/- I'm not entirely dead yet... ;)

Happy reading! -- Icebreaker -/

The Jeep bounced across the asphalt, trailer in tow behind as it made its way toward a large warehouse surrounded by work crews. Donovan turned down the stereo with one hand, as he craned his neck around to look at Takegishi.

"So wait, Tak. If they've already started wiping out cities in Europe from orbit... how long have we got before the bastards make it over to North America?"

The lanky, Asian scientist leaned forward from his position in the back seat and cleared his throat. "Well, no one's really sure, Donnie. I mean, judging from our reports we've got from over there... They didn't try and salvage anything, really. Like their only purpose is destruction... shot the cities with some type of proton cannon, then sent down some hard-as-hell alien shock troops to clean out the evacuees... Take it through here, chief," he said, pointing forward through the warehouse's wide doors.

"But why? I mean, I'm all for a good science-fiction story, but it never made sense to me to have aliens just come in and kick the crap out of humanity for the hell of it," said Nicholas, as he looked out through the windows at the interior of the passing warehouse. More than anything, what stood out where the crates. Stacks upon stacks of crates, stretching as far as the eye could see...

"The Vortex could have harvested you for food if they wanted," spoke the box between the two front seats. Takageshi's eyes widened as Ecco continued. "They were terribly short on food during my time, and if they're being so wasteful as to kill... they must be in a hurry."

There was a momnent's pause as Nicholas and Donovan waited for Takageshi to ask the obvious question.

"Who's speaking through that box?"

Donovan raised his hand and scratched the back of his head. "Well, you know, long story... Dolphins in the trunk and all that."

The Asian scientist was about to comment on that when the cellphone at his side started beeping. He looked down at it, frowned, re-read the message. "Guys, things... just got a little more complicated."

"What's the deal, kid," asked Nicholas as he settled back in his seat.

"Well, apparently we've lost all communication with the European continent. Which means that not only are several key satellites knocked out of commission, but the trans-Atlantic cables must have been cut, as well... they're trying to bounce radio signals off the stratosphere, but no one's responding yet..."

Nicholas whistled. "Sounds rough," added Donovan.

"Well, that's not all, either. Moscow, New Dheli, Hong Kong, Bangkok, even Tokyo... all gone. Fucking gone." Takageshi paused for a minute and ran his hands back through his hair. "We're the only continent that hasn't been hit yet... and there are signs of contact in Seattle and Los Angelos..."


"Have you narrowed down the location yet?" came the all-encompassing voice.

The drone, working several different devices with his four arms, took a minute to formulate his reply. "Yes, my queen. We knew it was somewhere on this landmass the humans call 'North America,' but we have narrowed down the location to this spot on a rather peculiar peninsula."

The forward viewscreen, showing the Earth from the ship's point in orbit many miles above the surface, began to zoom in on the United States. Watching through the drone's very own eyes from a million lightyears away, she observed the viewscreen as it continued zooming in on the East Coast, onto Florida, and on down until she could at last see a nondescript complex of buildings, hidden by heavy woods on all sides. The screen flickered somewhat as it adjusted for cloudcover, but otherwise held steady.

"Very well. Pull all available teams from that European landmass and have them shipped to this coast. No orbital artillery will be used within that zone for fear of damaging the objective, so tell the warriors to be prepared. Keep fighting inland from the west, in case reinforcements are needed. Bombardment may take place until the western troops gain a proximity to the objective equal to 30 degrees. Understood?"

"Yes, my queen," thought the drone, and moved his arms to the instruments to make it so.

"Good. I want control of the objective by the end of the next kilocycle." And with that, her disembodied will turned to tend to the other members of her fleet.


"So this is it, huh?"

Donovan, Nicholas and Takageshi were standing in front of the Jeep, looking on as a work crew lined up something like forty crates in front of them. All of the crates looked to be made out of some dense metal, their dull sheen reflecting back some light from the bulbs above. Their size was all identical (i.e., massive) with the exception of one crate that seemed as large as four or five of the others.

The tarp on the Jeep's trailer had been pulled off and stashed in the back, allowing the pair of dolphins within to look out at the commotion. Takageshi was still prone to giving them wide-eyed looks, but after getting a short summary of the morning's events from Donovan and Dr. Card, he seemed at least willing to accept the situation.

"Yeah, Donnie, this is the full set," said Takageshi. "The Indestructables, in all their glory... Well, except, y'know. In boxes."

"So tell me, Ecco," said Nicholas, turning to face the dolphin tank as he adjusted the translator under his arm. "How do we go about putting this... thing... together?"

"Well..." mused Ecco. "We need water. Some sort of large water... holding thing that I can use to rebuild him. Unless we're anywhere close to an ocean, but I doubt you humans would have that much foresight."

Donovan's nostrils flared a bit. "Thanks for the vote of confidence there, buddy." He paused and thought a bit, before turning to Takageshi. "Hey, Tak, what's the water reservoir like here?"

Takageshi scrunched his eyebrows together as he thought. "Well, it was built during the sixties, when a real big nuclear scare was going on. All the government installations like this had their water tanks built into the ground with lead shielding around them in case of fallout... I think I saw the reservoir for this installation as we were coming in. Say, oh. Fifty feet deep, twenty feet wide?"

Ecco did an excited sort of barrel roll in the tank. "That's perfect! I could easily reassemble the Asterite with that much space..."

Trellia nodded. "Might even be enough space for me, if you need some help. Those things look heavy."

Takageshi looked at Donovan and Nicholas for approval, then turned toward the work crew. "Allright guys, new plan! Get the fork lifts and haul these crates outside, dump them in the reservoir tank. I'll be out to join you shortly... and haul ass, too, we're on a schedule." As the crew hurried to work, Takageshi's cellphone beeped again, and he turned down to look at its screen before looking up at his companions, face grim.

"Well, I hope you guys know what you're doing, and that you can do it fast... these aliens are moving in from the west coast, and have already reached Denver. Adding to that, North Carolina Radar Control has a shitload of pods coming in from the east... looks like they're done with Europe, and should be here in less than an hour."

There was a pause, and Donovan noticed that Nicholas was a paler shade than normal. For his own part, he just felt very, very tired.


"Mr. President."

The War Room was dim, with most of the light coming from a table-screen in the center, showing troop concentrations and enemy forces across the country. A group of advisors stood around the perimeter, pointing to various symbols on the screen and whispering amongst themselves. One man in a suit stood apart from the rest, a bright red handset cradled against his shoulder.

"Well look damnit, we NEED you to hold that city! That's the last line of defense we've got until the Mississippi River, and after that we're basically overrun... Do I give permission to use nukes? Hell yes I do, if you can find an enemy concentration somewhere in the area... they've basically turned the whole west coast into a giant crater anyhow... you don't have any jets left? Well pull some off recon duty and give them some bombs, damnit!" He took a deep breath and calmed himself. "Yes, okay... I know the gravity of the situation, yes... Allright. President out."

He hung the hotline on its cradle and turned toward a rather diminutive man with his hand out. "What in the hell do YOU want?"

"Dr. Ameryl Zharkof, sir. Head of Project Darkflare."

The President hesitated for a moment, then begrudgingly shook the man's hand. "Darkflare, huh? Never heard of it."

"Well, sir, the project is kept on a need-to-know basis, and prior to this, you didn't really, uh... need to know."

"I see... and what does this Darkflare project have to do with me?" said the President, dropping into a cushioned chair and scanning the center screen.

"Well, it can almost certainly turn the tide of this little war we find ourselves in. Just need your permission to give it the go-ahead."

"Ha!" he barked, sitting back. "No weapon could turn the tide of this... this massacre. Orbital bombardments, alien shock troops... you really want to be of service, go back to yesterday and tell me I should've slept in later." He gave a dismissive wave and turned back to the screen.

Dr. Zharkof, however, maintained his ground and smiled. "I think then, sir, that you'll be pleasantly surprised."