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Chapter 15: Fortress Falls Part 3


Earth 5: Amazon Jungle

Given the situation of the world at the time, the moon's reflection on the stunning ocean was appreciated. However, the serenity did not last long since Rex, an EVO teen, was speeding through the air on his Sky Slider, which was moving the waters. He shouted "Whoo!" as he ascended ahead. Unlike the majority of the squad, he opted to use a G3 transport, preferring to travel with his machines instead. The people in his own squad agreed with him; behind him were Max Steel in flight mode, Lance with his armor on, and Jenny, who was holding El Tigre as her planes took off. He smirked and joked, "Hey slow pokes, you better catch up! I might have to get there before any of you!"

Steel retorted, "You want a race, huh?" "Come on, Max, let's leave his sorry butt in the dust!"

Max made a good-natured chuckle. "I don't know Steel, and I don't want to make Rex feel too bad about losing because, as you know, he doesn't like that way on our earth," Steel said.

Jenny remarked, "Funny Max, I was going to say the same thing to you guys."

Mom gave me nitro-powered thrusters, so Manny and I could get there before any of you could catch up, I believe.

El Tigre exhaled loudly. "Really? Do it right away, Jenny!"

While they laughed off their predicament, Lance could not help but be mildly irritated by the fact that despite the global crisis, they somehow felt it justified placing bets on trivial races that had nothing to do with the issue at hand. He angrily asked, "Could you all at least seem to take all this seriously. "I doubt playing games will improve the situation since we are currently experiencing an invasion."

Rolling his eyes, Rex. He said, backing up to meet them, "Dude, you are just no fun at all."

Rex was interrupted by Lance, who retorted, "This isn't the time for having fun, Rex." He sped ahead, not wanting to hear more of their teasing. "This mission needs our entire focus and the more time we waste acting like children, the more time we give the enemy, and that is something we just can't afford." "Get your act together, we should be arriving in the Amazon shortly."

Steel remarked, "Yeesh, talk about a party pooper."

Max acknowledged, "He's not entirely wrong though." "Once we mess this up, goodbye to Earth and all of our Earths," .

Jenny retorted, "Still, no need to be a big jerk about it.

Lance yelled ahead, "What's the hold up? You said you wanted to get there fast, right?"

Rex and the others rapidly caught up with the young Galalunian soldier, and all he could do was shake his head in frustration. "If it's even conceivable, this guy is worse than Six."

The fly to the Amazon then became as silent as it was possible to be until El Tigre's query broke it.

"So...no nitro ride?" El Tigre asks.


The squad leader was checking to see if there were any intruders inside the general area, but he knew it was unlikely. When the Novatrons first appeared in the middle of the jungle, they made sure that all the animals living in this vine-infested location were driven out and that no military forces made themselves known because the jungle wasn't a heavily populated place. He turned to see one of his sentries approaching him and heard, "Commander!" We recently learned from General Lanius that he had trouble reaching the other fortifications and had asked for your attention."

The squad commander followed him into the stronghold out of curiosity and entered the control room where he was met by a display of General Lanius. "General, I've been told that you want to talk about a problem,"

"Problem is a poor word to describe the current circumstance, Commander Pharact." The fortresses in Paris and Egypt were occupied by G3 operatives, along with some familiar faces like Steven taking a selfie with a few of them and Zak handing a cuffed Novatron to Solomon. He said, "In only a few moments, I tried communicating with the other fortress locations on Earth 5, but none have answered my calls. Two fortifications have been taken, leaving just the ones you and I command. It appears that the invaders from the settlement of Sherman have again interfered with our preparations."

Pharact asked, "Does Emperor Zone know of this situation? Maybe he could lend us all some help to"

Lanius interrupted him with his loud voice. He emphasized, "We won't do anything of the type; if he finds out that we have failed to carry out the simple responsibility of maintaining our own complexes, then he'll have all our heads. He growled and snapped the link, saying, "For the time being commander, stay alert for any more of these humans that fare to cross our race, and make sure no one stays alive."

To Rex's dismay, the team had just landed nearby and was stumbling through the jungle in search of the fortress. Little did any of them know, their foes were more closer than any of them thought. He grumbled, "Do we really have to walk all the way there?" We could all see the area, so why didn't we immediately launch an attack when we had the chance?

Lance objected, then he observed El Tigre hop from branch to branch with incredible agility, "Because not only is that predictable on the battlefield, but it would only complicate matters." He instructed him, "Manny, stay in formation, we need to be coordinated."

"Lance, don't worry," Manny said, dismissing him. El Tigre's animal-like instincts picked up on the familiar smell of some war-mongering aliens, saying, "Out here, I'm practically in my element, amigo." He moved through the trees once more, his companions following suit as he said, "We're getting close, better get ready for a fight." The squad eventually found the Novatron fortress, and to avoid being seen by the sentries, they concealed behind some shrubs.

Max questioned, "Okay, so what's the plan?"

Lance squinted as he closely examined the outside with his narrowed eyes. "Although I'm unsure of the exact number of hostiles inside, I can count at least 17 outdoors."

Jenny gave him a shoulder tap. "Lance, um"

"Listen up, I'm going to dispose of them all one by one without telling the others." Lance said.

Max also made an effort to catch his eye. "You ought to know that-"

"After that, we'll all launch an attack towards the main entrance and demolish everything in our path. Make sure that none of their war machines are even remotely operable, and without them, they'll be forced to submit." Lance still said about the plan.

"Please stop," Steel urged, "and listen for a-."

Lance glared at them with exasperation, "What is it?!"

Manny told him, "Rex already went to attack the minute you started talking."

They all then heard the sound of battle in the vicinity of the fortress along with a familiar voice, which caused Lance's eyes to widen in shock.

Rex said, "Come and get some, creeps!"

The corporal clinched his teeth in rage. He spat, "Idiot."

Rex Salazar had the option to sneak up on them and assault them without warning, but he definitely opted to do the latter. Rex Salazar could have stayed and listened to Lance's carefully prepared and well-thought-out plan of attack, but that would have eaten up far too much time. He set up his slashlight to fire lasers before shocking one sentry by shooting it across the face. When the other sentries noticed this, they went to investigate the noise and were met by Rex charging towards them while grinning eagerly. He twirled as he made his Fun Chucks, hitting the soldiers dead on with great force, shouting, "Come and get some, creeps!"

A sentry shouted, "Call for reinforcements!" and was then kicked by Rex's Punk Busters. Rex then sprang high into the air and smashed at the sentries as he landed. Tanks soon emerged from the main entrance through its doors and were directed at Rex, who had abandoned the Punk Busters in favor of the Rex Ride and was easily able to avoid the blasts.

Rex joked, "Ha! You guys should work on your aim!"

He was mostly unharmed but slid on the ground with a thud just as he began to believe he was going to win when a laser managed to hit his machine and destroy it. After regaining his bearings, he noticed a brand-new type of combat machine the Novatrons had developed. It walked on two metal legs, was armed with two deadly cannons, and had a pilot operating it from within. It continued to fire at Rex as he defended himself with the Block Party shields, but these bullets were extremely potent plasma blasts that managed to cause some dents in the blue shields.

More sentries and tanks could be seen moving toward him, ready to fire their blasters, but they were all struck by missiles as he watched Jenny fly in and start shooting bullets from her very existence. El Tigre, who was standing on top of her, leaped out and used his claws to cut apart the blasters while Max Steel, who had switched into his strength mode, grabbed a tank by its cannon and used it as a club to smash the other ones. Lance finally attacked the crawler with his Manus armor before using his sword to sever its legs and cause it to collapse. Manus landed close to Rex and immediately made a U-turn.

Max questioned, switching back to base mode, "Rex, you alright?"

He stood back up and said, "Yeah, I'm fine. Thanks for the backup guys, guess I owe you one." However, as he did so, Lance gave him the stink eye and crossed his arms. He cried out, "What?" not knowing what he had done wrong.

Lance asked, sounding more like a demand, "Do you realize how stupid that was?" "You attacked directly and without warning, likely awoke the enemy from within, and if it weren't for us, you might have been killed!""

Hey, lay off man, growled Rex back, "I don't see what the big deal is, now we have less Novatrons to worry about, so once again, a "thank you Rex" would be great," he pointed to the ones that were knocked unconscious.

Is this all a game to you in some way? You're lucky no one got harmed or worse as a result of your actions, Lance said rhetorically, staring him down."

Rex protested, "At least I actually did something instead of play soldier in the bushes!"

Jenny pushed them apart, "Okay, that's enough guys." Let's concentrate on that first, she said, "Newsflash, we still have the fortress of destructive aliens to worry about."

Lance gave Rex one last look before approaching the entrance and inspecting it. "Hmm, looks like a DNA scanner, might need to improvise a little if we're getting in-" he was interrupted by Rex touching the scanner with his hand, and blue grid patterns appeared around the entrance and the doors opened on their own.

Rex smirked and followed the others inside, adding, "Oh, I'm sorry, were you saying?"

With the lights down, it was mostly dark, so Jenny used her flashlight eyes to give them a glimpse of the stronghold; they could make out unmanned jets and tanks. Rex turned his goggles into infrared mode to pick up on any signatures he could detect with his eyewear, but for the most part everything was creepy and quiet. The mood was tense because none of them knew what to anticipate from any of this. "I'll be honest, I'm a little let down because I anticipated there would be more aliens to battle."

Max posed the question, "Could the ones from outside be the only ones?"

Steel retorted, "Not very likely. This fortress, as well as others around the world, are essential to their invasion strategy; there is no way they would abandon it with so few soldiers."

Everyone immediately went into combat positions upon hearing the words ``Very true." The lights then turned on, commander Pharact emerged along with the other Novatrons soldiers who were standing next to him on the balcony. As the soldiers prepared to open fire on them at the commander's direction, he said, "Welcome earthlings, to your execution."

Rex asked in shock. "Hey, why couldn't I detect any of your heat signatures?"

He explained, "How else do you explain us installing one of our dimensional portal machines without anyone on this primitive world not suspecting anything? Our armor covers us perfectly from any form of scanning technology, making us the perfect infiltrators. He explained to them that any foolish attempt to oppose the power of the Novatrons is completely pointless since we have encountered resistance in the past and you will also suffer the same fate as them. He commanded his subordinates, who obeyed, "Attack, hold them off as much as you can!" He quickly entered an elevator and plummeted.

Rex swiftly assembled the Smack Hands and rushed headlong into the fray. He pounded the alien attackers with hard fists and kneeled down to help El Tigre, who then dove down with his claws torn through their helmets and armor. Max Steel shouted, "Go Turbo! Speed!" as he sped through the encircling Novatrons, sending them flying into the air where Jenny began to shoot lasers at them. Lance was still a trained soldier at heart, and while his Manus armor was highly beneficial, he was depending on his fighting skills rather than shooting multiple rounds or deploying huge robot weaponry. Some elected to bring out hand-held electric staff, but Lance kicked one upside the head and seized another's fist and twisted it around. He carefully avoided the blasts and struggled with an alien over the gun, wrestling it out of the creature. He grabbed the dropped staff and jabbed it at numerous of them, electrocuting some of them and hitting one straight in the face.

Rex bragged, slamming two of them with his fists, "This is way too easy."

Max nodded, but he was cautious. "Yeah, it is." That is not a promising sign.

Manny asked, "What are you talking about?"

They were thrown back when a serpent emerged from the ground after hearing rumbling from below. The flying war machine then cut a hole in the ceiling and left. The commander said, "You all had your chance to surrender yourselves!" He pulled out into the rest of the forest, ready to destroy anything in sight, "Now watch as I use the Serpent to eradicate this jungle of non-sentient mongrels!" he cried.

Lance activated his armor and took off, shouting, "Follow him!" While Jenny carried Manny and took off, Rex flew with the Boogie Pack. Max Steel also rose in Flight Mode.

The Serpent machine fired onto the helpless jungle as soon as it took to the air, but the squad was able to keep up with it swiftly because of how enormous it was and how little speed it had. Jenny enquired, "How can we pull this thing down?

Lance said, "Let's attempt the same tactic. Octus pointed out that there's a weakness in the back. Danny Phantom preoccupied long enough for Ilana and I to deal enough damage.

But Rex offered his own suggestion. "The alternative is to let my nanites handle this."

Lance exclaimed, "Wait!"

Lance objected, but it was ignored as Rex lowered himself onto the ship's top and put his hand there. Afterward, he felt a little electric shock. Ah, well, whatever. I suppose they plan for anything.

"While you try removing the thrusters, we'll get its attention," Max stated as he, Jenny, and El Tigre moved to the front. Jenny began firing at it, forcing the commander to open fire on them with the remark, "Hey ugly, try and take us out, we dare you!"

Lance shot at the thrusters, but to his astonishment, a force field was in place. He yelled to everyone, "Darn it! They have a force field around it, I-I can't think of any other way to take it down!"

Rex said, "Let me take another crack."

He seemed to have grown a second head when he glanced at Rex. You'll only damage yourself, it's electrically shielded, so we'll have to retreat and perhaps come up with another plan.

Rex reminded the man, "Dude! We're supposed to be a team now! And if we're going to save the world, then try not to be so against it!" You just have to have faith in us, right?

Rex went back to the tap and reached his hand; he grunted in pain as the electricity shocked him; however, he concentrated hard and the nanites within him were able to break the effect and start to do their work. There were many factors that would make this situation a losing one, but Lance couldn't think of any other ideas, so he reluctantly nodded. Around the serpent, blue grid patterns started to emerge, and all of its systems started to fail. As the machine came crashing down, the commander exclaimed, "Impossible!" The Novatron sprang from the vehicle but was met by Max Steel's fist.

Everyone eventually descended and looked at their creations. Jenny said, "That went well."

Lance remarked, "Nice work."

He grinned, then performed a double take, "Just doing my thing." He asked, pointing at himself, "Wait, was that a compliment...to me?"

Before calling his G3 ally, Lance advised him, "Don't get used to it." Lance says, "Mission accomplished, the fortress is ready for capture."

I should also let you know that two other teams managed to conquer strongholds, leaving only one. "Acknowledged, I'll send a team out."

The fact that Lance's communicator was on speaker made them all happy. Concerned, the soldier questioned, "And Ilana?"

"Her team is the only one that hasn't completed the mission. I'll keep you updated." he said as he hung up.

Lance was worried to learn that Ilana was traveling to the final stronghold and location. "Oh, don't look so depressed, man," Rex informed him in a playful manner, "I'm sure your girlfriend has things other than she with Ben, Danny, Jack, Ashi, Penn, Sashi, Star and Marco, I'm sure they have things covered.


Ben, Danny, Jack, Ashi, Penn, Sashi Star, Marco, and Ilana are the last squad to take the field.

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