NOTE: This is going to be a long chapter, pay attention to some of the details. They'll be important later on in the story.
It was quite tiring re-reading too make sure everything was correct. However there may be a mistake every once in a while that I didn't catch.
Chapter 6: Reckoning
…Connection Re-Established…
As the teen entered the facility, he was greeted by a darkly lit figure sitting on a high chair.
"Father's invasion has been commenced." The boy said sheepishly.
"Good, have you delivered the weapons to Father?"
The teen nodded.
"Excellent and how about the scientists, are they finishing the final pieces to our project?"
This time the young adult shook his head.
The owner of the voice emerged from his seat and walked down the stairs to stare face to face with his subordinate.
"No matter, so long as Father distracts those meddlesome brats, we will finish soon enough." The figure responded, looking up at a large circular chamber.
"Exactly what does that thing do?" the young teen asked.
"You'll see soon enough... Aiden, you'll see soon enough…" The figure grinned, knowing something that the boy had long forgotten.
The teen reacted to this name, it sounded so familiar, but so distant at the same time…
As their ship raced to the carrier in the area, they were greeted by 2x4 fighters and bombers heading towards the opposite direction.
The sky was riddled with anti-aircraft fire, and aircraft from both sides.
Below them, they could see enemy armored divisions advancing on the empty crop fields towards a city and the explosions of enemy shells reigning down on defensive positions.
They couldn't help but feel amazed and horrified at the site that had fallen upon them.
"Looks like hell on Earth…" one of the Russian operatives commented, staring in awe at the ensuing battle below.
Rachel felt guilty for the events that were unfolding below. She began to doubt herself and thought maybe if she was a bit more aggressive towards Global Command, she could have convinced them to do something, or maybe if she wasn't so careless by splitting the group apart, they wouldn't have been caught, or maybe if some else was Commander of the Kids…
She suddenly felt a set of eyes glaring at her.
The leader of Sector V seemed to read her mind.
"Rachel is everything ok?" the owner of the eyes scooted a bit closer towards the broken and guilt ridden blonde girl.
She shook her head, moved away from Nigel and turned her body towards the wall.
"Hey, if you need someone to…"
She began to feel even more censurable. How could anyone even consider talking to her after everything that's happened? In her head, she was the one responsible for the missions' failure and for the outbreak of war.
She couldn't take it anymore, even after everything; Nigel still cared for her.
"Nigel, shut the hell up!" She shouted at the top of her lungs
Everyone on board remained still.
"Rachel I was just…" Nigel stuttered, astonished at what just happened.
"No Nigel, SHUT UP, I don't need your pity. Your too immature to understand what's going on anyway, grow up you idiot."
The bald boy's mood went from one of understanding, to one of immense anger.
"You know Rachel, your right, you don't need my pity. And too immature to understand the circumstances you say? Well I'm not the one shouting and yelling at people who are simply trying to help."
Rachel added more fuel onto the already out of control fire.
"Seriously Numbuh 1, you need to keep your mouth zipped, do I need to order you to stop talking? I will never understand what on earth Lizzie saw in that stubborn head of yours."
Rachel remained silent, she really wished those words hadn't slipped out of her mouth.
Nigel's eye twitched and he immediately twisted away from the girl that he cared so much for.
They sat in total reticence until they landed on the carrier, the battle still violently being fought below them.
They arrived at the hovering ship, and were instantly greeted by one of the admiral's messengers.
"Supreme Commander Sir! The admiral has been waiting for your arrival, please follow me."
All around them, the deck was bustling with activity; sorties were taking off, fighters were being loaded with munitions and the crew manned the anti – aircraft batteries that were scattered throughout the ship.
Surrounding the ship were two additional carriers and several new Kids Next Door cruisers and frigates. They had combined with the admiral's fleet immediately upon the outbreak of Father's assault.
The task force was hovering right on the coast of France, and was providing close air support to ground forces throughout Europe.
It was 1 of the 5 Gihugacarriers of the Atlantic fleet, and one of the 14 stationed worldwide.
The Atlantic fleet had its hands tied, and news of Fathers navy heading towards the area only thinned their chances of repelling the advancing enemy forces.
The two arrived at the admiral's office.
Meanwhile, Sector V and the other operatives stayed behind on the deck awaiting for further orders.
"Greetings Commander-in-Chief and welcome back Numbuh 1. Please take a seat." The admiral saluted quickly.
"I told you guys it would come to this… Well, what'd you guys discover on your mission?" he sighed while giving commands to the crew through his microphone.
The admiral noticed that the pair seemed to have distanced themselves far more apart from each other than the first time he'd encountered them.
Rachel responded first, but was rudely interrupted by Nigel.
"Well I learned that our Dear Supreme Leader doesn't appreciate a lending hand."
The blonde girl gave off a death stare that nearly made Numbuh 1 curl up in a corner.
"Well I learned that the some people just don't know when to shut up!" nearly yelling at Nigel.
Numbuh 288 was amazed at the tension being built up in the room. Heck, just a few days ago, he thought the two were basically going out. He had to intervene if he wanted them listen to what he had to say.
He raised his hand, and proceeded with a soft but firm voice.
"Um… I don't mean to be rude, but can we all just calm down? There are much more important matters to attend too…" The admiral of the Atlantic fleet suggested.
The two heated leaders eased themselves, and sat back down in their seats.
The admiral brought up a map of Europe that emerged on his office screen. He continued, now seeing that the two had relaxed a bit.
"In the course of the past couple hours; Father's relenting advance has enabled him to capture nearly half of Europe."
Rachel was a bit shocked, she knew the Kids Next Door was ill-prepared, but she didn't think that they would be overwhelmed so quickly.
"His forces are nearly 20 miles away from Paris, if the city is captured, all of Europe would be lost."
Nigel respectively interrupted Numbuh 288. He remembered something he learned in school, probably one of the few things from that wretched place that managed to soak into his brain.
"But what about Britain sir, if I'm not mistaken they held their own during World War 2 and helped in the liberation of Europe from Nazi Germany."
The fleet commander took a deep breath.
"I'm sorry to tell you, but Britain was taken just moments ago…"
The usually brilliant leader of Sector V mellowed down and slouched back into his chair.
His home country was now under the direct rule of Father's tyranny.
Rachel took notice, and became a little sympathetic.
Just moments ago, the two were arguing due to her own frustrations. During the moment she felt the pressure from all the events take a toll on her, causing her to snap at one of her closest friends.
Rachel moved her chair a little closer to Nigel, but then moved back deciding that now was not the right time to try to cheer him up, especially after her outburst.
One of the admiral's messengers entered the doorway to his office.
"Excuse me, but the medic's onboard have informed me that Numbuh 624 has awaken from his coma."
"You two are dismissed, report back to me after you visit your friend." He saluted.
Rachel turned, and immediately got out her seat to follow the messenger to the ship's hospital. As she was about to exit the office, she turned to Nigel, who looked a bit grey.
"Coming Numbuh 1?" Smiled Rachel, causing his face to return back to its normal color.
As they walked down the halls, they could see a large amount of wounded pilots and soldiers coming in from the front just several miles away. From what Rachel could tell, things weren't looking good for the Kids Next Door.
They entered the hospital of the vessel, and were immediately overwhelmed by the large amount of pain and suffering in the room. They looked in horror as they realized that Father's weapons were much more advanced than before, and much more fatal.
One boy, suffering from significant shrapnel wounds to the leg and left shoulder, looked at the blonde girl.
Rachel looked back, unable to comprehend the situation.
The boy managed to bring his right arm up, and saluted his Commander-in-Chief.
She saluted back, touched by the willingness of the boy to acknowledge her despite his crippling wounds.
"This way." The messenger gestured, leading them into the room that contained Numbuh 624.
The two entered the room, gladly leaving the scene that was just behind them.
The sleek boy was already out of his bed, and gladly saluted his superior.
"Why hello Supreme Commander, sorry for my slip up… I'm the one who compromised…" Rachel butted in, putting her hand on his soldier to try to calm him down.
"Don't worry about it, just relax."
Numbuh 624's tension eased up, and Nigel becoming a bit jealous by the attention he was receiving.
Rachel proceeded in a gentle voice. "Now Numbuh 624, do you remember what you observed while on recon by yourself?"
He rubbed his head, and started to remember almost instantly.
"Yeah, actually I do."
The two were listening very intently, as to not to miss a detail.
"Please go on." Rachel said eager to hear what he had to say.
"Well, I saw a couple of figures; they were wearing some strange uniform I've never seen before. They were meeting up with one of Father's commanders to deliver some type of new weapon, a cannon of some sorts…"
"Do you have any idea what type of cannon it is, or what they plan to use it for?" the leader of Sector V said leaning his head.
The boy shrugged, looked down towards the floor and rubbed the back of his head. "No, all I managed to gather was that this weapon would somehow bring a swift victory. I don't see how, I mean they're just cannons and the carriers are managing to keep Father's forces at bay for now…"
Numbuh 624 then looked up to the ceiling, and remembered another important detail.
" Oh yeah! Also, the leader of the other group, was wearing a golden bracelet of some sort… it said "Death Before Dishonor", the same one Numbuh 900 wears… strange isn't it?"
Rachel gasped; the figure with the golden bracelet that Numbuh 624 saw was the same one she had encountered at the breakfast inn in Poland!
She immediately turned to Nigel. "We need to get Numbuh 900 now! That girl knows something and I need find out what now, heck she could be working with the enemy!"
While attempting to exit the hospital to question Numbuh 900, the ship was violently shaken.
"All hands on deck! Enemy fighters are attacking the Fleet. This is not a drill; I repeat this is not a drill!" a voice announced on the intercom.
The two quickly ran to find out what they could do to help defend the ship; Numbuh 900 would have to wait.
The pair ran to the admiral's office, to get updated on the situation.
"Numbuh 288's what's going on here?!" Rachel said, nearly out of breath from running through the halls.
The admiral was running around his office, frantically shouting orders through the intercom.
Numbuh 288 then diverted his attention to two of the organizations most skilled operatives.
"Several of Father's Teen Ninja fleets are attacking us simultaneously. Other admirals from all over the world are reporting the same thing, this is no random attack, this is coordinated." The admiral frowned, looking at the map of Europe.
Nigel asked. "What do you propose we do admiral?"
"We'll need to throw everything we got at them to defend this ship, we're the only ones blocking Father from conquering all of Europe, and the other carriers nearby have their hands full as well." He added, now determined.
Rachel rubbed the back of her neck a little a little confused. "Ok so what are you suggesting admiral..?"
"Already got you covered there, moments before the attack I sent several dive bombers and fighters equipped with torpedoes to sink the enemy fleet, if we can manage to hold off until they complete their mission, we'll regain control of the English Channel as well as most of the Atlantic Ocean."
"I see." The blonde girl said turning her head towards Nigel.
"Looks like me and you are headed up deck to man the anti – aircraft batteries."
"Wait, what?!" the admiral exclaimed.
Rachel looked a bit bewildered.
The admiral continued. "Are you kidding me?! You're the Supreme Commander of all Kids Next Door forces, and you're going to put yourself in harm's way? That's ridiculous, you're far too valuable."
She looked back; she understood the admiral's point of view. However, she didn't believe it was fair for her to sit back and command from a safe location while the rest of the KND was out fighting risking their lives.
"I'm sorry admiral, but you're going to need all the help you can get."
The admiral sighed, and then looked back up at his superior, her eyes reassuring.
"Understood… Now hurry up before we lose the ship!"
The two immediately ran up on deck and were completely overwhelmed by the sky's that surrounded them.
The sky was covered in black smoke from falling aircraft and damaged ships.
Dogfights could be seen above and below them and flak from the AA batteries nearly blocked out the sun.
"Look out!" Numbuh 4 shouted out.
They quickly moved out of the way as bullets strayed right passed them.
The two quickly got up and ran towards the rest of the team.
"Geeze, you could have been killed by those cruddy bullets."
"I know, I know." Rachel said a bit traumatized by the moment. She hadn't been out in the field for a while so it would take a little for her to get used too. She suddenly remembered that Numbuh 900 should still be with Sector V.
"Where's Numbuh 900?" she demanded to all of Nigel's Sector.
They then pointed towards one of the batteries. She was helping the crew load the thing, something that would be considered out of place due to her choice of combat.
Rachel turned towards Numbuh 1, "well I guess she's setting a good example for the rest of us, I mean she's used to hand to hand combat but even she's helping defend the ship."
Nigel nodded, and they proceeded to head to one of the empty AA batteries.
Meanwhile, Numbuh 789 was already helping with the SAM missile launchers on the ship's deck and Numbuh 222 was helping retrieve ammo.
It was going to be a tough battle, but they needed to win if they wanted any chance of defeating Father.
Nigel and Rachel agreed on their roles; he would spot any enemy aircraft to shoot at, while Rachel fired the battery.
"Are you sure you want to do this?" Nigel whispered to Rachel.
"Yeah I'm sure, besides, why would I want to miss out all the fun?" She smiled back at him.
Nigel smiled back; he was glad that the tension that existed between them just minutes earlier had nearly vanished.
As the two got ready to man the AA gun, several of the crew members around them were dumbfounded, some of them even opening their jaws in astonishment. They were surprised to see the head of the KND, fighting alongside them.
They all stopped what they were doing and saluted.
"What are you guys doing?! Stop wasting time and defend this ship!" She commanded.
They resumed what they were doing and continued to pump tracer bullets and flak into the skies.
"5 o'clock!" Nigel shouted.
Rachel turned her turret and shot at the bomber that was just about to drop its payload on the deck. She hit the bombers fuel tank and it immediately burst into flames, causing it to spiral out of control nearly hitting the ship.
Out of nowhere, a cruiser just to the right of their carrier exploded.
"The Atlantian is hit! It's losing attitude." One of the crew members on deck pointed out
The crew watched in horror as the cruiser began to lose its hovering ability and slowly descended into the ground below.
It served as a constant reminder that they too would suffer the same fate if the ship endured a direct hit..
One of the crew members suddenly shouted at the blonde girl.
"Supreme Leader watch out!" she looked into the sky; a plane had dropped a bomb near her position.
She felt a hand violently pull her out of the turret's chair moments before the bomb completely exploded her entire section.
"Portside of the ship has been hit, I repeat portside of the ship has been hit!" one of the crew on deck radioed in.
Emergency crew immediately poured out of the ship's deck to put out the fire and gather any wounded who survived the blast.
Rachel, a little shocked, look back to the one responsible for saving her.
Nigel was right behind her, gasping for air.
"Close call huh?" he said trying to regain his breath.
"A little to close…" she replied back sheepishly, massaging her shoulder that Nigel nearly dislocated.
The two continued to do whatever they had to do to help defend the ship. Several minutes later the enemy planes stopped bombing and made a 180 degree turn.
"The enemy is retreating!" one of the crew members on one of the batteries pointed out. They looked towards the horizon as they saw hundreds of enemy fighters and bombers report back to their Teen Ninja carriers.
The crew cheered amidst the smoke and debris that surrounded them.
"Numbuh 362 and Numbuh 1, please report to the admiral's office" one the intercoms of the ships deck stated.
They walked down the ship's halls towards the admiral's office, passing groups of shell shocked crew members and pilots.
Upon entering the admiral's office, they were surprised to see the admiral a little bit more joyful.
"Yes admiral what did you want to see us for?" Nigel asked.
The admiral displayed the map on his screen, straightened his uniform and turned back to the two operatives standing before him.
"Not only did we manage to keep our fleet relatively intact, but our bombers also managed to sink most of the enemy's carrier fleet in the area. We now have full control over most of the Atlantic and the English Channel." He said, looking a bit surprised that his plan even succeeded.
But then the admiral's excitement died down, and he took a deep breath and a shot of root beer before he continued.
"Recon reports of several new weapon prototypes designed to shoot a high energy beam into the skies that are capable of downing all of our fleets." He sighed.
"However, we don't believe they are operational at this moment." The admiral finished before taking another shot of root beer.
Rachel began to remember something; Numbuh 624 said something about a new cannon… and something about that cannon bringing the enemy swift victory… It all made sense now!
"Admiral, turn this ship back now! One of my scouts spotted a cannon being delivered to the one of Father's commanders and it appears to be fully functional!"
Numbuh 288 was stumped. "And you know this how…?" he said back suspiciously.
"Just trust me, that's an order!" she commanded.
The admiral reached for his microphone. "All engine crews, reverse the ships…."
A violent explosion rocked the ship. As the admiral looked through his window, he saw a bright energy beam shoot right through one of the carriers causing a massive explosion. He watched in terror as one of the mighty Gihugacarriers split into two.
"Dang, you were right… Numbuh 362 and Numbuh 1, I want you and the rest of the crew to abandon ship, there's nothing we can do about those cannons."
They nodded, "but what about you admiral?"
He turned and fixed his cap. "I'll join you after I warn the rest of the KND navy around the world and make sure all the ship's crew has evacuated."
"Ok, well see you soon." Gestured Rachel.
"Yeah… see you soon Supreme leader… you two take care." The admiral muttered, grabbing the whole bottle of root beer.
The two emerged on deck and approached Sector V while S.C.A.M.P. and aircraft were frantically taking off .
"What happened to the Russian Sector and the rest of the team?" Rachel remembered, adamantly scanning the ship's deck with her eyes.
"They took off a couple minutes ago to the help our forces in the front." Numbuh 5 responded.
"And how about Numbuh 624, wasn't be below deck?"
Kuki stepped out of the crowd. "He made a full recovery and left with Numbuh 789 and 222."
"Never mind that! Did you see that beam completely obliterate that carrier next to us?! How the crud are we going to fight against that!" an Australian accent interrupted.
Wally was in full panic mode, he enjoyed fighting, but only when he had the advantage.
Numbuh 3 cheerfully responded. "Well I got my rainbow monkey of certain doom!"
All the operatives covered their faces with their palms.
"Did you guys see Numbuh 900? I have some important questions for her." Rachel blurted out, hoping that she hadn't left with the rest of the team.
They turned towards the girl who was sitting behind the group.
Rachel quickly walked up towards her, their noises practically touching.
"You… you have some explaining to do."
The girl simply sighed.
"It's too late…"
Rachel thought, what? What did she mean "too late?"
Suddenly, a beam ripped through the middle of the ship, causing the remaining crew to panic and frantically board the S.C.A.M.P. .
Hoagie immediately got onto his ship.
"Hurry! We gotta get outta here before the ship goes down!"
All of Sector V entered, but right when the three other operatives were about to enter, the ship rocked violently, and began to nose dive into the ground.
Numbuh 2 tried to keep the S.C.A.M.P.E.R stable enough for the Numbuh 1, 362, and 900, but had no choice but to take off.
"Numbuh 2 whataya doing?!" yelled Numbuh 5.
"I have no choice! I'm sure they'll find a way out!"
The S.C.A.M.P.E.R zoomed off to join the rest of the fleet in retreat.
"Darn! What are we doing to do now?!" Rachel said, looking towards the horizon watching their only chance of survival zoom in the distance..
Nigel observed his surrounding despite the ship going down at a 90 degree angle.
He noticed a metallic capsule that had been left on the deck by the crew.
"There, it's an escape capsule!" he pointed.
The two didn't question him and immediately followed Nigel towards their only route of escape.
Upon entering, Nigel realized something.
"Um… don't these things only work when being shot out of a launcher at the bottom or side of a ship…?"
Numbuh 900 sighed and Rachel looked at him grudgingly.
"Yes…"
The boy turned his back and looked around to avoid eye contact with his Commander.
"I forgot..."
They suddenly felt the carrier split in half, and the capsule rocketed forward towards the edge of the ship.
"We're not gonna make it!" Rachel yelled, now grabbing onto the hand of Nigel.
For once in his life, Nigel admitted that their chances of survival were slim to none. He had to tell Rachel something important, something he developed deep inside him.
"Hey Rachel, just in case we don't survive I just wanna…"
Suddenly the rockets beneath the capsule engaged and shot down towards the ground below.
All the occupants inside were unable to speak due to the near supersonic speed.
The capsule landed hard, and then everything went black.
The last thing that was visible to them was the Eiffel tower in the distance.
The operatives woke up, and the door of the capsule immediately sprung open, several figures pulled them out to safety hurriedly dodging stray bullets.
Rachel murmured… "Who are you…?"
One of the figures responded "101st infantry battalion of the Kids Next Door, we got word that you were located in area and rushed to area as fast as possible."
"What… Where's everybody else?"
The private pointed to the other soldiers dragging out her fellow comrades.
She looked around her. Soldiers we're running left and right, and 2x4 tanks were frantically launching shells at the advancing enemy armor. Buildings were collapsing, burying anyone unfortunate enough to be in or underneath them.
Everything suddenly became fuzzy, and the loud explosions and yelling around her begun to sound so distant before she finally passed out.
She was again rudely awakened when a bright light penetrated her eye lids.
Rachel jerked up quickly, and the doctor inspecting her jumped a bit back.
Soldiers immediately entered the tent hospital.
A voice broke out "stand down." A well-decorated boy said entering the tent.
He wore a beret, and a military uniform with a bunch of square ribbons embedded on his right chest. She could make out the writing on his tag which said "Peterson."
"I can't believe you guys don't recognize your own Supreme Leader." He snorted at the two soldiers, who looked a bit ashamed.
"Ah, why hello there Jan!" Rachel greeted, still trying to recover from the capsule's crash.
"Hello to you Supreme Leader." Replied 1885.
The general straitened his stance and saluted.
"At ease general." She signaled.
The boy relaxed his body and sat down in a chair near her.
"Jan Peterson, commander of all allied forces in Europe." She smiled, slowly getting out of the makeshift bed.
"Still doesn't beat your position, Supreme Leader." He teased.
The two operatives go way back, having met at the KND's equivalent of West Point. During that time, they became close colleagues, but they parted their ways when she was recruited into the intelligence and infiltration agency sector.
"Sorry to sound a little rude, but where's the rest of my team?" She said, a bit worried.
"There in the other tents recovering, they'll be awake shortly." He responded, getting up from his chair about to exit the structure.
"I'll let you recover, I'll update you on the situation once you and your team are up to speed." Jan added, before moving the flap of the tent.
"Wait! Can you at least give me an idea about how the front is holding up?"
Numbuh 1885 stood still, and took a deep breath.
"Take a look for yourself outside." The commander said in a soft and depressed voice, exiting her tent.
Rachel stepped outside with Jan, and was almost discouraged by the scene around her. The Commander of all European forces was right.
She witnessed the black smoke blanket the sky as well as the sound of distant artillery shells pounding the Earth. Convoys of KND troop transports and tanks were steaming towards the front, hoping to make one last desperate counter attack.
"What? What on Earth as happened! I thought the enemy was miles away from Paris, how can they already be invading the city?" Rachel nearly blurted out at the Commander.
Numbuh 1885 simply stared at the sky.
"When the carriers were destroyed, the enemy quickly overcame our already strained defenses worldwide."
He then looked at Rachel. "Only 3 out of the 14 carriers stationed worldwide survived! Only 3! Do you have any idea what this means?!"
Jan was on the verge of losing his mind, the pressure of commanding of all forces in Europe was beginning to take a toll on him, and him losing ground only made matters worse.
Jan calmed down, and regained his cool. "All allied armies are taking serious casualties, but refuse to retreat unless you give the order to do so. Anyway, I'll go over everything once your friends wake up, if you need me, I'll be in my office." Jack saluted.
"Where's Nigel and Numbuh 900?" Rachel asked before Numbuh 1885 turned.
He pointed to a tent.
Upon entering the hospital tent, she was startled to see Nigel already waking up.
He saw Rachel and managed to murmur something towards her.
"Are we in heaven…?" he asked dizzily.
"No, actually if I'm not mistaken you're in the middle of a battlefield." She said jokingly.
The boy rubbed his eyes and put on his red sweater that was laying on the counter next to him.
"Figures"
Numbuh 900 was still unconscious, and they decided to let her rest. She was about to enter some serious interrogation once she woke up.
Upon standing out of the hospital bed, Rachel randomly asked Nigel a question.
"Hey Nigel, what were you going to tell me on the capsule…?"
The pretty girl standing in front of him was twirling her hair and trying to avoid eye contact.
Her face was literally several inches away.
"Well, I was…"
Suddenly Numbuh 1885 walked in. "Ah bout time you woke up Numbuh 1!"
The two broke away, Rachel's cheeks almost entirely red.
"Numbuh 1885 sir!" Numbuh 1 quickly saluted.
"You can just call me Jan if you'd like." The commander replied.
"What's the situation like out there?" Nigel asked, now concerned.
Jan frowned, and turned towards Rachel. "Well our Supreme Leader already got a quick look, but I'll inform both of you in detail in my post. Please, follow me."
"What about Numbuh 900?" Rachel asked.
"Let her rest, my staff will alert us when she awakes."
She nodded, and they both followed Jan into his command post.
Upon entering, holograms of army officers requesting for additional support lit up the room, and the massive screens displayed the position of ground forces.
The command post was flooded with activity, communication operators directing artillery barrages and airstrikes, relocating ground troops, and so on.
The commander finally led them into his office.
"Now I bet your wondering what the hell is going on here."
The commander glared at them, and they both nodded instantly.
"Well, like I told Numbuh 362 earlier, the loss of our navy has allowed Father's armies too move at an accelerated rate."
"Is there anything you can do to stop him?" Nigel asked, hoping for some good news.
"No." Jan replied coldly.
"Well then what are we supposed to do?!" Nigel added.
"Hold out and hope for a miracle." He frowned.
"We are trying to hold out, but allied commanders from all over the world are reporting up to a 70% casualty rate."
"How about North America?" Rachel interrupted.
The commander sat in his chair for a bit, and thought about her question.
"North America is being hit pretty hard, but their holding up better than the rest of us. But that's bound to change once Father captures Europe and Asia."
Rachel wasn't surprised; Numbuh 60 was the new commander of forces in North America, related to one of the greatest generals in history.
"How long do you think we'll have if our remaining forces retreat to the Arctic Base?"
"Um, maybe 2 or 3 weeks, however long it takes Father to assemble an invasion force." Jan replied.
"I order all forces of the Kids Next Door to retreat to North America and rendezvous at the Arctic base, from there we'll re-group and re-organize at the Moon Base to plan a counter-attack."
Numbuh 1885 was stunned, and was at a loss of words.
"You… you want us to retreat?" he stuttered.
"Yeah, look we have to face reality, there's no way we'll be able to hold our defensive perimeters at this rate. Get me on screen, I need to make a worldwide announcement."
"Rachel are you sure?" Nigel's stormy eyes now glaring at her.
"Yeah I'm sure…" she sighed.
Rachel sat at a desk, with a KND flag behind her. The camera was now rolling.
All around the world, her image was being broadcasted.
The commanders watched the screen intently, and the soldiers fighting on the front opened up their devices that showed am image of their Supreme Leader.
"This is your Supreme Leader reporting in." she said before briefly pausing.
"I'm sure many of you are fighting on the frontlines as we speak, and I commend you for that. During the past couple of hours, we have seen Father's forces relentlessly and mercilessly attack our bases, our homes, and our friends. Many of you have already witnessed those closest to you die, or get seriously wounded, and you have my condolences." She then paused again, the command post now silent.
"The attack on our navy has left our military crippled and in serious need of repair. I myself was on the flag ship of the Atlantic fleet when it went down, but survived due to the courageous acts those around me. I now ask not for you to continue fighting, or to try to hold positions that you in your head know is already lost, but I now ask for you to retreat to the Artic base." She sighed, and then continued.
"Make no mistake, we are not leaving Earth behind, we would never commit such a cowardly act. We will return, and strike back at Father's forces with lightning speed. Good luck to all of you, see you all at the Arctic Base, your Supreme Leader signing out."
The transmission ended, and Rachel walked towards Nigel.
"Do you feel that I made the right decisions?" her voice sounding weak.
"Only time will tell." Nigel responded. If it's anything he'd learned during this whole ordeal, was that nothing was certain.
One of the commander's messages then ran up to Numbuh 1885 and whispered something in his ear.
Jan diverted his attention towards the two operatives. "Numbuh 900's awake."
They rushed to her tent, Rachel being the first to enter.
"How are you doing Numbuh 900, say I could never quite remember your name, what was it?" she said in a gentle voice.
"Serena." The shallow girl replied back.
"Serena, we have some questions for you."
The girl nodded her head, and Rachel sat in a seat right next to her.
"What do you know of an Arctic facility?"
Suddenly, Rachel could see in girl's deep black eyes she was having flashbacks.
Serena began blinking radically, "I can't tell you."
"Why not?" Rachel said a little impatient.
"There are horrors there that you can't even begin to imagine…" she whispered.
"Like what?!" Rachel yelled, she was getting really annoyed now.
Numbuh 1885 busted through the entrance of the tent.
"Supreme Leader, we need to get you out of here NOW!"
"What the? What's going on?!"
"Several armored and infantry divisions have broken through the city's defenses and are due to arrive at this location in less than 10 minutes!"
Nigel and Rachel grabbed Serena, and put her in the first S.C.A.M.P.E.R that was headed to the Arctic Base. Despite the pleas from the commander and soldiers around her to board first, she resfused to do so.
"Keep a watch on her." She said to several of the infantrymen on board.
The nodded, and the S.C.A.M.P.E.R took off with several others and a fighter escort.
As the two walked off to wait for the next set of evacuation ships to arrive, an enemy tank suddenly busted through one of the buildings.
It's main cannon then aimed at one of the anti-tank guns nearby being loaded. A shell exited the tanks cannon and made a direct hit, causing the operatives manning it to jump to cover.
Behind the tank rushed several of enemy soldiers, now shooting at the defending infantry.
All around them, operatives were being torn to shred by machine gun fire.
The two jumped into a nearby dugout. Nigel then grabbed a rifle and began shooting back. "Rachel stay behind me." He whispered.
"No, how about you give me a pistol?" Nigel was stumped.
"For the second time today, I'm fighting whether you like it or not!" she commanded.
He then handed her a pistol, and they both began firing rounds back at the enemy.
Jan, having separated from them when they loaded Serena onto the S.C.A.M.P.E.R quickly ran to their positions followed by several other soldiers.
"The second wave of S.C.A.M.P. is due in 5 minutes, we'll need to hold them off until then." He announced towards Rachel and Nigel.
All around them enemy shells were landing near their entrenchment and the machine gun fire from the tank bogged them down. To make matters worse Father's soldiers were quickly surrounding their dugout.
"Do something about the machine gunner on top of that tank!" Yelled one of the operatives.
Rachel then looked out to take a shot at the tank's gunner.
Nigel pushed her out of the way and a bullet suddenly grazed her cheek, causing a small gash.
"Are you ok Rachel?!" he shouted, taking out the machine gun on top of the enemy tank.
Trying to shrug off her near death experience she replied back.
"Yeah, thanks Nigel." She said wiping the small amount of blood on her cheek.
"The S.C.A.M.P.E.R are less than 1 minute out! Do something about that tank or we're not gonna make it out of here alive!" Numbuh 1885 shouted frantically, loading his rifle.
"We can't sir, we have no anti-tank weapons." Replied one of his Sergeants.
Numbuh 1885 then sighed, and looked at the S.C.A.M.P.E.R just 20 seconds out about to land.
"I guess I have no choice then, I'll distract them, along with any volunteers. Numbuh 1 and Numbuh 362, you two get out on the last ship outta here."
Instantly, all the remaining operatives raised their hands. Jan's kindness and courageousness gained the loyalty of his soldiers, and they would fight to the end with him no matter what.
"No, none of us get left behind!" Rachel yelled.
"In war, sacrifices must be made." Putting a bayonet on his rifle.
"Now go! The S.C.A.M.P.E.R is waiting!"
Rachel was reluctant to leave, but finally accepted his request.
"Thanks Jan." the blonde girl then put her hand on his shoulder before running off with Nigel.
Jan shouted one last thing to the two before they entered the S.C.A.M.P.E.R causing them to stop.
"Aye Nigel! Take care of Rachel, she's a keeper!"
Nigel blushed. He thought, was it that obvious?
As the two boarded the ship, they watched Numbuh 1885 prepare to charge at the enemy, World War 1 style. The ship then took off, and they quickly glanced in terror as they saw the general and his soldiers charge at the enemy, being mowed down by the enemy tank and machine gun fire. They didn't stand a chance.
They now raced towards North America. Having witnessed the horrors of war, Rachel began thinking to herself.
"Hey Nigel, think we'll be able to put an end to this war…?" Rachel said, now extremely depressed. The war was more violent than she could have ever imagined.
The boy responded back, comprehending all of the day's experiences.
"I hope so…"
TRANSMISSION INTERRUPTED
Things are starting to get a little more interesting :P, I'll try to update as soon as possible. I've been extremely busy due family and the holidays.
Remember to review and follow!
NOTE (1/2/2013): I'll be going on a cruise this weekend (starting Friday), and will be unable to update for the rest of this week.
However, story still continues, just may take a bit longer to update.
Thanks!