Episode 29: Battleship Mutrad, part 2
DISCLAIMER: ALL CHARACTERS MENTIONED IN THESE STORIES ARE COPYRIGHTS OF CARTOON NETWORK. I HAVE NO AFFILIATION TO SYM-BIONIC TITAN OR ITS CREATOR, GENNDY TARTAKOVSKY. I AM SIMPLY TRYING TO EXPAND ON HIS EXCELLENT WORK, NOW THAT THE SHOW, WHICH HAD SO MUCH POTENTIAL, HAS BEEN CANCELLED.
T
Ilana had been firing her laser at the shield generator for a while now. But it didn't show sparks, or move, or anything. Mutradi were pouring in the room. Some of them tackling her, she put up her force field just in time to defend herself. She fired her laser, sending it sweeping through the growing crowd of Mutradi. She fought them from inside her bubble, firing both her white and blue lasers at once. But the more Ilana fired at the Mutradi and the walls, the weaker the later became, and the former were able to gang up on her in great force. One of the Mutradi that had a blaster in its hands shot at her force field, finally destroying it after it had taken a considerable amount of hits. Ilana crashed to the ground, face up, as Mutradi overtook her. She struggled to her feet with kicks and punches, barely managing to stand upright. The princess knew she couldn't last much longer. She watched, helpless, as one of the Mutradi towered directly over her fired a blast straight at her heart.
But as it made impact, a shockwave of energy emitted from her armor when a Mutradi aimed its gun at Corus' heart, killing all the Mutradi in the room. Ilana was surprised. She didn't know her armor could do that! Perhaps it was some kind of "emergency" shockwave. But she didn't think too much about it. Acting quickly, she inspected the instrument panels at the far end of the room, which was otherwise empty save for the shield generator, to see if there was some way to shut the thing off. She pressed various buttons on the computer, completely clueless as to what each one did. If Octus was here, she thought, he could get this done! But he was at the control panel, and that was probably far more complicated to disable, even for a robot. After taking five minutes to figure out the controls, she arrived at a screen which demanded an access code, and a keyboard popped up from under the control panel. Ilana had no idea what the passcode could possibly be. What could she do?
Suddenly, a lone Mutradi burst into the room. It growled in broken English, "Remain where you are! Make no sudden-"
He had scarcely arrived when Ilana turned her armor and demanded for the passcode, rushing at the beast until she had it pinned against a wall.
"Tell me the passcode for the generator!" She cried.
"Never!" The Mutradi answered. But he quickly changed his tune when he saw the heart on Ilana's chest begin to glow as she prepared another laser.
"Typhonox! The passcode is Typhonox!" The Mutradi shrieked, running out of the room and knocking Ilana aside. She couldn't help but chuckle. Why were Mutradi so much more cowardly when they were alone? She typed in the strange word, not thinking much about it. And lo and behold, it worked! The generator dimmed and finally died, and when she shot a single laser, the generator exploded, with various parts scattering in the room.
But then some Mutradi burst through the door. There were even more than there were last time a group had tried to attack her. They leapt at her while she was stunned. They attacked so rapidly, that it wasn't long before they shattered her armor. She thought it was all over when suddenly:
"Excellent work, Mutradi. The General will be pleased." Ilana turned to see who had said that. She nearly gasped when she saw that it was another Galalunan. She recalled Lance saying that the invasion of her home was also a coup, but they had no clue as to who would be attempting to bring himself into power now. Though she knew he couldn't be trusted for betraying her father, she asked with defiance, "Who's this General? As a citizen of Galaluna, answer your princess!" She cried. The man who she had spoken to snickered. Ilana had to remind herself that she had no power over traitors.
"Don't make me have to fight you!" she cried.
The man laughed. "You're in no position to bargain. And even if you were, would really kill your one of your own?" the man asked her as he whipped out a needle from his coat pocket. Ilana sighed and thought about the question she had posed. The very idea of killing a fellow Galalunan, even if he was a traitor, was sickening to her.
"You betrayed my father and my kingdom and want to kill me," Ilana replied to the unknown officer, "But...I can't kill you. No matter how awful your crimes."
"Your empathy and kindness are your two fatal most flaws," the soldier mused mockingly. "Perhaps if the King had had a son, instead of you, he would have done a better job of defending his kingdom. And a Galalunan prince certainly wouldn't need a love interest to protect him," he said as he walked over to Ilana and injected the needle into her arm. The princess knew she had no chance of escaping now. Ilana felt her consciousness slipping, and her last thoughts were those of malice for the soldier, furious at him for his sexist statement. If she wasn't in such bad condition, she would've been able to obliterate him, she thought. Had the others suffered the same fate?
Octus made his way into the control room easily. He killed the Mutradi inside with mass electrocution, and began to work on hacking into the control room. Just by placing his hands on it, he overrode the machinery. In milliseconds, his suspicions of this battle station being a joint project were confirmed. The software was Galalunan, but seemed to be written in Mutradi characters. A voice called out from behind him:
"Stop, machine!" Without turning around, Octus knew that this was one of the Galalunan traitors. Octus turned around, now finished with his work. He realized with the greatest fear that a machine could feel that this particular soldier was carrying an unusual weapon. Upon scanning it, Octus realized it could fire lightning bolts similar to those that made up that strange energy creature that had "killed" him some time ago. For once, Octus could make no response. Quick as a flash, he compressed his gel into a bubble as the traitor fired his gun. Just one shot from that weapon could kill me, Octus knew. Before the traitorous soldier could react, Octus reappeared behind him and shocked the man. Octus had no guilty thoughts of killing this soldier. After all, he was a traitor, and he deserved no sympathy, he thought as the electricity coursed into the soldier's veins. The traitor collapsed on the ground in the control room, dead. Octus, for unknown reasons, turned on his Newton hologram and frowned at the man he had just killed. Suddenly, he felt a wave of guilt that he had hoped would be suppressed.
"No," he said aloud. "You posed a threat to my safety, and because you betrayed your planet, you deserve no less than the punishment for treason. But...why is this so hard to carry out?" Octus thought. "How many more Galalunan soldiers that once served alongside those like Lance will have to be killed?" Octus turned his hologram off and fled the room. Rounding a corner, he saw dozens of Galalunans and Mutradi, all carrying the same weapon that the first guy had. Realizing the danger, Octus immediately ran back the way he came at rapid speed. But he suddenly stopped as he saw more troops flood the other hallways. Soon, they had him surrounded. There was no escape.
"Surrender or prepare to die!" A Mutradi shouted in his native tongue. Octus knew what he had said. And he did as he instructed, placing his hands above his head. But only to fire an electric surge. The blast killed dozens and wounded more. The guilt of killing the first traitor had gone now. Octus now realized that it had to be done to protect the princess. He briefly glimpsed a soldier firing his bolt-shooting gun at him. It caused him to feel a sharp electrical pain coursing through his entire system. His core, his memory banks, his scanners, his hologram matrix, his sensors- all were rushed with a flood of unimaginable pain. Octus had no time to react. His last thoughts before crashing to the ground were:
"Programming of battle station disabled. Mission complete," he thought. And then, thinking of Kimmy, oddly enough, he collapsed into darkness...
Edward, Solomon, and the G3 troops were flying as fast as they could to the battle station's location. The troops had already been deployed to fight the crippled Battle Station, so they flew ahead of the mothership in their fighters. The fighter jets managed to destroy a few turrets and even a few external missile launching chambers. Edward saw small explosions coming from the ship. "The battle station's power seems to be weakening, according to our scanners," said a soldier who had stayed behind to maintain the main airship. "Their jets, shield generator, and control room are either disabled or have shut down entirely," he said to Edward. "We are now five hundred feet from the ship and closing," the soldier said.
"How come they haven't fired at us?" Solomon asked Edward. "I thought you said the cloaking device was undetectable by radar, but we would be visible if we came close enough for them to see us."
"Your guess is as good as mine as to why they aren't firing," Edward replied. "Perhaps Lance and the others are putting up heavy resistance in there."
"Okay, sir, this is as close we can get to the ship." What do we do?" a soldier asked. "General Steel's troops aren't far away, and they can probably see us at this low of an altitude.
"Hmm...Lance and the others seem to be handling things inside the ship, judging from its general inactivity. I've got it! Send General Steel some of our combat walkers and anti-aircraft weaponry to add to his own!"
"What?! Edward, have you lost your mind?" Solomon asked.
"Not yet," Edward replied with serious intent. "If we can send reinforcements to him, maybe we can finally convince him that we're really on the same side. Regardless, I won't let this man kill my son before I have a chance to see him!" Edward declared.
"Edward! Bad news!" Another G3 soldier, who looked just like the other one while wearing his uniform, approached. "We've managed to monitor the systems of the ship from here, and we've determined that the Galalunans may be in danger. There's no way to tell for sure, of course, but..."
"We've got to rescue them! Quickly!" Edward cried.
"That is an option, but the Battle Station is still fully capable of destroying us. I'm not even sure how we could even break in, considering that almost all of our individual fighter jets are deployed into combat already. Edward, you did say something about Steel coming to our side, correct?" Solomon asked.
"Yes," he answered.
"Well, Steel's forces are all mobilized near the shelters, so if they're destroyed, the people of Sherman will be defenseless. I agree with your idea of giving them some supplies and reinforcements. We can help them protect the civilians. But in return, perhaps we could ask them to arrange a squad to rescue Lance and Ilana, if they do turn out to be in danger."
"Sounds possible. But is Steel really the one to give favors in return?"
"No, but it's our only shot," Solomon replied.
"Well, I suppose-" Edward began.
"Edward!" A third G3 soldier appeared. "Octus' appears to have been shut down. His systems that we can monitor from here are dead. And we can also infer that Ilana is unconscious, based on our recent observations," he said.
"And Lance?" Edward asked.
"Unknown," the soldier replied.
"Very well, then. Solomon, get the cargo ships ready. Recall some of the troops so that we can use them to arrange a rescue mission with General Steel's own troops. The fate of two planets might rest in our hands!" Edward cried.
"Sir, yes, sir!" The three soldiers and Solomon all replied, giving a salute. They four of them, along with some others that Solomon gathered, ran to the hangar to do as Edward had instructed.
Lance struck Baron's armor with his sword, but Baron blocked it with his arm effortlessly. He delivered a kick, and while Lance was stunned, Baron fired his Manus robot's missiles. They exploded in Lance's face, like small meteorites seeking him out. When they hit, Manus was flung backwards into a chunk of wires and pipes deep inside the engine room. The machinery he crushed sent sparks flying, and it seemed that the ship began to rumble slightly from the weight. Having no regards as to what he might destroy, Lance broke through the rubble and slashed Baron with a counterattack. Baron saw it coming and raised his own sword in defense. Lance tried to hit at him from various angles, but Baron blocked everything. Lance decided to use another tactic: He pointed his fist at Baron, as if to deliver a punch, but instead he fired his machine guns. Baron was blinded by the shots to Manus's face. While he was blinded, Lance punched Baron's armor, forcing Baron to drop his sword as he doubled over. Lance then used his own sword to slash and Baron's armor. Baron collapsed on the ground. The Mutradi were still in shock. Lance stared at his rival intently, knowing that this fight couldn't possibly be over. A silence hung in the air as Lance waited for Baron to get up. Lance began to relax a little. But as his guard fell, Baron suddenly grabbed Lance's robot's legs and knocked him down, face up. Lance quickly recovered, and the fight resumed. Baron gained the upper hand by punching Lance's Manus robot in its chest. The punch caused it to fall down. Baron unleashed his spear and prepared to stab it Manus's chest. If he could penetrate deep enough through the machinery...
But Lance wouldn't let that happen. He rolled Manus out of the way. It was surprisingly adept at athletic maneuvers such as those. He couldn't help but thank his father for making these robots so powerful. It was a blessing and a curse. Lance dodged just in time as he saw Baron stab the ground where he had just been. Baron tried to attack, but Lance quickly got his Manus robot back on its feet and delivered a kick to Baron's side. Baron, still standing, slashed his sword at Lance, but Lance grabbed it as it was coming to him and broke it in half. Baron was stunned. Lance grabbed his own sword once more, slashing and stabbing Baron. But Baron wouldn't give in so easily. He delivered a punch that went straight through Lance's sword and hit him. Lance didn't know his own machine's strength. Once again he was flung back into the depths of the machinery. But this time, Baron followed suit. Lance watched as sparks flew into the air above him and landed on his armor, causing a dent in it. At first it looked like nothing major. But then he saw Manus' normally purple color turn a grayish color. The sparks were hot enough to melt his robot if he wasn't careful, he realized! This new caused Lance to brainstorm some ideas in his mind as he unsheathed his axe. Baron unsheathed his trident as he hovered just over him. The two exchanged no words. Lance swung skyward with his axe, but Baron blocked it with his trident with little effort. When Lance tried to fly up and hack away at Baron from the side, Baron swung the butt of his trident into Lance's side, knocking him down. Lance quickly recovered, but Baron landed on the ground flipped his trident around so that its sharp, three-pronged tip pointed at Lance. Baron stabbed Lance in the chest before he could use his axe to so much as attempt to deflect the blow. The blow stung his armor and himself. With the trident still jammed in Lance's Manus robot's chest, Baron delivered yet another kick into Manus's stomach. Baron pulled his trident out of Lance's armor and said, "You never really could amount to much. Face it; your precious little traditions and your kingdom are dead."
Ignoring him, Lance looked around. Just twenty feet away was the furnace. He watched as a spark from one of the broken machines fell in. As this happened, the furnace's flame flared up for a brief moment. That was it! The fire would melt Baron's armor!
"Alternatively," Baron continued, "You can face the facts and let yourself be spared. All you have to do is apologize for destroying our battle station and join us," said Baron. "Or you can die. You choose." Lance didn't listen to him. He delivered a kick from where he was lying, knocking away Baron's trident. Lance picked up his axe and swung it at Baron as he was stunned. Baron was knocked down, crushing more machinery as his robot slid along the engine room floor, closer to the surface.
"I may die one day, Baron, but never at your hand!" Lance cried. Gripping his axe, he kneed his opponent's Manus robot repeatedly. Baron couldn't take many hits. Lance backed up and threw his axe. But Baron dodged, and Lance's axe wedged itself in part of the wall of the ship instead. Before Lance could pull his axe out, Baron fired his machine guns at him. Lance could barely take all this pain, this shower of toxic needles and fire. That was what the guns felt like. Lance tried to break free of this deadly shower, but Baron delivered yet another kick, knocking him down once more. Baron raised Manus's foot and stomped on Lance's armor with it.
"So how does it feel to have your dreams of being an elite soldier...crushed?" Baron asked mockingly as he stomped on Lance's robot's head. Baron then unsheathed his own axe and delivered a blow against Lance's back. Lance and his armor couldn't take the pain. One more hit and...
Lance recovered suddenly, just as Baron had done before, and grabbed a metal tube nearby as Baron tried to swing his axe at him. Lance used the axe like a blunt sword and like a club, blocking Baron's axe swings and responding by crushing his opponent with the pipe. Lance swung Manus' leg and kicked Baron in the side after he easily deflected his blows. Baron had now been knocked directly in front of the furnace. Lance pulled out his axe, still wedged in the wall, to knock off a piece of the pipe, sparks erupting on the severed side of the pipe. Lance noticed that there seemed to be severed wires in this one that made it look like the pipe itself was releasing sparks. He walked over to Baron, holding the pipe over his head carefully so that it wouldn't make any more dents in his armor. He was about to throw the pipe in the furnace when Baron suddenly realized Lance's plan. Acting fast, he quickly swept his robot's legs across the floor, causing Lance's robot to fall over. It didn't do much damage, but Baron used the brief opportunity he had while Lance was stunned to kick his robot just inches away from the furnace. Lance had a sudden risky idea, however. As the pipe that had just been thrown by Baron landed into the furnace just behind him, Lance fired up his jets forward just as the furnace began to flare up with energy and heat. It worked just as he had expected: The furnace's heat and energy gave a boost to his jets, causing him to fly like a meteor to the other end of the engine room, back to the control deck. But meanwhile, his whole body was literally on fire. Now a mechanical meteor, Lance aimed his jets upward, towards the control deck. He crashed through the wall, going unconscious as his burning robot flailed on the ground, automatically initiating into a stop, drop, and roll sequence. This had been programmed into the Manus robots, should they ever catch on fire for any reason. As the flames died, his armor shattered. Lance lay on the floor in the hallway ahead, his body limp and nearly unconscious from his daring escape from the engine room. That plan had been risky, but it had saved his life. But now he was too weak to go on. Lance contemplated which was better, to be dying or to be dead. But then he remembered that too many people depended on him to be at least barely alive, rather than dead, and ultimately stood by his decision to choose the former. Baron walked over to Lance, now in a fetal position, full of cuts and burns. Blood and ashes stained the carpet on the floor of the Battle Station. Baron smiled darkly as Lance's consciousness faded.
"That wasn't a good idea," Baron pointed out. "If you had kept screwing up the furnace, you could've brought the whole ship down, along with your friends," he said, chuckling. Then, bending over so that Lance would hear him, he added:
"I'll bet that includes your precious Ilana, doesn't it? Well, that's just bad luck for you. Ilana's mine now. My prisoner, that is!" Baron nearly shouted in Lance's ear.
"Care to join her?" He said as Lance went unconscious.
Now all three of our heroes were doomed. Or was there still some hope left? It seemed unlikely, as it wasn't long before the Mutradi scattered throughout the battleship, reactivating everything and getting it back online. Soon everything was normal, save the shield generator, which was destroyed beyond repair. The Mutradi got the weapons back online and prepared to fire another powerful laser blast and the planet's surface, to strike fear in its inhabitants.
"All troops have been mobilized, sir," Babyface declared into his radio to Steel. Babyface was on a hill that overlooked the city. A few miles behind him, Steel was in the shelters, maintaining order. A relatively easy job for a supposedly tough-as-nails General, Babyface thought.
"It's about time, Private!" He said. "It's been twenty minutes! Most of my flanks were practically naked!" Steel's choice of words made Babyface wince.
"Not to worry! We've got everything ready; anti-aircraft guns in position and most of our fighters from the nearby base have been scrambled. But we've picked up quite a few G3 squadrons that are around the area, trying to hit at the battle station, but all of our efforts, up until a few minutes ago, did nothing. There have been some explosions in the ship, and a decrease in firing rate from its main guns. And its jets have turned off as well."
"Why didn't you tell me it was destroyed before?" Steel asked, misunderstanding what his subordinate meant.
"Negative. The battle station's jets are dead, and it's slowed down, but it's still firing from its position in the air. We don't how it stills keeps afloat, but we're still hammering at it," Babyface explained. Another soldier called out to him, "Clear the area!"
"What was that?" Steel asked.
"Oh, we're just about to fire a few more rounds from our anti-aircraft tanks," Babyface replied. Grabbing his radio, he ran into the woods a short distance away. From the background noise of his radio, Steel heard a booming sound that indicated that the anti-aircraft blasts had been fired. War and battle was full of loud noises, Steel recalled.
"So, can I come out there and join you guys?" He asked.
"Well, we don't have any spare tanks, and..."Babyface watched as the blast hit the underside of the ship. He noticed that it did more damage than the previous barrage had. He was about to give Steel an update when he saw some of the G3 planes, unmistakable to their bright red hues, land near him, along with several large airships the size of tanks. They looked like fighters that he would've expected to see from the Battle Station, but he knew G3 when he saw them.
"...G3 personnel is approaching, sir!" Babyface said.
"Wha-well, knock'em out!" Steel said unwaveringly. "Just do like a taught ya," he said, and then turned off his radio.
Babyface heard, but he didn't follow through. He quietly told the soldiers to stand down and hold their fire on G3, and continue attacking the Battle Station. The G3 planes landed in the midst of their camp. Solomon emerged from his larger ship almost as soon as it landed. The troops kept their weapons by their sides, ready to fire at a moment's notice.
Solomon approached Babyface, the two men staring each down for a while. Then Babyface's mouth began to waver.
"You were always the first to laugh," Solomon remarked. "You probably don't remember what mom said that one time, but I…"
"What do you want?" Babyface interrupted, a hint of aggression in his voice.
"I assure you, I come in peace."
"Why did you come here with troops, then?" Babyface questioned.
"I've come to make a proposal. May I speak to General Steel?"
"He isn't..." Babyface began, but suddenly, he saw a man of about fifty running into the camp. And it was Steel, sure enough. It was difficult for Solomon to manage his serious demeanor while watching him huff and puff over to where he was.
"Sorry, Private, I know I didn't say anything, but I was planning on coming out here so I could get a piece of the action. The shelters are secure," he added, not seeing Solomon though he was right next to him. When he was done speaking, he finally turned his head and saw him. "Solomon! What are you doing here?!" Steel shouted angrily, spittle flying in Solomon's face.
"I want to propose a rescue operation," Solomon explained.
"What? For who?" Steel shouted. Solomon remembered all too well how Steel loved to shout.
"Lance, Ilana, and Octus, their robot guardian. If you don't know already, they're the ones that can form Titan when they are together. But not when their captured, obviously. We believe that they may have been taken captive by the aliens that are piloting the Battle Station."
"Aliens fighting aliens?" Steel said, puzzled. "Well, forget it; I ain't helping some G3 cyberpunks! How do I know you guys aren't gonna double-cross us? You might even be in cahoots with each other!"
"Look up in the sky if you don't believe we're allies," Solomon replied. Steel did. He saw the massive Battle Station casting its shadow over a third of the city of Sherman, and small specks buzzing around. Those were the fighters. Solomon handed him a pair of high powered military binoculars from his coat pocket. Steel looked through them and saw the planes, some a dark green, others a bright red. The planes were flying all over the place, congregated especially near the turrets of the massive ship, destroying them as Steel observed. He saw that the Battle Station had cannons with missiles the size of one of his tanks, and spikes on the bow of the ship, not just there for decoration. He also saw a few turrets firing at his men. One of the G3 planes blocked the incoming fire from one of his own. The Army plane was burning, barely able to and the G3 one was fine. The G3 plane blocked the incoming fire by strafing from the side until it got in the way. The G3 plane fired its missiles at the turret, and it was destroyed. The Army plane retreated from the battlefield in the air, its pilot in no condition to fight. The G3 plane, meanwhile, was still flying around. But Steel nearly gasped as he saw it explode from one of the fire from the other turrets.
"You were saying?" Solomon asked.
"I...very well, then," Steel replied.
"Good. If you assign some of your men to this mission, we'll accompany them with some of ours. They can all be accommodated in the aircraft I came in."
"But how do we get inside?" Babyface asked.
"Our ships have a weapon that can briefly stun some of the guns they have in the nearby vicinity of our where we will land. We will be approaching from above, and break in through the roof. By that point, the Mutradi and any Galalunans who defected with them should be surrounding the area, so get your weapons loaded and ready before we enter the ship. Your men need to do all they can to take out the turrets. When we find the hostages, they should be able to help us escape the ship. Have one of your Black Falcon helicopters ready. Did you catch all of that?"
"I heard every word," Steel said his face solemn and serious. For the first time in decades, he was officially in a war mode. "But, ah...what's a Mutradi, and...Gala-what?"
"Just know that anyone on the ship other than those three is an enemy. As I was saying, we will take Lance, Ilana, and Octus to G3's mothership nearby. You don't need to escort us; we know the coordinates, and the ship has a cloaking device."
"Cloaking device? I didn't know you guys were that advanced! Say, can you tell me why your ships and that giant airship look a bit like the one we're fighting now?"
"It's complicated," Solomon replied. "Just get the troops ready."
"I'll handle that!" Babyface said. He went off to the camp, calling on the troops. Solomon stayed with Steel.
"We're not just doing this for their sake, you know. This city-the entire world, could be at stake. And if we succeed, we can bring a family together," Solomon said, thinking of his own lost family as he said that.
"What are ya talkin about?" Steel asked.
Solomon paused before saying his next words: "Lance is the son of G3's leader."
"Your son's an alien? But that means-"
"No. Lance isn't my son. Edward, the real leader of G3, is his father."
"Huh?"
"It's a long story, but all you need to know is that if Lance is saved, he will reunite with his father."
"Well, then, looks like we have plenty of good reason to join forces!" Steel said, shaking hands with Solomon. When they let go, Steel fumbled for his next words. "And uh..." he began. "I'm...I'm sorry."
"For trying to kill them? I think you can amend that by saving their lives," Solomon replied.
"Well, that, and, uh...everything else." Steel looked Solomon straight in the eye. "I...I mean everything." The two former enemies exchanged salutes. Babyface had been waiting on the sidelines, understanding what was going on and wishing to talk to Solomon some more. When the two men were done talking, he approached them with a several troops, all armed.
"We're ready. You guys coming, or is there a G3 superior we can report to?" He asked.
"We've decided that we'll both be coming," Solomon said.
"Well, then...LET'S MOVE OUT!" Babyface cried with the voice of true soldier. But then he lingered behind, and Solomon went back to check on him as Steel left.
"You should have joined me," Solomon told him.
"No, you know I couldn't. Besides, now it's more symbolic. We're finally brothers in arms again!" Babyface replied.
"We always were," Solomon replied. "At least that's what dad said."
Solomon and Steel, former enemies, headed into G3's large, troop-carrying ship. G3 soldiers came out before they could enter, bringing in aid and some of their weapons. Steel and the other troops were amazed at the Walkers and tanks that had emerged from what seemed like a ship too small to house them all.
"Whoa! What is this stuff?" Babyface asked.
"Our stuff," Solomon replied jokingly. He and Babyface shared a laugh. When the troops were in the ship and the weapons and aid were out, Steel went inside to check out the interior of the ship they would be riding in.
"So, how's old Steel?" Solomon asked.
"He hasn't changed much," Babyface replied.
"Has he promoted you yet?"
"He says he's getting around to it, but so far, no."
"I think his memory is slipping," Solomon said.
"Not by much," Babyface replied. "Eh, What're you gonna do?"
"You're gonna stop you're girly gossiping about me, that's what!" Steel said, surprising both of them. The three of them shared a laugh for a brief moment. Solomon went over to the control deck to manage his own troops, while Steel and Babyface went inside the troop carrying room in the ship and waited.
"We should be approaching the Battle Station in about 2 minutes," the G3 soldier navigated the ship answered Solomon's question before he could ask it. "The other fighters are scrambling to distract the remaining turrets."
"Good. Send a message to our guys that they should take out every last turret on this silver floating death trap," Solomon said, a hint of vitriol in his voice. He still maintained his emotionless demeanor, though. "We should fire our Ion Gun from this distance," Solomon commanded the pilot.
"Understood," he said, pressing a button. The ship then fired a whitish-blue beam from its single main gun, just below the cockpit. The blast hit the ship, seemingly doing no damage, but the turrets on the roof of the ship were short-circuited, electricity crackling around the area.
"Deck guns disabled," the G3 troop said to Solomon.
Everything got serious when their ship approached the Battle Station. Taking in its sheer size was almost an impossibility.
"We need fire support! Give us covering fire!" Steel said into his radio, addressing his own troops. From outside the windows in the troop-carrying room, he could see the fighters swarming the turrets like bees. Just one hit would send a fighter from either faction bursting into flames, and a direct hit at close-range would completely destroy it. Babyface observed the war outside with his General, and then turned to the troops. Most sat on benches, sitting or twiddling their thumbs. A few were sitting on the floor, since the benches were completely crowded. But none of this was what intrigued Babyface: it was that the G3 and US Army troops weren't segregated or sitting on opposite sides of the room. They were mingling with each other, in fact. A G3 soldier was showing an Army soldier how his weapon worked, and an Army soldier lent a G3 soldier his cell phone (Steel normally confiscating such things) to call home, though the soldier calling couldn't reveal his location or what was going on now, for obvious reasons, Babyface saw a few tears streak down the G3 troop's face when he heard the voice of what might have been his young daughter. And an Army soldier who inexplicably withdrew an MP3 player from his somewhere in his pocket let his neighbor, a G3 soldier, listen to whatever songs he wished. A few times, they would even listen to the song together, with one ear bud in one troop's ear, the other in another. Babyface realized that every man here was a brother to everyone else. They were brothers in arms-no wait, Babyface thought when he saw a few female soldiers scattered here and there-they were a family in arms.
Just then, Solomon burst into the room. "Let's move! We've arrived!" He said. The soldiers rushed out, arming themselves either with their own weapons or those of their former enemies. They all gathered in a circular room with a square panel in the middle, presumably to be used to exit the ship from above, as they intended to do.
"I'm afraid we have no way of getting down-" Solomon began, flipping a switch on the wall in the room. The panel opened, and the soldiers made sure to get out of the way so that they wouldn't fall through it just yet. Below them, the ground was a sleek silver color, with several steps descending to the edge of the ship. "-besides jumping," Solomon said when the soldiers could all see what lay below. Solomon, without warning, jumped down and landed first, beckoning for the others to follow.
"Alright, no pushin' and shovin! You'll all get to get down there!" Steel said as his own troops jumped down in groups of three. The G3 troops, used to this sort of thing, grabbed a few heavy weapons such as bazookas just before they jumped down. Soon, Babyface and Steel were the only ones left on board, aside from a lone pilot who was still in the control room. Rifle in hand, grenades hanging from his uniform, ready to be thrown at a moment's notice, Private Babyface was ready to jump down. He turned to his General.
"Are you coming, sir?" He asked.
"Yeah. I've just never jumped like this, you know, not from this height, I mean, I mean jumping from an aircraft without a parachute and landing on a giant Battle Station floating 300 feet above the ground," he said nervously.
"It won't be that bad. You're not gonna slide off the edge," Babyface reassured.
"Okay, okay, I'm coming," Steel said, anxiety in his voice. Babyface waited until he had jumped down, and then he took his leap. It wasn't frightening at all to him, but the shock of the impact made his feet sore. After landing, he took a look around him. Not twenty feet above him, the G3 troop carrier was flying away from them to get out of the battle zone. The ground he was standing on was silver and smooth, as if it had been made to walk on. A short distance away, the steps descending to the edge of the ship gave the overall landscape a rigid appearance. Babyface felt as if he was on a giant metal cloud.
"This way!" Solomon called to the others. Moving across the ship, Solomon seemed to be leading the squad to the very center of the ship. Finally, he stopped almost randomly. Solomon reached into his coat pocket (what all does he have in there, Babyface thought,), but then groaned in frustration.
"What is it?" Steel said, trying to hide the fact that his knees were shaking a little from being up so high.
"My C4. I left it back on the ship!" Solomon yelled angrily. "Now how are we going to break through?"
"It's fine. I've got a spare," Steel said, whipping out a C4 from his own uniform. Babyface was beginning to feel suspicious of these two, always being able to draw something out from the folds of their clothes. Steel placed the C4 on the ground where Solomon stood, and they got back a safe distance away. Pressing the button on his C4 remote, Solomon detonated it. The bomb worked, and the troops poured into the Battle Station by jumping through the hole it made once more. They had landed in a hallway, full of wide windows with which the view the battle still going on outside, and the entire hallway was carpeted, for some odd reason. A few doors lined the hallway, but otherwise the place was eerily desolate. When everyone was safely inside the ship, Solomon gave a warning:
"The Mutradi are the large gray-brown alien monsters. They should be swarming this hallway soon. And if you see anyone-any human, that is-wearing a red uniform that looks like something from the 18th century, don't hesitate to shoot. Everyone on this ship except the hostages is hostile."
As soon as he had finished speaking, several Mutradi poured in the room, each carrying a large ray gun.
"Attack!" Solomon and Steel yelled simultaneously. The troops wasted no time opening fire. Bullets sprayed at the Mutradi foot soldiers, who responded with a blast of deadly lasers. The G3 troops led the assault against the Mutradi, having more experience with things like this. The Army soldiers gathered their courage and fired round after round of bullets, with an occasional grenade thrown in for good measure. Snipers of both factions stayed behind to focus on their targets. Steel, naturally, had the largest and most powerful pair of machine guns out of his own troops. Screaming a war cry, he simply ran in the group of aliens, having no regard for his own safety. One of the Mutradi tried to get out in front of him to tackle him, but Steel just dodged the brute strength of the alien, and then countered with his own brute strength, in the form of a bare-knuckled fist. Steel fired the two machine guns he had like they were extensions of his arms, coordinating the two of them take out Mutradi come at him from any angle. Solomon, preferring finesse over raw power, struck a few kicks in several Mutradi's stomachs, stunning the aliens just long enough for to take the weapon from one of them. Solomon leapt to the walls as he fired a few shots in the fray, bouncing off of it like a parkour champion. Sliding underneath one Mutradi, he shot him in the back upon standing up. When two Mutradi surrounded him at once, he kicked one in the face with the side of his foot, and then leapt past the two while punching the other one. He was about to fire when he saw the Mutradi fall dead to Steel's gunfire. Steel gave a brief nod, and Solomon dashed through the corridor with the troops, gaining ground rapidly.
"My portable bio-scanner is picking up their vitals several hallways off! After a few rooms, we should be able to get to them!" He yelled, to anyone who could hear over the roar of the battle.
"Got it!" Babyface responded, tearing off a grenade from his uniform and throwing it into the fray. Slightly terrified of the aliens, Babyface overcame his fears by getting into the fray as his general did, but making sure to stay out of the way of fire. Using the corners of the walls as cover, he shot at several Mutradi, switching from a machine-gun to a sniper rifle. His trained eye shot down several of the Mutradi. He eyes widened when he suddenly saw other humans besides his the people in his squadron appear. They were wearing the aforementioned 18th century-style uniforms Solomon had been talking about. Babyface wasted no time in apprehending a few of them. Then, one of them suddenly saw him and rounded the corner he had been using as cover, brandishing a sword, of all things. Babyface had been on the ground the whole time, so he rolled out of the way when the Galalunan tried to stab him, dropping his sniper rifle. His machine gun, which had been slung over his shoulders, crushed him as he dodged the Galalunan's sword stab. Grabbing his machine gun as he quickly stood up right, he leapt out of the way as his opponent tried to swing his sword a second time, standing up to fire his machine gun. He drew and fired his machine gun with incredible reflexes, lodging two bullets in the Galalunan's shoulder and chest, killing him almost instantaneously. Another Galalunan, equipped with a blaster this time, also tried to fire at him. He did so just once, striking his leg. Babyface bashed him with his gun, killing him, as he limped forward with the others squad members, who were finishing off the last of the troops in this wave. Babyface limped along, taking out a few Mutradi that had managed to get past the snipers from behind them.
"Stevens, cover our rear!" Steel ordered. "You can't catch up with the front lines in your condition!" He said as he blasted a Mutradi that was trailing the squad. "The snipers should help you take out most of em!"
"Sir, yes, sir!" Babyface yelled, almost unaware that Steel had actually called him by his name. Stopping a medic, he got him to dress the wound on his leg, enabling him to move a bit faster. He joined the other snipers at the back of the squad, most of them having already dealt with a wave of enemies that had tried to ambush them from behind. As he saw the last enemy being shot down, a sniper addressed Babyface.
"Private, help us set up some motion-sensor bombs!" He ordered, handing him a few flat objects with small red lights on top of them.
"Understood!" He said, placing a few of the bombs on the walls near the entrances to the room that they had landed in. He also placed some on the floors, just under the carpet. Most of the Galalunans and Mutradi probably wouldn't check twice for bumps underneath the fancy carpet of this ship. He broke down a door that led into a nearby room, grabbing the Mutradi weapons that were scattered in the tiny, square room that was evidently a sleeping quarters. After joining up with the snipers, his tasks complete, they all headed over to the next room, where a fresh wave of Mutradi awaited them.
For the first time in his life, Private Steve "Babyface" Stevens was in a war mode. And for the second time, Solomon and Steel were working together.
Lance and Ilana had been chained up against two pillars while they had been unconscious. Their watches which held their armor lay on a table at the opposite end of the room. Lance was the first to wake up. The first thing he heard was explosions outside. But he could care less about what was going on out there. He saw his and Ilana's watches lying on the table. He tried to pull free, but it was useless. His arms and legs had been securely fastened. He looked to his right and saw Octus' charred "head". Lance realized with horror that Octus was dead, for the third time. But he didn't panic. If they could just escape, G3 would revive him...
And then Baron entered the room, along with several Mutradi foot soldiers. Then Galalunan troops followed them. Lance scowled at them. He reminded himself that apart from himself and Ilana, every Galalunan here was a traitor. "Are you really going to kill me because some-ape-faced General told you to?!" He shouted.
"Yep," said Baron casually. "As for Ilana, well, she's gonna get to go home. Her daddy needs to see her one last time, before the royal family's execution." Lance glared directly at Baron. He noticed that there was still an air of obnoxious pomp in his voice.
Just then, Ilana woke up and realized what was going on. She gasped upon seeing the Galalunan troops with the Mutradi foot soldiers. "Which one of you is in charge of this whole thing?" Ilana asked angrily at the traitors. "When my father finds out about this-"
"That would be me, princess. The name's Baron," he interrupted. He suddenly grabbed Ilana's hand gently and kissed it, to her disgust. "I've always wanted to meet you face to face," he said, attempting to place a seductive quality in his voice. Ilana jerked her hand away in disgust.
"Aren't you that guy that Lance fought at the academy?" She asked, ignoring his advances.
"The one and only, Princess," he replied, standing up again. "And to answer your question as to who is in charge, I am the commander of this Battle Station," he replied, with an air of pomp and cruelty in his voice. Lance recalled that Baron had never been this cocky when they were younger. Suddenly, Lance realized why he was acting so pompous. This was his first time to be in charge of so many troops! He was just trying to give off a false sense of regality and authority. Lance would have been amused, if he and Ilana weren't being held hostage by him. Despite his obnoxious mannerisms, Baron was a real threat.
"I order you to release us!" Ilana said defiantly. She was met with roars of laughter from the enemy troops, Galalunan and Mutradi alike. Lance sighed. Typical Ilana. If she was drowning, she would probably try to order the water to dry up. He decided to use his method of persuasion:
"Baron, you'll be sorry if try to hurt Ilana! I'm sworn to protect her. You can hurt me all you want, Baron, if it will make you happy, but leave Ilana alone! Octus, too. He's dead, anyway; there's nothing you can get from him," Lance said.
"You want to win her over, don't you?" Baron asked him, jerking his thumb over to Ilana. Lance nearly blushed. That hadn't been what he had been thinking, he just didn't want Ilana to get hurt! Why did he ask such a stupid question? "Since you want her to be amazed by your selflessness, how about she gets to watch you die before we leave for Galaluna? The General doesn't care for the likes of you, anyway," said Baron, a cruel smile on his face.
"Lance, no! Don't let him do this!" Ilana protested.
"Baron, do whatever you want to me," Lance continued. "You have the upper hand. Let's make a deal: Kill me, and the princess goes free. Or take both of us to Modula, and let him execute both of us."
"Lance, what are you doing?" Ilana asked nervously. Lance winked at her, and then jerked his head toward Baron. She still didn't quite understand.
Baron froze. Lance had a feeling that this work, either with Ilana going free, or that whoever was causing the explosions outside, presumably G3, would be able to free them if Baron ended up stalling to think of an answer. Lance also knew that Baron would never let anyone, not even General Modula, get the chance to kill him. He knew that the main reason Baron had even come here, on Earth, was so that he could get the chance to kill him and settle their old rivalry.
"Well?" Lance asked, watching as Baron's features changed to indicate his irritation and stress of this offer. It had been a few minutes now. Hopefully that was enough time for G3 or whoever was outside to come in and rescue them...
"Would you really let Modula kill me? You'd never be able to settle the score."
Baron delivered a sharp punch to Lance's stomach while everyone else looked on, except Ilana, who had turned away and closed her eyes. Baron delivered more punches, each blow filled with anger and frustration. He had just fallen for Lance's trick! He could have killed Lance minutes ago, if he hadn't tried to taunt him so much! How could he make his death long and slow, yet quick enough so that whatever he had placed his hopes on wouldn't arrive in time?
Ilana tried to ignore her guardian, who was screaming in pain. But the room was small enough for his cries to echo. Tears ran down Ilana's face. Was there no hope after all?
Lance hurt all over as Baron's punches grew deadlier. Lance groaned from the pain, reminding himself that it would all end soon, one way or the other. Baron grabbed his face and slapped him. "Shut up, Lance! If I'm gonna beat you to death, you can at least die like a man!" He said. He delivered more punches in Lance's face. His nose began to bleed, and a tooth was knocked out. But Baron wasn't satisfied. The cruel, white haired punk motioned for the guards to grab Lance and free him from his chains. Lance came crashing to the floor. He tried to stand up, hoping to be able to at least fight back now that he was free. But one of the Mutradi that had a weapon in his hand shot Lance with his blaster before he could so much as move, sending more pain into Lance's body. But he couldn't show his fear to Ilana. Baron chuckled darkly, saying nothing. Suddenly he raised his boot over Lance's head.
"What's the matter, Lance?" said Baron, in the most cruel tone possible. "Can't fight back? You're just like your dad; helpless!" he cried.
Lance ignored his rival's remarks and turned to Ilana. She faced him, tears in her eyes. "Ilana...I'm sorry...I have failed to protect you..."
Ilana shook her tear-soaked face. It won't end this way, she thought. There had to be hope...there was always something. She looked into Lance's eyes. She could see a glimmer of hope in them. He hadn't quite given up yet. She suddenly realized why he had let Baron attempt to kill him slowly. She faintly heard footsteps resounding through the hallways outside. The Mutradi seemed to look at the door anxiously. It seemed that Baron was a little angry that he hadn't gotten to settle his revenge exactly the way he planned.
"Well, Lance, looks like it's time to die," Baron said almost nervously his foot still hovering over Lance's head.
"Don't count on it," Lance said under his breath.