🚀 go-pugleaf

(continued from part one...)

                                   ***********

     Andy looked up into the crimson air above Bob City.  He noticed the
revolutionaries, sensing the fire power of the Awesome Force's formidable
airship was now a neutralized threat, start advancing.
     "We've got to get up there!" Shouted She Devil, running up to his side.
T, Figuremaster and Rat ran up with her.
    "That would be impossible," Andy said.  We'd never get the shuttle
through the cross fire.
     Another shaft leapt from the bow of their airship and decimated a row of
gun turrets that had just battered the AF 1 on the port bow.  Flames
continued to belch from the side of the alien starship, but the sheer size
of the craft belittled it's damage.
     "We can't just leave them up there!" Angi shouted again, distress
evident in her voice.  "They'll be killed!"
     "Angi, I share your concern," Andy said.  "and your care for our
teammates is admirable, but they are a part of the Awesome Force now and we
have to trust them to be able to do their jobs.  We must be confident that
they are capable enough to handle any situation awesomely."  Andy looked
skyward again in time to see another barrage tear along the upper deck.  He
noticed most of the weapons were destroyed by the Passive Absurdity field and
many more ricocheted off the reflective awesomeantium armor, but he could tell
damage was being done.  The bow came to bear again an another shot from the
driver was fired.  It tore a cluster of missile launchers from a tower jutting
out from the hull.
     "We have work to do down here," Andy said suddenly.  "You know what to
do!"
     Angi watched him stride confidently towards the advancing revolutionaries.
     "Come on, Angi," said Rat, putting her fuzzy hand on her friend's
shoulder.  "There's blood to shed and lots of superhero butts in tight pants
to kick."
     She Devil growled a happy growl and they left to follow Andy.

                                   ***********

     With the mages and Revolutionaries ripping each other apart both on and
above the battlefield, nobody was paying much attention to anything else
besides their own survival.   At least, nobody who was directly involved in
the battle.
    "INCOMING!!"  The trio of shadowmages looked up at the sudden whistling
sound, then wrapped themselves in their cloaks and vanished.  The camo-clad
soldiers who they had been battling with also ducked into their trenches as a
fifty-foot long shard of metal slammed down into the damp earth with a rending
thud.  Another, rounded piece fell nearby.  This one was a nearly intact ship-
to-ship particle beam turret, sliced cleanly off the Dalek Cruiser that was
passing overhead by a massive rod of awesometonium (which itself came falling
down a moment later).  The soldiers, realizing the danger of their location,
quickly fled to a safer position.
     Neither the Revolutionaries nor the counter-Revs noticed the large U.S.
Army ten-ton truck that quickly appeared from a small grove of trees and
parked amidst the fallen wreckage.  A small, furry figure dressed in a very
badly-fitting, obviously stolen Army MP's uniform stood in the driver's window
and pointed to the turret.
     "FRINK!"
     Almost immediately, hundreds of lemurs, most also dressed in Army uniforms
that were MUCH to large for them swarmed out of the truck.
     "PTANG!"
     "FRINKFRINK!"
     "WHOOOO!!!"
     "FRINK!"
     With a series of well-coordinated frinks, the lemurs lifted together,
somehow managing to lift the fallen turret and scurry up the open ramp of the
truck with it.  A smaller group of lemurs snatched the awesometonium
projectile, then the whole group came back to fetch the longer chunk of Dalek
ship armor.
     "PTANG!"
     Their jobs done, the lemur lifters leapt, hopped, and rolled playfully
back into the trunk, flapping the long limbs of their stolen human clothing
about like dark green streamers.  Their leader ptanged approvingly from the
cab, then leapt back in and rolled up the deeply tinted window.  The truck
quickly drove off down a dirt road, headed away from Bob City as fast as it's
pro-simian driver could manage.
    Behind it, another identical truck pulled up next to a shard of
awesomeantium armor and an antenna array from Awesome Force One, while a third
truckful of lemurs went after a fallen Dalek missile launcher and point-
defense gun.  They most pointedly did *not* go after any of the copies of
the Watchtower that were inexplicably lying about.

                                   ***********

     Blue black firebolts rocked the concrete barricade.  The soldiers fired
out into the thick black obscurement spells.  "The damn smoke's keeping us from
hitting anything," one of them spat.
     "Spandex Babe," Spandex Babe said, activating the voice-recognition
triggers.  She fired Neophotonic bolts into the smoke.  They were right -- the
Revolutionaries had to break through the spell.
     Which meant she had to.  "Greene!  You're on deck!  Give me a line of
suppression fire ten beats after I go over the top.  Don't worry about hitting
me -- I can take the rounds you're firing.  But someone has to get in there!"
     Greene nodded.  Spandex Babe crouched slightly, feeling the muscles
tense.  She allowed herself a moment of fear, and then she threw herself up.
     On the whole, it's a bad idea to be in the air during combat.  It's far
too simple for a sniper to pick you off.  But Spandex Babe was counting on the
fact that the Counter-Revolution wasn't expecting to see a woman jump three
hundred feet across and a hundred and fifty feet in the air at apogee.  She was
right.  Riding the leap, she was over the one-way obscurement spell and able to
fire high-impact blasts into the forward positions quickly enough.
     And then she had landed in the middle of a pack of the magi.  She hit the
ground arms and legs outstretched, taking as many down with her as possible.
Rolling off of the pile she snapped up into a circle kick that threw another
mage fifteen feet.  She knew she had broken some bones -- well, the bastard
deserved it.  It wasn't like she had killed him.
     She ducked below a mage's power spell.  Another one fired a pistol at her,
hitting her in the shoulder.  A .22 -- it didn't even sting.  She threw herself
into a forward roll, slapping the ground with her palm and straight arms and
stretching her legs into full split extension, slamming one leg into one Mage's
stomach, the other into the side of his friend.
     Recovering, she snapped off three low intensity bursts, taking out the
three magi who were casting the Obscurement spell.  As the cloud dissipated,
she crouched down and focused on the next group of magi, who were turning to
face her.  She muttered her codename, triggering the Neophotonic power surge,
which she angled into a fan of white power, blowing the ranks apart further.
     She could see the Revolutionaries closing into the holes in the ranks she
had pushed.  Grinning, she turned--
     And froze, as a mage finished a rite which caused a convulsion on the
ground.  A huge stone -- looking like a column of granite -- heaved out of the
ground and arced towards her.  It was at least fifteen feet long, and five feet
wide.
     Spandex Babe decided it was time for a demonstration.  She bent her legs,
and prepared herself.  She did not attempt to dodge.
     The block slammed down on top of her.  Her hands caught it, her legs bent,
and she tipped back....
     The block stopped.  Slowly, Spandex Babe stood, holding it in her hands.
"Is this yours?" she called to the mage.  The mage, terrified, began running
back to his unit.
     With a heave, Spandex Babe threw the boulder towards the fleeing magi.  It
landed rolling, and swept over the ranks.  It probably hurt.
     "We've broken their south flank!" she called through the radio.  "Fall
in!"
     She heard the answering callbacks, and moved on to spread more mayhem
where she could.

                                   ***********

     "Warning!  Forward missile batteries depleted!"  an automatic warning
chimed tonelessly from an overhead speaker on the 2402's bridge.  The crusier
had started the battle with less than half of it's normal antiship missile
supply, as Benedict had fired off most of them at other Dalek warships during
his initial betrayal of Davros, so long ago.  He had been hoping to conserve
her remaining supplies of Dalekanium warheads, but Awesome Force One's Quantum
Absurdity shielding had proven highly resistant to energy-weapons fire.
     "Seal launch platforms!"  Benedit barked out orders, "Increase altitude to
five thousand meters and ready Battery Five-Alpha!"
     The massive ship, still belching smoke and flame from dozens of deep
wounds, rose skyward shakily on its partially functional antigrav coils.  It's
shadow moved rapidly over the battlefield as it rose, climbing high above it's
smaller opponent.  Awesome Force One, either by choice or due to lack of
available lift, did not follow.  Several of the magi cheered, believing or
hoping that the skyborne monstrosity was retreating back to wherever it had
come from.  But most crouched down and sought shelter, fearing a new form of
attack from the metal menace.
     They were right.
     "Five-Alpha, deploy!"
     With a groaning and creaking of battered, leaking hydraulics, a series
of tubes the size of factory smokestacks slowly lowered from the cruiser's
underside.  Visible just inside each were the grey-painted blunt-nosed tips of
heavy missiles.  The fixed-forward launcher made the nature of these weapons
clear:  no anti-ship weapons, these were intended for use against large ground
targets.  Like cities.  And they were aimed directly at one small, half-
crumpled airship.
     "LAUNCH!"
     Six missiles thundered from their launch tubes, screaming downwards on
pillars of flames.  Two others, punctured by an awesometonium spike, sputtered
and died in place before bursting into flames.
     "Jettison tubes Five-Alpha-Two and Five-Alpha-Seven!" shouted Benedict,
understandably anxious to be rid of the damaged weapons before their warheads
went off.  The two tubes, missiles and all, fell from the ship's underside
and tumbled down into a filthy settling pond dug the week before by
Intercontinental Salvage, sending up tall splashes of steam, dirty water and
fresh blood.  Since all eyes were fixated on the six successful launches,
nobody noticed the two lemur-driven tractors that quickly backed up to the
pond and fixed tow lines to the burnt, soaked tubes.
     Although the missiles were never intended to be used on moving targets,
Awesome Force One was not capable of significant evasion maneuvers.  It's
engines mostly smashed, it's rudders nearly gone, a sudden lurch to starboard
was the best it could manage.  That helped- two of the blunt-tipped cylinders
roared right past their target and slammed into the mud, blasting hundred-
meter craters and throwing dirt, sticks, and shattered corpses a half-mile
into the air.
     The remaining four hit the airship squarely and exploded.  For the second
time in less than an hour, Awesome Force One was hurled back by blasts and
obscured by an inferno of smoke and flame.  Although considerably less
impressive than the initial full-broadside volley, this time there were bits
and pieces of torn awesomantium-laced cloth drifting about in the clouds.
     "Descend and engage!  Descend and engage!"
     Again, the crusier dropped from the sky to approach its intended victim.
And again, the clouds slowly parted to reveal Awesome Force One, still
airborne despite four new jagged holes in its side.  To the rear, the automated
systems detected the approach of a large human aircraft, firing missiles.
Benedict ignored it- the 2402's point-defense could stave off any conventional
missile attack.  He had more important matters to worry about.  Of far greater
significance than the M.E.C.H.A. jet was the damage done to the airship's top-
mounted laser turret- it had been nearly chewed clean off.
     "Enemy weaponry has taken critical damage!  Estimate fourty-five seconds
until weapon suffers structral failure!"
     "Affirmative.  Close to minimum range and engage with starboard broadside!"
     "We obey!"
     Lurching through the smoke-filled sky, it's hull stained and smeared by
missile-flung mud, Imperial Dalek Heavy Battlecruiser 2402 bore down upon
its victim.

                                   ***********

     They moved slowly but inexorably across the muddy, blood-stained fields
near the Bob City Correctional Facility.  Like squat, stubby tanks, mowing down
everything in their path with cheezy black-and-white special effects.
     "Exterminate!  EXTERMINATE!!!  EXTERMINATE!!!!!"
     The Daleks.  A race that had inspired terror among many schoolchildren in
both Europe and America, and that was when they were merely characters on a
low-budget TV show.  As the real thing, they sent many a mage screaming in
horror, only to be gunned down by other Dalek units bringing up the rear.
Bodies were littered in their wake.  It seemed nothing short of a jump-cut to
the stairs of the Vatican could stop them.
     Dressed in torn coveralls, the mage was running for his life.  An
electrician by trade, he normally used his minor magical abilities to help
find broken wires and re-solder fuses together.  Barely combat-capable, he had
been assigned to a rearward position to help maintain a small radio repeater
station.  Unfortunately, fate had placed the station directly under the flight
path of Imperial Dalek Heavy Battlecruiser 2402, and so it had been quickly
overrun by the hordes of RoboDalek troops dropped by Benedict Arnold.  The
last survivor of his post, the mage vainly cast yet another small lightning-
bolt spell over his shoulder, only to watch it bounce harmlessly off the armor
shell of a pursuer.
     "EXTERMINATE!!  EXTERMINATE!!!  EXTERMINATE!!!!!"
     He was considering thowing himself in front of a Dalek-gun just to avoid
hearing that high, grainy scream again.  Why couldn't they at least say
something _different_ once in a...
     He slammed headfirst into a gawdy, orange-painted boot.
     "OOF!!!"
     "Do not fear, innocent mage, for we are here to save the day!"
     "Thank god!  Metahumans!" gasped the exhausted electrician, "Am I ever
glad to see... HUH?!?!?!  Who are..."
     The tall, gaudily-clad figure squeezed his accordion.
     "I am...POLKA PERSON!!!"
     "And I," shouted a man to his left while waving several small slips of
paper menacingly, "am LIBRARY CARD GUY!!!"
     "These robotic rogues shall rue the day," added a female wearing a suit
of armor constructed from food containers, "that they bounced off of
RUBBER-MAID!!!"
     "Dis be piece o' cake,"  chanted a tall cape-wearing Jamaican, thudding on
his voodoo drums, "BAT-MON is here!"
     The fifth figure, his body thickly wrapped in a familar-looking silvery
material, juggled a heavy roll of tape while guesturing to his left and his
right.  "And I, DUCT-MAN, as well as my two compaions.."  to his left, a black-
clad ninja twirled several small pieces of wood faster than the eye could
follow, "...the CHOPSTICK WARRIOR, Master of Won-Ton Fu, and..." he guestured
to his right, where there was nobody at all.  "...CAPTAIN INVISIBLE, are ready
for battle!!!"
     The mage scratched his head, confused. "I've never heard of you guys.
Who are you?"
     "We are..." Polka Person pumped up his accordion dramatically, then they
all shouted in unison (well, except for Captain Invisible, the Team Delusion)
....."THE CIVIC-MINDED SEVEN!!!!!!"
     "Huh?"
     Heedless of the puzzled look on the mage's face, the Civic-Minded Seven
spun to face the onrushing Dalek horde.
     "HALT, EVIL MACHINES!!!  OR WE SHALL BE FORCED TO USE FORCE FORCEFULLY!!!"
     "EXTERMINATE!!!!  EXTERMINATE!!!!!  EXTERMINATE!!!!!!!!!!!!"
     The brave heros took a unified step forward.....and were all promptly cut
down by a single volley from the roving salt-shakers, leaving only a line of
six pairs of heroic-looking boots.
     "Er, Captain Invisible?  You still there?"  the mage queried the empty
air, which did not answer.
     "Ahhh, right.  Hold 'em off, Cap.  I'll go get reinforcements!"  The mage
took off running.

                                   ***********

     Ariella Conner, Princess of Terrania, stood toward the rear of the
Counter-Revolutionary lines.  She wasn't a combat mage--most of her spells
were divination, minor healing, or protection.  Her offensive powers were
limited to magic missiles, perhaps a fireball or two.  Still, she was doing
what she could to help back here where she was.
     Nearby was Robert, her fiancee.  Robert was in a VR-041 Saber Cyclone in
power armor mode.  He wasn't altogether sure how everything worked, but he
knew how to target and fire the chest missiles and had gotten pretty good with
the forearm-mounted vibroblades by now.
     Robert didn't care about the battle--he was just here to protect Ariella
from any threat that might arise.  Just having her here was a source of great
worry to him, and yet also a source of great pride (though he wasn't exactly
sure why), and he didn't intend to leave her side until she was once again
safe.  He hefted the EP-37 beam gun he'd picked up from the transport jet
before they'd left, and looked around for any likely dangers to fire at.
     Those dangers arrived soon, in the form of salt-shaker-shaped robot
drones dropped from Benedict's Dalek cruiser.  Of course, Robert didn't know
what they were, but when they started firing, and people started turning into
photo-negatives and disappearing, he knew it was unlikely in the extreme that
they were friendly.  "Die!!!" he yelled, holding down the trigger of the
EP-37.  The gun spat energy and a couple of the RoboDaleks bought it.  However,
the recoil was not helping Robert's aim.
     "Aaah!" Ariella screamed as the barrel of one of the Daleks' oddly-shaped
weapons oriented on her.  Robert turned, jaw dropping.  There was no time to
act, to do anything!  The Dalek's weapon glowed...
     ...and then a black hardsuit dived out of the sky, planting its hands on
the top of the Dalek's dome then somersaulting over to land in front of it.
The Dalek drone exploded, taking two nearby Daleks with it.
     "Are you all right?" Summer asked.
     "We're fine--thanks to you," Ariella said.
     "Good!"  Summer stepped in front of Ariella, countering a Dalek weapon
blast with blast of hyperspatial energy that interrupted its coherency.  "I
think we should get together."
     "All right..."  Ariella steeled herself as Summer stepped backward into
and over her, oozing around to encompass her body in the protective hardsuit
armor.  Robert, who had never seen this before, stared slack-jawed until a
Dalek weapon blast nearly hit him.
     "Ariella?" Robert asked.
     "I'm fine, Robert," Ari replied.  "Summer's just providing some
additional protection for me."
     "Robert--activate your CADs blades and parry with those," Summer
suggested.  "The force field should block Dalek weapon blasts."
     "I'll try that, thanks."  Robert still looked a bit confused, but he had
his hands full and couldn't protest any further.
     "Looks like the Bruces up there could use some help," Summer suggested.
     "I'm ready if you are, Sheila," Ariella replied.  "Let's go!"

(continued in part three, following...)