Chapter 32: Third times the trouble pt. 2
All of the TUFF agents gather up early in the morning and began discussing the general plan.
"Sadly, we are more than likely going to be outnumbered and outgunned by the HEAD forces. Our only chance is to aim directly for the flagship that Charlie will be in and to take him down." Keswick says as he fidgets unsure of what the outcome of this fight.
"Good thing that Charlie has never managed to take down Kitty in a sparring match. I doubt that he'll be able to take her down in a fight." Dudley answers proud of the fact that he remembered that fact.
"Well, that's easier said then done. We're going to have to avoid heavy amounts of laser fire and get to one of the flagship's docking bays." Keswick answers having no idea of what the flagship will look like.
"Since he'll be leading the forces, the mothership like in most cases will still be stationed at the back of HEAD forces. This will give him both the most protection as well as the greatest view of the battle to adjust the battle as need dictates.
Meanwhile, on the flagship of the HEAD forces that is starting to appear within viewing distance of Petropolis, Charlie sat at a console that held connections to the battleships of the forces as well as the security measures throughout the flagship. "Sir, we are ready to begin the assault on the city at your command." A voice says as a figure appears from a hologram monitor in front of Charlie.
"Maintain formation, send out the first wave of figthers. Station the turret operators at first sign of resistance. DOOM doesn't have the technological capabilities to resist us, but TUFF is a different story." Charlie answers his hands clutched together with his elbows on the table.
"Understood sir. Informing the other captains to the strategies." The person responds, the sound of him or her typing up the strategy at an audible noise level.
"Very well. Keep me informed about any thing noticed about the enemy forces at earliest opportunity. Ending transmission." Charlie responds before turning his attention to a large array of monitors. Each monitor displaying separate sections of the flagship.
"Aye." The person responds before the image closes.
"Chief, we just got reports about the HEAD forces. There are four ships, three battleships and the flagship in the back would be the best assumption. They have already dispatched a wave of fighters." Kitty calls out hurriedly as she runs over from the window.
"Okay people. The TUFF mobiles have been outfitted to fly, but it's whether or not the pilot can handle it will determine if it can fly and how far. Take down as many fighters as possible, but our main goal is boarding the flagship." Chief says before the TUFF forces head to the TUFF mobiles which shortly afterwards drive out of TUFF HQ. After driving, all the TUFF mobiles configure to planes and take off toward the flagship.
Upon seeing the TUFF forces take flight, the captains station men to take charge of the turrets which instantly begin opening fire on the TUFF aircraft as the fighters begin to initiate a dogfight. Kitty, taking charge of one ship, and Keswick in charge of another, along with other TUFF agents open fire on the turrets and the HEAD fighters.
Upon seeing the TUFF forces fly by a battleship, one captain alerts Charlie. "Sir, they appear to be heading for the flagship directly." The captain says hastily.
"Keep calm. Keep firing, regardless of damage to allied ship. Refrain from sending any more fighters. Send those men to transporter to be sent over here as security forces. I shall capture the head members of TUFF by using the flagship itself as a trap. I'll lead them to my chamber, but I'll have the transported men serve to get them to surrender." Charlie answers as he directs his attention to the security door control center. He enters in numerous commands into the console and several security doors close.
"Very well." The voice answers before closing out.
As the TUFF forces close in on the closest docking bay, several of their aircraft get shot down by either turret fire or fighter fire. Luckily, the pilots eject before their aircraft collide with the ground. Eventually, only the aircraft with Keswick and Kitty as the pilots remain airborne as they land in the docking bay of the flagship. Dudley hops and jumps in joy. "YES! We did it!" He cheers out loud.
Kitty hops out and bops Dudley on the head. "Quiet you idiot. We are only halfway through this mission. This is obviously a trap, but it's the only way to get to Charlie." Kitty answers as Keswick and Chief get out of their aircraft and look around for a point to advance on. They see a single door and all four of them begin to advance through it, aware that Charlie would more than likely be watching their steps. That awareness was spot on as Charlie was watching their every move through at least one monitor from his station. The men that he had called to act as security having arrived before the aircraft having landed in the docking bay. Charlie has stationed them at small points to the sides of the passage way that he had dictated as the TUFF agents path to his chamber.
Kitty, Keswick, and Chief sweep the area around them with their laser weapons as they made their way to Charlie's chamber. Charlie seeing them grow closer, stood up from his chair and sets a timer for the doors hiding the security forces to open before heading out of his chambers into the sight of the TUFF forces on board. Upon seeing him, the forces all rush toward Charlie, but during that time, the timer expired and the security forces came out of hiding and shocked all four of them into unconsciousness. "Sir, what do we do with them?" One of the men asks looking over to Charlie.
"Take the dog to my chamber for questioning. I am curious about something. Take the other three to cells." Charlie answers before he returns to his chamber. The men all nod their head. Two of them take Dudley to Charlie's chambers as the reminder take the remaining three TUFF agents and carry them away to holding cells.
Several minutes later, Dudley starts to recover and looks around. He sees Charlie in his chair, his feet up on his desk and two HEAD guards stationed at the only conventional exit from the room. "I am curious about something. Why didn't you fight me when you first saw me? We are enemies after all." Charlie asks as he turns to look at Dudley, but otherwise doesn't move.
"Because where I am from, we aren't enemies, so I wasn't expecting you to be." Dudley answers as the guards keep watching.
"So, you had crossed through a dimensional anomaly?" Charlie answers curiously, not believing Dudley.
"Not really, well maybe, but it was mostly a temporal anomaly. I basically crossed into an alternate timeline while I was trying to go to the past." Dudley answers being honest, though by the look on Charlie's face, he still wasn't buying the story that was being presented to him.
"I know as well as most the pain and trouble that comes from trying to mess with something as complex as time, but I still doubt that an error would be grave enough to cause that." Charlie answers before turning to look at the guards. "I got what I wanted from him, though I don't believe him. You can take him to the other's in their holding cells." Charlie later adds on.
The guards nod their heads and start to take Dudley away. Dudley flails around, the chewtoy Charlie got for him flying out of his pocket and landing on the ground, though the guards had their back to the objects and disregarded the sound as anything important. Though they didn't regard it as anything important, Charlie notices it and picks it up. He notices the fact that his name is engraved on the one side of the chewtoy. This changed his entire viewpoint on Dudley's story. Charlie knew his own handwriting when he sees it and the graving on the chewtoy that was in fact his own. "Bring him back here, there was a question I had forgotten to ask him earlier." Charlie says much to the confusion of the guards.
Eventually the guards nod their heads as they release Dudley. "Leave the room." Charlie says calmly.
"But sir." One guard starts to interject before he sees the angered and annoyed look on Charlie's face and the guard immediately refrains from continuing on. Both the guards leave the room.
"I can't believe this, but the evidence has proven that you are telling the truth about coming from a temporal paradox to this one." Charlie says pacing back and forth tormented between the truth of the current timeline and the truth of the one Dudley comes from.
"Wait, what truth?" Dudley asks confused by the presence of such evidence when he hasn't done anything. Charlie chuckles a bit and shows the chewtoy.
"I know my own handwriting. I wouldn't have given this to you if I was your enemy. I can't believe I'm going to be doing this." Charlie says mainly to Dudley, but talking to himself a bit. Charlie presses a switch and deactivates the cells holding the remaining three TUFF members then presses a self-destruct button.
"You have five minutes to make it back to your ship." Charlie answers as he makes a grunting sound. The guards come running in.
"What's the matter sir?" One guard asks before noticing that Charlie's arm was on the self-destruct button.
"I underestimated this one. I dropped my guard. Abandon the flagship." Charlie says and the guards nod their heads before taking off.
"What about you?" Dudley asks concerned.
Charlie chuckles, "The captain goes down with the ship, even if it is an airship." Charlie says simply. Dudley goes to object, but Charlie pushes him out of the door and locks it afterwards.
Dudley nods his head and meets with the remaining TUFF agents. "We've got less than five minutes to make it back to the ship and out of here." Dudley says and the TUFF agents nod their heads before all four of them start running back to the ship. Once they all get to the ship, they immediately take off and escape as the flagship starts to fall apart and explode in various places. Upon seeing the flagship falling apart, the battleship and the fighters start to turn around and run away from Petropolis. After all the TUFF agents regroup in TUFF HQ.
"Good work agent Puppy." Chief says proud of Dudley, which gotten a quick and unanimous nod from everyone else.
"I didn't really do anything. It was mainly luck that I had the chewtoy with me that had his name engraved on it." Dudley answers honestly and somewhat embarrassed.
"All the same." Chief says proud all the same.
Dudley nods his head and uses the time travel watch to go back to his time. Upon arriving he looks around for Charlie, who he finds at the snack bar in TUFF HQ. "Charlie, how are you feeling?" Dudley asks curiously to find out if he is in the right timeline or not.
"Yes, I'm fine. The better question is if you are fine or not." Charlie answers as he eats some macaroni and cheese.