[Author's Note: Hey, eight months later, a new chapter! Surprise!
Chapter V
Explosions Go 'Boom!'
With a quick smack to the back of his head, Church fell to the ground mid-sentence. He grunted in surprise and jumped back up, his robot body feeling no pain. He whirled around, looking frantically for Tex. He suspected the Omega AI had transferred from his helmet to hers.
"Where'd he go? Where'd he go?" he cried, glancing at the woman in black armour, "Tex?"
"Church," Tex commanded, "Run."
It was true. Fear came at him like a shot to the stomach. O'Malley had transferred from one solder to another – Donut, Sarge, Simmons…all lay on the ground, struggling back to consciousness. Tex had bludgeoned each one in her crazed attempt to trap O'Malley inside her helm.
"You have no idea what kind of trouble you are in!" Omega's deep voice echoed from his host. Tex took off in a sprint, shoving Church out of the way as she past. He stumbled back and stared in horror as she leapt up the board ramp and into the Pelican ship. She bent down mid-run, swooping up Wyoming's helmet and escaping to the bowels of the ship.
Church was after her as soon as he regained himself. "Wait, Tex! You don't want to do this!" he shouted, urging his legs to move faster but the ship's loading ramp was already lifting off the ground. Things began moving too fast to get a coherent thought – Church merely acted on pure instinct.
"Sheila, are you ready?" O'Malley asked, hopping into the pilot's seat and flipping switches to power the ship.
"All systems online," Sheila's mechanically cool voice responded, "Ignition coils activated, starting thrusters." A haze of blue light flowed from the engines as the ship began to hover.
"No!" Church cried, finally reaching the sealed loading ramp. He pounded furiously on it, hoping against all hope that it might slip open. He could feel his metallic hands beginning to disfigure from the heavy blows he threw at the ship.
"Launch when ready!" O'Malley commanded, taking hold of the steering.
"Please take your seats, launching in three…two…one." Gaining speed, the Pelican rose into the air.
Church jumped after it, groping for something, anything before it was too far out of reach, but with no success. He switched on the radio desperately calling out.
"Tex, don't do this!" he demanded, trying to sound intimidating, but he couldn't keep the panic out of his voice.
"Lift off," Sheila announced as the ship rose further and further out of reach.
"Goodbye," Tex whispered in her radio.
The other soldiers had made it to their feet and stood behind Church in awe. He whirled around and leapt the few feet between them. "We have to stop her right now!" he cried, looking frantically at the others.
Sarge glanced up at the ship, and then at Church. He snapped to attention and said cunningly, "No problem-o, Blue!" He switched on his radio, "Andy, you there?"
"I'm here, coach!" the bomb responded. He'd been left in the ship and was now sitting near the back of the cockpit behind O'Malley.
Church turned his attention to his radio, "What's going on?"
Andy surveyed the scene. Tex stood from the pilot's seat, plugging a cord into the white helmet then connecting it to the terminal. Her fingers leapt across the keyboard and dropped again before lining up the monitor. "She's hooking up Wyoming's helmet to the computer," he relayed.
"Ready for your job, soldier?" Sarge trumpeted, looking up to the ship while his plan unfolded deliciously in his mind's eye.
"You bet!" Andy cried, rocking back in forth in anticipation.
"Alright, son!" Sarge crowed dramatically, "Do what you were born to do. Detonate!"
"Hey!" Andy shouted, "You want me to start from ten or three? Come on, let's build it up a bit! Suspense, it'll kill 'em! Ten!"
Church felt as if someone had just taken a jack hammer to his stomach for the fifth time that day. He wheeled around on Sarge, savagely grabbing the Red leader by the shoulders and shaking him. "I told you to disable the ship—"
"Nine!"
"—not destroy it!" Church's voice cracked under pressure. It only made the Red leader giddier.
"Eight!"
Sarge shrugged, giving a 'whatever' look under his helmet. "Oh well, score one for the Red Team."
"Seven!"
"What about my kid?" Tucker growled threatening, approaching opposite Church and brandishing his weapon, now remembering his alien-child was inside the ship along with O'Malley, Tex, and Andy.
"Six!"
"Oh, right –" Sarge said nonchalantly.
"Five!"
"—Score two."
"Four!"
Church grunted angrily and shoved Sarge, causing him to stumble back. The Blue leader used the momentum of the push to spin around and face the ascending ship. Though it was tempting, slowly peeling away Sarge's flesh would do nothing – his only chance was to stop Andy from detonating. He yelled into his radio, "Andy! Do not—"
"Three!"
"—detonate! Can you see her heading?" Church pleaded. It was too much. He could only watch as the ship that contained everything he'd risked rise further and further out of reach, on the verge of becoming a flaming ball and unable to stop it.
"Two!" Andy's innards began swelling with heat in readiness for the explosion. Tex seemed not to notice from her seat.
"DO YOU KNOW WHERE SHE'S GOING?" Church yelled desperately.
"ONE!"
Andy let loose and exploded, consuming the ship in flames. Tex hardly had time to turn when they made contact with the Freelancer helmet. The ship never exploded. Instead it seemed to disintegrate around her in a blue-green flash of light. The ship had literally vanished, no shrapnel or debris falling to the ground or the crackle of flames on gasoline. It was just gone.
On the ground the soldiers stood staring. Sarge grinned wide, debating on removing his helmet so the Blue's failure could be fully declared for everyone to see. Simmons seemed to show a unique interest in what had just happened, and Grif really didn't give a shit. Caboose didn't comprehend what had just happened. Tucker stared silently at the ground, while Church scanned the skies for the ship, both in disbelief of their losses.
"...Tex?" Church uttered.
: - - - :
The five members of the Red Team rushed down the canyon, following the shard flying in front of them. Sarge led the pack, followed by Grif, Donut, Simmons, and Shorty. The sapphire crystal that had transported the newest member of the Red Team decided to up and leave, literally floating away. The Red Team naturally followed it, mostly out of curiosity and suspicion.
"I hope…you realize," Shorty shouted to the team, panting as he did so, "That if we get lost…out here…we'll be without previsions, and…it'll all…be Simmons' fault!" Shorty was new to the team; therefore he was about as physically fit as Grif, even if he wasn't as heavy-set.
"The base isn't even a mile away!" Simmons argued. He, unlike Shorty, was able to speak without hesitation since he was used to running at great distances due to Sarge's extreme training sessions.
"Yeah…and we're out…in the wilderness!" Shorty countered, wiping sweat from his forehead and still breathing heavily as he ran, "Which…means that…we don't even have overnight sup-…supplies!"
A sudden gasp came from Donut. He stopped and whirled on the soldier behind him. "Simmons!" he cried, "I think Shorty might be right! We should go back and get that stuff!"
"We'll be fine!" Simmons said haughtily, manoeuvring around Donut, neither stopping nor slowing his pace.
"You…don't know that!" Shorty continued, also running past Donut.
"Yes, I do!"
"I don't think…you understand the weight…of the situation, Simmons!" Shorty whined, "I mean…I could have been Big Foot, so…I think I…would know more than you…in this instance!"
"You were never Big Foot!"
"You don't…know that!"
"Shaddap, ladies!" Sarge yelled back to his soldiers, "Ah think someone's up ahead!"
Sure enough, up ahead the Blue Team was running toward the Reds from across the canyon, chasing a similar shard. As their eyes locked Shorty knew Sarge would consider it as part of their dastardly plan to destroy them. And then Sarge would turn on him, meaning he'd get yet another shot in the face.
"Aha!" Sarge shouted, whipping out his rifle, "I knew it was the Blues!"
"What the fuck is he talking about?" one of the Blue Team members asked, clad in teal armor.
Shorty examined them as they approached. The cobalt one in the lead ran just a bit more stiffly than the other team members. Behind him, the other four were clad in teal, royal blue, purple, and yellow respectively.
With sudden fire in his eyes, Sarge began shooting up a storm. "FIRE, MEN!"
The Red Team pulled out their weapons, Grif and Simmons held automatic rifles and Donut pulled out his pistol. It was then Shorty realized he didn't have a gun. In response the Blue Team pulled their weapons out, except for the purple one who pulled out a little green scanner thing and moved it around, pretending to do something important. Shorty decided to follow his lead, and held his hands in a gun shape.
"Bang!" Shorty shouted unconvincingly, trying to fit in with the other soldiers.
Through the shots and screams, the soldiers hardly noticed the two shards begin to vibrate as they neared each other. The closer they zoomed the brighter their glow became and the more intense the vibrations became.
The two shards collided.
The force at which they hit rocked the ground and the soldiers staggered for balance against the sudden shifting of the earth.
"Earthquake!" someone cried.
The soldiers were thrown violently to the ground. Rogue gunshots flew through the air and some grunted in pain when they landed wrong. Through the blinding light and rumbling ground, Shorty could see the two crystals slowly meld into one another. At first, the two shards alone were no bigger than his forefinger, but as one, they could have stretched across an entire palm. As the earthquake subsided, it fell to the ground harmlessly.
The Red and Blue soldiers slowly staggered up from where they had fallen in the grass. Their legs shook as they straightened up, still uneasy from the earthquake that had come from nowhere. Sarge however was up and aiming his shotgun within half a second.
"Wha'dya do, Blues?" he shouted, jamming the barrel of his gun toward the cobalt leader of the Blue Team.
"We didn't do anything!" Sarge's rival countered.
The Sergeant glanced at his fellow team members who were still struggling to get up, "Well c'mon, ladies! Battle Stations! Blue Destruction Plan D!"
"Yes, sir!" Simmons sprung into action and whacked Grif over the head with his assault rifle.
"Ow!" Grif moaned, collapsing once more. Donut gave an earsplitting scream and ran in circles behind the group. Sarge fired wildly at the blue-clad soldiers. Shorty shocked out of his confusion by the ringing of gun fire, squealed in fright and dived behind a nearby rock. The Blue team returned fire and the entire canyon was engulfed with the sound of ricocheting bullets. Sarge dashed toward the left canyon wall, dodging the oncoming fire with Simmons in close pursuit. Blue team stood their ground, remaining in formation to avoid the Red's attack.
"Donut!" Shorty shouted from behind the boulder, "What—" He couldn't get Donut's attention above the bullets his pink teammates womanly shrieks.
Suddenly, another explosion rocked the canyon. A ball of fire lit the sky, overpowering the light of the sun and blinding the small group of people. They were engulfed in heat and confusion and the battle became lost in a rain of shrapnel.
The force rocked Shorty back from his crouch and onto his back. He instinctively curled up, terrified by the loud sounds whirring around him as another rumble vibrated through the ground. He cowered until all that was left was the crackling of fire and groans of pain from the other soldiers.
Shorty tentatively opened his eyes, making a mental checklist to make sure he was okay. He felt no pain and he could move so he cautiously looked around. The fighting had stopped. Everyone was shocked into submission by the violent blast. A few hundred feet away lay a flaming hunk of metal, blackened but seemingly intact. Around it, chunks that had been pried loose were still rocking gently.
Finally he surveyed the various members of both teams had been knocked to their feet. The closest was Donut, seemingly out cold. Simmons was on his knees, nudging at the still form of Sarge with one hand and using his other to grip his thigh where blood was just barely visible through the matte of his maroon armour. Grif was just waking up from the earlier blow to his head; his helmet was laying a few feet away, dazed.
Shorty couldn't see the Blue Team but he assumed they were on the other side of the hunk of metal. He stood shakily and tried to make his way to where they were, hoping that everyone was alright. Only three of them were up. The yellow one was sitting on the ground, gripping her arm where a piece of shrapnel was just visible, and the royal blue one was curled up unconscious. When the three noticed Shorty they showed no signs of hostility, so he decided to ask, "What is it?"
The cobalt one was the first to speak. With a stunned tone, he replied, "Its Tex's ship."