unexpectedly. "Commanders! We just received a transmission from an unknown location!" Andy, Nell and the President rushed to join him. On the screen was a short message; "Hold on." Below was a strange logo. "Analysis of the logo has revealed it to be Red Mesan in origin," The tech said. "Hold on?" The President questioned. "Hold on for what?" Nell ran a hand through her messy hair. "More to the point, why would Red Mesa contact us when we attacked them?" No one had an answer.

As the fighting in the city grew ever more intense, barrage after barrage of fire echoing around the wrecked streets, Orange Star began to be pushed back into a defensive position around the Presidential Building. Black Hole attacked with mounting ferocity, and it seemed that Orange Star would only last one more day. Indeed, on the frosty dawn of the following day there were only a few weakened Orange Star units left, facing rank upon rank upon rank of Black Hole forces. All was quiet in the city, and everyone in the bunker held their breath. Then, with an eerily dangerous silence, the Blacks started to close in on the doomed building. Nell, Andy and President Shawnson were pale and exhausted, finally coming to terms with their defeat. "Orange Star as a country is done for," The President said quietly. "Without the capital...the country will crumble." One of the techs ran up to the saddened group. "Commanders! A Red Mesan jet is on an intercept course!" He said. The President waved a hand. "Onscreen." A red jet screamed overhead on the display, ejecting something attached to it's undercarriage. "Whatever that is, track it," Nell said. The view on the screen zoomed in on the falling object as it hit the ground in front of the approaching Black Hole forces. "It looks like some sort of receiver..." Andy said. The object, resembling a red glass satellite dish, started to glow with a red/white light. Intercepted Red Mesa transmissions came out of the screen's speakers, the speech mingling with loud static. "Getting read for...Twist," Someone said. "Affirmative. Level Omega...detected...normal parameters. Stand...for Event...Charge, in three...one..."

The Orange Star CO's, The President and the techs looked on in awe as the entire Black Hole juggernaut of a force was enveloped by a red-white aura. A staticky whine echoed from the confused Black Hole forces, and the receiver object pulsed with one final light, then flickered out. The, with a flash and a thumping boom, the entire Black Hole force disappeared. There was silence, both from the last few Orange Star units and everyone in the bunker, for more than a minute. Andy was the first one to speak. "Woah," He said, winning the prize for 'The World's Biggest Understatement'. "What did Red Mesa jsut do?" Nell looked at him. "Whatever they did, it just took out that entire force. And Hawke threw a fifth of the entire Black Hole Army at the capital. They just took out nearly a fifth of the Black Hole Army!" The President waved a hand "Who really cares right now? We'll thank them after we clear out Black Hole from this region."

Location: Command & Communications Room, Red Mesa HQ, Red Mesa.

Time: 1100 Hours OS Time, just after the Orange Star victory.

The Red Mesa CO's were sitting down at the Red Table, watching a recording of the Orange Star Capital City battle. All of them watched silently, right up to the point of the disappearance of the Black Hole force. Shade switched off the recording with a remote in his hand, and turned to the others. "Well? What did you think?" He said. Cougar scratched his head. "What in the name of Red Mesa did that do?" Shade smiled. Long-winded and complicated explanation time. "It's what our scientists have dubbed a 'Causality Twist'. It utilizes a different type of Event Horizon warp. What is basically does is send selected targets near an operational transmitter into a paradox loop. The Universe resolves this violation of the laws of physics by making the effect of the target's existence eliminate the effect of the cause of the target. In short, a target's effect eliminates it's own cause, which means that the target is erased from existence."

This explanation made a slight whistling noise as it sailed clear over the other CO's heads. Shade sensed this, and sighed. "Basically, this function of the Event Horizon erases a target from existence. In Flak terms, 'Unit goes bye-bye'." Swift smiled. "And you know this how?" She asked. Shade rolled his eyes. " Our R&D scientists told me. I can understand it because I read science journals, got an A* in Theoretical Physics in University, and because I'm that damn good." Diesel smirked slightly. "Science journals?" Shade looked at her, his face holding a warning look. "If I hear the words 'geek' or 'nerd' escape you lips, the doctors at the hospital won't know which piece of you to put on life support. I haven't forgot about you attacking me with that tool before you fought Andy." Cougar waggled a finger at the brewing argument. "Now now, girls and boys...and Shade." There was a five-second silence as Shade ran through what Cougar had just said. "HEY!" He shouted, and everyone broke into laughter, Shade included. "Wait," Said Cougar, lifting up a hand. "What would happen if the Event Horizon malfunctioned?" Shade thought about it for a moment, his brow creased with thought. "By theory - by theory, mind you - anything." He said at last.

"Anything?"

"Anything. We could be wiped from existence, the planet could turn into congealed semolina, Flak's IQ could rise." Swift shook her head in mock seriousness. "Like that'll ever happen. Flak? IQ? Nah." Shade took his red-tinted shades off and polished them. "By the way? how far along is the Red Zephyr? Tell me it's nearly done." Swift flicked back her hair as she leafed through various reports on the table. Studying one for a few seconds, she said "It's nearly done. Estimates put the launch date at one week from now at the latest." Shade put his shades back on. "Good...faster than planned." Just before he was going to end the discussion, he remembered something that had been bugging him. "Gear up the Army for another massive defence at Mesa 2," He said. "Why? Orange Star are gone," Swift asked. "Because now that Orange Star have left, Blue Moon must think we're weak and vulnerable. They'll strike hard, and soon." He stood up from the table and tapped his head. "You gotta think about these things," He said as he walked out.

"Nerd," Diesel said. "I heard that!" Came Shade's angry voice from the hallway.

Battle 4: Blues vs Reds.

CO's: Shade & Swift (RM) vs. Olaf & Grit & Colin (BM).

Special Conditions: None.

Location: Near Mesa 2, Red Mesa Territory.

Time: 1300 Hours OS Time, 3 days later.

Olaf was hot. Very hot. Considering that he was wearing his full Blue Moon uniform, it made sense. He wanted to go and address the troops for any battle that would take place, but Grit talked him out of it, saying that he'd kill himself from heat exhaustion. Olaf relented, albeit reluctantly. He looked out over his troops from the Blue Moon Field HQ instead. "See how good they are? See their level of training? These Red Mesa fools have no chance!" Grit sighed at Olaf's pompous declaration. "Boss, are you sure they are used to desert warfare?" Olaf snorted. "Who cares? These men are more than a match for their troops! Whatever they do, they cannot defeat us!" Grit heaved another sigh, walked over to a couch and laid down, mopping his brow with a handkerchief. Olaf started to scan the battlefield with binoculars, growing irritable. "You'd think that Red Mesa would have showed up by now," He said, gazing at the shifting dunes. "But they're...oh no." Olaf's voice went from 'irritable' to 'oh dear god we are so screwed' so fast that Grit leapt up off the couch to join him. "Holy mother o'..."

It could have just been a mirage. But mirages generally don't appear as obedient, artificial lines, and they certainly didn't move with such an eerily focused intent. Grit shook his head in disbelief. "No...it can't be them...they'd have-"

"Contacted you by now," A voice said from behind them. Olaf and Grit turned away from the window to the main comm screen, to se Shade sitting down wearing his usual smirk, and Swift leaning on his shoulder. "I pre-empted you, didn't I?" Said Shade mockingly, his arms folded. "Olaf and Grit," He continued. "Where's Colin? Oh, wait, I know," He carried on in his mocking tone of voice, "He's planning to ambush our seemingly unprotected left flank. Such a pity he won't succeed." Olaf and Grit were stunned, unable to say anything. Their ace in the hole - Colin's ambush - was useless. "Well, since you know we're here, we might as well unshroud our units," Shade finished. He nodded to Swift, and the transmission ended. Olaf and Grit turned around again to see hundreds of red dots ripple into view in the midst of the sand dunes. At the Red Mesa HQ, two kilometres away, Shade summed up his attitude: "Let us begin."

And begin it did. The combined forces of Shade and Swift resisted brutal attacks from the Blue Moon powerhouse of Olaf, Grit and Colin, the Heavy Tanks making themselves known with the earth-shaking booms of their twin cannons, and the unending rumble of their four engines. After a day of constant, ceaseless fighting - resulting in massive losses on both sides - Shade decided to up the stakes a bit, unleashing his EM Jamming power to cloak the battlefield in an impenetrable Fog of War. Grit tried, and failed, to see through the roiling black fog. "Darn Shade," He mused. "I just know he's up ta somethin'...this darn fog...he could do whatever he likes and we wouldn't be any the wiser..." Olaf snorted. Again. "Like what, launching a flying fortress to blow us all up? Excuse me if I'm not shaking in my little snow boots." Olaf stroked his chins (all of them), and thought. "The best he could do would be to use the fog to mount an arrowhead attack to break our front lines," He said. "He wouldn't dare..." Grit shook his head. "He would, Boss. Shade doesn't care about things as trivial as that. He would go straight for the jugular, and be very brutal." Grit looked out of the window to his Rocket divisions that were protecting the HQ. "Everythin' seems okay..." Then, out of nowhere, five Red Mesa Jets burst forth from the fog and streaked towards the HQ. "They're past our air defences!" Cried Olaf. All Grit and Olaf could do was watch in horror as missiles streaked from under the wings of the jets, and flew in a zigzag formation towards Grit's Rockets. One bout of explosions later, they had been destroyed, and countless numbers of Red Mesa Tanks, of all varieties, rumbled forward out of the fog. Grit shook his head, amazed. "Incredible...never saw it comin'..."

At the Red Mesa HQ, Shade watched their offensive with cold glee, all the while keeping an eye on Swift's fighters. She had insisted in going with them, but Shade was still apprehensive, no matter how good a pilot she was. Swift's voice came through via radio. "I'm taking them around for another pass," She said. Shade didn't reply, but watched as the jets swung around for another attack. The he saw something that made his blood run cold. His induced fog was receding, thinning out...and it was Swift's only cover from the Blue Moon air defences! "SARAH!!" Shade screamed into the radio. "GET OUT OF THERE! ABORT!" But it was too late. All Shade could do was watch in horror as anti-air missiles streaked towards the jets. Four explosions sounded, and Shade hung his head, defeated. Gone...just like that, one of the greatest pilots, and friends, he had ever known. Wait...four? Shade looked back up. There! Swift's jet was still in one piece, although trailing smoke. He saw her eject from the jet. "She'll be captured..." He said sadly. "Sarah..."

Roughly half an hour later, the Blue Moon forces were near defeat, and Olaf contacted Shade. "You might have won the battle, but we have the real victory, the real prize!" Shade was not fazed. "Cut the crap you bearded idiot," He said through gritted teeth. "I know who you've got." The now grinning Olaf stepped to the side to reveal Swift, cuffed and flanked by Blue Moon soldiers. Olaf broke into maniacal laughter. "She's our bargaining tool! We'll return her to you if you surrender unconditionally!" Shade shook his head. "Your arrogance is rivalled only by your ignorance, Olaf. Those terms will never be accepted. Bu you will return Swift to us, or face the consequences..." Swift smiled sadly. "You don't have to risk everything just for me," She said. "Just make sure we win this war." Shade shook his head in disagreement, and closed his eyes. "I can, and I will," He replied, his hands balling into fists as he struggled to control his rising Super Power. Bolts of static started to arc about his body, and the displays on the computers around him, as well as the main screen itself, started to flicker. Terrified realisation appeared in Swift's eyes. "Matt, NO!" She cried. "You nearly killed yourself last time!" Shade nodded, his eyes still closed, the static starting to grow and intensify. "It might kill me, yes," He said, "But Olaf has stepped over the line. No one captures a Red Mesa CO, unless it's over my cold, dead body." Shade raised a hand and clicked his fingers, and the transmission ended. Olaf turned to the horrified Swift. "What was he talking about?!" Swift nodded in the direction of the window. "I think you're going to find out...the hard way." She said shakily. Olaf looked outside. The fog from Shade's EM Jamming wasn't shrinking anymore...it was growing, roiling, billowing like a tropical storm. In it's midst, massive bolts of lightning arced about. "He's combining his two powers," Swift said quietly. The tension and silence in the room was incredible, and Colin, who had arrived just a quarter of an hour before, dived behind the nearest couch. "He's using an EMP Strike to bolster and charge the fog...it's a Lambada EMP..." Grit looked at her. "What?"

"It's the name we've given to it," She said, quite willing to talk to him, knowing what would happen to them all soon. "He's only ever used it once, in a training exercise long ago. It was so powerful, it turned most of the battlefield's sand to a glasslike substance, and the power drain nearly killed him. He spent nearly a year in hospital." The fog started to swirl inwards to form a colossal dome of black fog and electricity. The it exploded outwards with a massive boom, waves of fog and electricity tearing up the land beneath it, EM waves catapulting everything they touched up into the air at an incredible speed. Even Blue Moon MD. Tanks were caught, their screaming occupants carried along for the lethal ride. The Red Mesa units were completely unharmed, their anti-EM devices averting a horrible friendly-fire incident. Everyone in the Blue Moon HQ looked on in horror at the approaching dome of destruction. "Brace yourselves!" Yelled Olaf. The first wave hit, blowing out all the windows in the entire building. Then the following waves struck, electricity and black fog rushing past and through the beleaguered HQ like a flood. The HQ started to slowly crumble away under the strain...

Then it stopped. The black fog had rushed past the HQ and dissipated, the electricity and EM waves were nowhere to be seen. The HQ itself was barely standing, a crumbling skeleton of a building, large holes in the walls and what was left of the windows. The Blue Moon forces that had been on the battlefield were gone. Olaf stood up off the floor, having been knocked down, and looked out across the battlefield. A circular area roughly half a kilometre in diameter was no longer sand, instead the glasslike substance Swift had talked about. He looked back at everyone else, who were picking themselves back up. Swift was laying on the floor still, having been knocked out in the carnage, and Grit walked over to pick her up. "Ev..ev...ev...evacuate...now..." Olaf managed to say. "Before that monster of a CO does anything else!" Everyone else didn't even have to nod, they simply ran out as fast as possible, boarding T Copters that had fortunately been tied down seconds before the EM waves reached them and flung them skywards.

At the Red Mesa HQ, a barely-standing Shade, eyes still closed, smiled.

Then he collapsed.

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End of Chapter 6

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Author Note: Chapter 6...and Shade lost his temper!

Shade: Shut up. How would you like it if I rammed an EMP Strike down your throat?

...Point taken. In Chapter Seven, well, Shade is in intensive care fighting for his life, and with Swift in Blue Moon hands, things look bad for Red Mesa. That's all I'm going to say...