Hey everybody! I hope you all had a spectacular Christmas! For a late Christmas gift here is another chapter that is longer then the last! (A lame gift I know but its better than nothing right?) Last time on Dragon Ba—Er, I mean Code name FE: The Devastator caused the Liberty to crash near SteamGate Bridge. With the ship temporarily grounded S.T.E.A.M. decided to look for any survivors from the attack. What will happen to them? Let's find out!
Chapter 9: A Chilly Reception
After they got outside the ship and helped anyone they found who survived the attack near where they landed the team made their way to Steamgate bridge and found a elevator to get to the upper deck. When the stepped out of the elevator the saw the area was ransacked. Whatever wasn't destroyed was frozen in ice.
"Gods…." Robin said looking at the work of the aliens.
"The place is a mess." Lion said looking around. "Could their really be survivors around?"
"Let's look around." Tiger Lily suggested.
"Bout time y'all showed up!"
A young boy in a red uniform with a red hat and light red hair jumped down next to them.
"Kid, don't you know you're in a war zone? Skedaddle on home." Henry said turning to him.
"That ain't no way to talk to a fellow agent! I been waitin' on y'all!"
"You're an agent?" Marth asked the boy
"Team, meet Tom Sawyer." The president said over the wireless. "Don't let his smart mouth fool you. He's the best spy we have."
"What brings you here, Tom?" Henry asked.
"Oh I had a notion the aliens'd come after this bridge, so I figgered I'd better check it out."
"Looks to me like you weren't doing much more than sightseeing." John said.
"What was that?" Tom growled.
"Nice to meet you, agent Sawyer." Henry said changing the subject.
"Ow!"
Lucina fell to her knees after felling a sharp pain in her back.
"Lucian! What happened!?" Robin asked as he ran up to her.
"I feel….dizzy…" the princess groaned.
"Look!"
Lion pointed to a small one eyed fly like alien.
Tiger lily shoot it down with a steam musket.
"You don't belong here."
"Be careful that thing might have been a scouter!" Henry said.
Soon a Slasher approached them.
"Our foe is here!" Marth warned as he drew his sword and blocked its tail.
From its left Tom's gun launched a large fist knocking it away before it turned into a block of ice and shattered.
"That'll learn ya!"
"What the heck was that!?" John asked looking at Tom's choice of weapon.
"My good ol punch gun! Not only is it lighter than most weapons but it barley uses any steam!"
"Are you alright?" Marth asked Lucina as he healed her.
"Yes, I think so. Thank you kin- I mean Marth." Lucina said getting up.
"Tom, did you see any survivors up here?" Ike asked.
"Sure did! Them monsters froze them all solid! They should still be alive though!"
"How many are here?" Robin asked.
"Six. In fact there's on right there." Tom said pointing to a nearby chunk of ice shaped like a woman.
"Maybe your fire magic can thaw them out." Lucina said to Robin.
"I don't know. I'm worried that I might end up burning them alive."
"A burst of steam from your packs should defrost them." Kathrine suggested.
Tiger Lily ran up to the chunk of ice and let a burst of steam come out of his gun. Soon the woman thawed out and got up.
"I thought that was the end of me."
"It's alright now." Tiger Lily said to the woman. "Get in the elevator and head down the path. A ship will be there."
"Thank you. I will not forget this." The woman said before she left.
"Let's go find the others." John said.
"You guys go on ahead." Tiger Lily said. "I need to wait for my steam tank to recharge. I'll catch up in a bit."
"Alright." Henry said before turning to the rest of the team. "Robin, Lucina, and Tom' you guys take the right side. Tiger Lily, you join them when you can. John, Marth, Ike and I will go around the left side. Lion guard the elevator and make sure the people get out alive. And remember everyone: no unnecessary risks! We are all coming out of this alive!"
"Yes sir!"
"Alright let's move!"
"Woo-hoo! Let's get goin'!" Tom said.
Robin and Lucina followed Tom around the structure and to two people frozen with a Prowler guarding it.
Lucina shoot at it with Nidhogg injuring it. Suddenly an elephant like alien approached them.
"What is that?" Robin asked.
The alien stuck its trunk in the ground and suddenly the Prowler next to it was healed.
"Damn! Looks like they have medics as well!" Robin said.
The Scourge stuck its trunk in the ground again. This time it popped up right in front of Lucina and Robin slamming into them knocking them down.
"Hey!"
Tom shot at the Scourge with his punch gun dazing it.
Robin glared at the aliens and got out his tome.
"Arc fire!"
Robin launched a fireball from his hand and the monsters were destroyed in the blast.
"Are you two alright?" Tom asked.
"I'm fine." Lucina grunted getting up.
"Same here." Robin replied.
"Don't push yourselves."
They turned around to see Tiger Lily as she healed them with her Mdei-Mortar.
"Thank you." Lucina said feeling better.
"Henry, watch out for those elephant shaped aliens. They can heal others."
"Got it. Thanks Robin." The captain responded over the wireless.
"That was a cool trick you got there!" Tom said to Robin. "Was that actually magic?"
"Yeah. It's pretty common in our world." Robin said closing his tome.
"Really? Can anyone use it?" Tom asked.
"With enough practice yes. Actually you remind me a lot of Ricken." Robin smiled.
"Who's that?"
"One of our army's mages. He's one of our youngest but he always tries his best and will do anything for the people he cares about." Robin smiled thinking of the energetic lad.
"Well I can't speak for him but I'm just doing my job!" Tom smiled as he walked up to a civilian before defrosting him as Tiger Lily did the same to the other.
"W-was that part of the ceremony?" One of them asked.
"What do you think?" Tom asked him.
"No…probably not…"
"Thank you for thawing me out." The other man said.
"No problem." Lily replied. "Head for the elevator. One of our agents is guarding it."
The men hurried for the elevator while Robin and Lucina waited with Tom and Tiger Lily for their steam tanks to refill before moving on.
Henry's team were near two more survivors but were stopped by two Prowlers and a Scourge.
"We'll never get to those civilians at this rate!" John said from behind the container they were hiding behind to avoid enemy fire.
"Time for my ace in the hole then." Henry grinned.
He got up from behind the container and took out an eagle shaped object. He pressed a button and the wings spread out.
"RED, WHITE AND BOOM!"
Henry threw it at them and it exploded.
When the smoke cleared all that was left were the shards of ice from the defeated aliens.
"Well done!" Marth smiled to Henry.
"Thanks!"
Henry and John thawed out the civilians.
"You alright there?" John asked one of them.
"Oh, yes! Thank you!"
"You saved me! Thank you!" The other man said to Henry.
"Just doing our job. Hurry to the elevator. One of our friends is protecting it."
The men left and soon the Henry's team met up with Robin's.
"Looks like there is only one left. Any idea where they are Tom?" Henry asked.
"In there." Tom said pointing into a building.
"They must be lying in wait for us." Tiger Lily warned.
"So what now?" Ike asked.
"Tom is on the job!"
Tom brought out a slingshot and fired a bunch of round flat metal objects to the ground in front of the building.
"Okaaaay what's your big plan now?" John asked.
"Hello in there!" Tom hollered.
The aliens came out one by one and charged at Tom but as soon as the stepped into the objects he placed they exploded destroying them.
"Mines!?" Henry asked surprised to see a kid like Tom packing such weapons.
"Like shooting fish in a barrel!"
"Nicely done!" Robin said to him.
The team went in the building and John thawed out the last survivor.
"You came all this way just to save us?" the woman asked. "Thank you."
"That's all of them!" Tom cheered triumphantly.
"Excellent work agents!" the president said over the wireless.
"How is the ship sir?" Henry asked.
"The Liberty is repaired and ready. Please return to the ship at once."
"Yes sir!"
"Follow us." Henry told the civilian.
The woman nodded and the team headed back to the elevator.
"All engines fired and ready. Ahead full!"
With that the helmsman started the ship and it slowly went back into the air.
"What the flamin' heckfire is that?!"
"The flamin' what?" John asked as the team went to the window Tom was looking out of.
"That dastard again!?" Robin yelled looking at the area below.
Sure enough the Devastator that brought down the Liberty before was under them holding a huge chunk of ice.
"Helmsman, cast off! Get us out of here!" Henry ordered.
"Belay that order!"
The team didn't know what surprised them more. What the president just said over the wireless or the fact that he was suddenly nowhere to be seen.
"Prepare to deploy!"
"Anthropomorphized battle engine online!" Kathrine responded.
Suddenly a hatch door from under the ship and dropped a giant robot shaped like a human with a top hat.
The machine landed in front of the Devastator and punched the block of ice it was holding shattering it to pieces.
"What is that thing!?" Lion asked.
"Like we would know." Ike responded.
The president was inside the robot holding on to the two handles controlling it.
"It's my turn now…"
The president brought the robot into a fighting position.
"And I'm steamed!"
What is this new weapon? Will it defeat the Devastator? Did everybody enjoy their Christmas? Find out all this (I sure as heck know I did!) And more next time!