The second he spoke those words, Ambassador Zephier vanished, leaving a black-robed ninja in his place. The ninja possessed spiked gauntlets on his hands, showing that he was capable of piercing Jack’s metal skin. The ninja launched at Jack, leaping high into the air. Jack jumped to the left just as the ninja struck his metal claw into the ground where he had been standing. While the ninja was stuck on the ground, Jack kicked the ninja with his right leg, sending the ninja flying into the wall with his gauntlet still stuck in the ground. The ninja slammed into the wall, and erupted in a puff of smoke, and the gauntlet evaporated in a cloud of black smoke as well.
“Just thought I should let you know,” Ambassador Zephier said, reappearing behind Jack, “The opponents are programed to evaporate when you inflict a blow that would have knocked them unconscious. So if they are still in the training program, fight on.” Zephier again vanished, but this time leaving three ninjas in his place.
The middle ninja leaped into the air, the other two charging toward Jack on the ground. Jack lunged for the ninja in the air, but the ninjas on the ground grabbed him and threw him to the ground. Just as Jack landed on the mat, the ninja that had been in the air landed on him, shoving a gauntlet into Vade’s right shoulder. Though the blow didn’t pierce all the way through his armor, it went deep enough to sever some of the circuitry that allowed him to send commands to his right arm, causing him to lose control of the arm, and it fell uselessly to the floor. Refusing to give up, Jack grabbed the ninja with his left arm and used him like a club against the other two ninjas, causing them to slam into the wall and erupt into smoke. Several more ninjas appeared in their place, doubling the number of the last group, and Jack felt control of his right arm return to him. Boldly facing the enemy, and still holding the ninja in his hands, Jack fought against the group, and continued to fight against more and more ninjas, when the program suddenly ended and brought him back to reality.
“Hey mechanical man, can you hear me in there?” Jack opened his eyes to find Colonel Brown waving his hand in front of his face.
Jack cleared his thoughts and said, “I apologize, sir. I was running training programs to improve my hand-to-hand combat, as you suggested.”
“Well, I don’t remember telling you to go all technical about training, but hey, whatever gets you into fighting condition is fine with me. Come on, we need to get our little group together and formalize our plan to trash this Ribiyar base we’re heading to.” Brown led Jack back to the group, and after everyone had gathered together, the major led them to the Ocean-Walker’s briefing room, and finalized their approach to the Ribiyar Holding Facility, their plan of attack and route to take once they were in the base, and the possible defensive positions and attack methods they would use while they guarded Jack as took control of the Holding Facility’s computer.
Five hours before they were to arrive at the base, they were finally ready to bring destruction to the Ribiyar invaders. Now all they had to do was get some rest, and wait for their attack on the Holding Facility to commence.
Chapter 23
Date: July 11, 2132.
Location: Aboard the U.S.S. Ironclad, near the Ribiyar Holding Facility positioned in the Atlantic Ocean.
“Admiral Tinel, we are on the outskirts of the Ribiyar Holding Facility, and awaiting your orders, sir,” Captain Conner reported. The bridge of the Ironclad was very similar to the one of the Ocean-Walker, except that a display table, a virtual screen with a circular gap in the information to allow the captain to see the front of the ship clearly, had been installed in the space between the captain’s chair and the massive window in the front of the bridge.
Just about an hour before the sun would begin to rise, the fleet finally arrived at their destination. Directly in front of the Ironclad, was the island that held the infamous Ribiyar Holding Facility. Nearly all of the trees that had populated the island had been destroyed, leaving a desolate land surrounding the Holding Facility that lay in the center of the island. All around the island, several octagon-shaped metal surfaces dotted the land, marking the Ribiyar fighter bays that lay hidden underneath. Since the invasion had begun, no one had attempted an assault on these fortresses, and for good reason. The Holding Facility had a powerful array of energy weapons to unleash upon any who dared to attack it. In addition, four Ribiyar cruisers, the huge-oval shaped vessels that had large fighter storage lanes on the sides of their hull, the same type of ship as the Defender, hovered above the Facility, ready to give support to the fortress against enemy invaders. Everyone in the fleet knew that the odds were greatly in favor of the Ribiyar being victorious, but they had to make a strike on the Facility if they had any hope of making real progress against their invaders. Before they could attack the Holding Facility, they had to draw the cruisers away from the base and destroy them, so they could focus their attention on the fortress and the fighters that would swarm toward the attackers.
Admiral Tinel, standing in front of the data display, pressed a button on it, activating the Ironclad’s communication array, and contacted the other ships of the fleet. “Attention all ships of the fleet, this is Admiral Tinel. All ships are ordered to hold position until Thunderfox and Defender have completed their task. Captain Syvon, you know what to do. I know this battle is not going to be an easy one, and if we are to secure our planet from these invaders it will certainly not be our last. But we are our planets’ Defenders, and we will not give it up without a fight. So, let’s give ’em one they will never forget. Admiral Tinel, out.”
Location: Aboard the U.S.S. Thunderfox, near the Ribiyar Holding Facility positioned in the Atlantic Ocean.
“All right men, you heard the admiral. Let’s get this done,” Captain Syvon ordered. “Commander Ton, is the Thunderfox’s Laser Array ready?”
“Affirmative, Captain,” Ton responded from his post near the front of the bridge. Like the other officers, he had strapped himself to his chair to prepare for the rapid flight maneuvers they were likely to engage during the upcoming battle.
“Then let’s do this thing. Helm, take us out of the water, and set a course for the Holding Facility.”
“Right away, sir,” Ensign Maria Mooring, a tall woman with bright pink hair, who served as the Thunderfox’s helm officer, reported. Immediately, Captain Syvon felt the Thunderfox lurch forward as it rose to emerge from the surface of the ocean, where they had been hiding to remain undetected from Ribiyar sensors.
“Chief Payton, when we arrive at the island, focus the Laser Array at the cruisers above the Holding Facility. If the fleet has any hope of attacking the fortress, we must divert those ships away from the island. To do that, we have to get their attention, and make them mad enough so we can lead them away from the island.” Through the window at the front of the bridge, Captain Syvon saw the ship leave its refuge beneath the ocean’s surface, and ascend higher into the air.
“Understood, Captain Syvon,” Chief Tactical Officer Leonard Payton, a handsome man with a western accent and flowing brown hair, responded. Payton then began giving orders to the other tactical officers on the Thunderfox so they could act immediately when they were in position.
After a few minutes of flying (they had been a good distance away from the island while they waited for the fleet to get in position to avoid detection), they were over the shore of the island, rapidly approaching the Holding Facility that was positioned in the center of the land mass.
“Why don’t they attack us?” Ensign Mooring asked, trying to comprehend why the Ribiyar would let them get so close to their stronghold.
“Because they don’t think we’re a threat,” Commander Ton responded. “And they are essentially correct. If we didn’t have the rest of our forces backing the assault, we wouldn’t stand a chance against this many Ribiyar.” Finally, the Thunderfox was in position to begin its assault on the cruisers stationed at the Holding Facility.
“Sir, standing by to commence firing on your orders,” Chief Ta
ctical Officer Payton reported.
Captain Syvon took a deep breath, knowing that once the battle began, it could not be stopped, and then gave the order everyone was waiting for: “Open fire on the Ribiyar cruisers. Fire the Laser Array at maximum power, and use our standard cannons to support the attack.” On his command, the Thunderfox unleashed the full might of its arsenal, firing lava-red beams at the Ribiyar cruisers and slicing into their hull plating and weapon ports as the ship’s cannons fired its ammunition into the cut’s in the armor the Array created, maximizing the damage they caused as much as possible. The Thunderfox then jumped to full speed, targeting as many sections of the ships as they could reach. Though the lasers were doing damage to the vessels, the Thunderfox was no much for the might of the four Ribiyar cruisers, who began to move after the Thunderfox to intercept it.
“Sir, the cruisers are maneuvering to intercept us. Your orders?” Commander Ton reported.
“Unleash our entire armament of missiles on the cruisers, and continue firing the Laser Array. Do not alter course until directed to do so,” Captain Syvon ordered. He kept his eyes on the window of the bridge, which had been covered by the protective metal plating on the outside of the ship, and a projector now shone brightly on top of the window, showing the events unfolding outside of the ship from camera’s mounted on the exterior of the hull. Along with the laser beams continuing to drill into the cruisers’ hull, a total of thirty-eight missiles swarmed toward the Ribiyar, slamming into their hull. While the missiles were able to do a good deal of damage to the cruisers, even disabling one of their engines, overall, the damage was relatively minor. But the attack accomplished what Syvon had been hoping for. The cruisers were now firing at the Thunderfox and following it as it raced away from the island.
“Captain, the cruisers are continuing their pursuit of the Thunderfox,” Commander Ton reported. “It appears that we were successful in getting their attention. However, even with the Thunderfox at full speed, the cruisers will overtake us within minutes; sooner if they manage to disable our engines.” Captain Syvon gripped his chair as Ensign Mooring did her best to maneuver around the Ribiyar’s energy blasts, but he could also feel the Thunderfox rocking beneath him as it sustained blasts that managed to strike his ship.
“Don’t be concerned about it, commander,” Captain Syvon replied. “Remember, we don’t need to out run the Ribiyar for long. We just need to make it to our rendezvous point. Are we almost there, Commander Ton?”
Commander Ton checked the readouts on his computer interface, and replied, “Affirmative, Captain Syvon. We will reach the coordinates in roughly thirty seconds.”
“Good. Let’s just hope the Defender is ready for us.” Captain Syvon desperately wanted to give the Defender a call and inform them they were almost there, but he didn’t dare risk the Ribiyar intercepting the communication and discovering the location of the hidden vessel.
Commander Ton continued to give a countdown to the time of their arrival. “Twenty seconds… fifteen seconds… ten seconds… five seconds… zero seconds. We have reached our rendezvous coordinates.” A brief cheer of celebration went up in the bridge, but it quickly calmed while the officers returned their focus upon their duties.
When nothing happened after they passed their rendezvous coordinates, Captain Syvon began to fear that the Defender has been unable to detect their approach from beneath the ocean. But then it happened, the view screen showed a small, Ribiyar missile, rise out of the ocean, right as the Ribiyar ships approached that location, still chasing after the Thunderfox. But this missile was not a typical warhead, as the core of a nuclear warhead had been placed in its payload compartment. Unable to maneuver around the warhead in time or have time to target and shoot the missile down, the lead cruiser slammed into the warhead, causing it to erupt. The instant the warhead detonated upon the Ribiyar ship, a mighty explosion engulfed all four of the cruisers, creating a massive mushroom cloud into the sky, and sending a mighty shockwave that rocked the Thunderfox, even though it had travelled a good distance from the rendezvous point.
The bridge erupted in cheers as they watched the events unfold on the window screen. Captain Syvon sighed in relief of their fortune. The reports of the Ribiyar’s weakness to nuclear warheads had been proven accurate. When the captains of the fleet learned of the Atlanta’s survival, they had theorized that they could wipe out the cruisers guarding the Holding Facility with one blow, if they used a nuclear warhead from the Atlanta’s arsenal, which were the only nuclear weapons they knew of that remained after the Ribiyar had disabled the supply of warheads that the nations of Earth had developed. Using the Defender to shield the warheads from detection, the fleet had been able to keep their small arsenal hidden from the Ribiyar as they made their way to the Holding Facility.
“Captain,” Commander Ton reported as the applause died down, “The Ironclad reports that the infiltration team is now enroute to the Holding Facility, and that the fleet has engaged its bombardment of the Facility and the forces protecting it. The Ironclad is requesting assistance from the Thunderfox and the Defender with deterring the counterattack of the Ribiyar forces. Your orders?”
“Set course for the island immediately, and ready the Laser Array and all other weapons for deployment. This fight is far from over.” The Thunderfox immediately performed a loop in the air, and sped toward the Holding Facility at full speed, eager to wreak havoc upon the Ribiyar forces.
Once the fleet engaged their attack on the Ribiyar forces, an oval-shaped fighter emerged from the ocean’s surface, and quietly made its way toward the upper landing pad on the central tower of the Holding Facility. Within the fighter rode the infiltration team. Most of the team sat in chairs that had been installed before the launch, since the Ribiyar had no use for such devices, except Jack, who stood at the central console with his hands pressed upon it. Tiny strobes of electricity jumped off his hands and onto the console’s surface, giving new instructions to the computer as he piloted the crafted to the fortress before him.
“Hey, Jack,” Olo said as he finished adjusting the laser rifle he carried, “I’ve been thinking, we need to get you a cool name to call yourself. No offense, but ‘Jack Vade’ doesn’t exactly strike fear into anyone.”
“What kind of name are you thinking about?” Jack asked as he steered the fighter out of the way of several Ribiyar fighters that swarmed past them. Though the presence of the fighter might raise suspicion, since the craft should be engaging the forces attacking the Holding Facility, the fighter would most likely go unnoticed with the bombardment of the fleet underway. In theory, anyway.
“I don’t know. I just think that you need a name that sounds heroic and patriotic and stuff, but at the same time, sounds intimidating and fearsome to these guys.”
Jack thought for a moment, and then replied, “I think I’ll call myself… the Guardian.”
“And what, pray tell, are you the guardian of?” Victor, clad in his Dark Serpent armor, asked.
Jack grinned. “Earth. And whoever else needs protecting.” Nearing the highest landing pad at the tower, Jack slowed the ship’s engines, and after reaching the landing pad, slowly setting the fighter down onto the center of its surface, turning the ship so the docking ramp would face the opposite direction of the entrance, which gave the group time to exit the craft before the battle commenced. Though the fighter could be used to attack the Ribiyar on the landing pad, the fighter’s weapons may inadvertently damage the pad, which would force them to jump from the fighter onto the walkway that led to the entrance. Furthermore, use of the fighter could lead to the Ribiyar deploying the Holding Facility’s weapons against it, but if it was just the infiltration team attacking, it was the team’s hope that the Ribiyar would just let the warriors stationed on the pad to deal with the intrusion.
The landing pad was a large, circular shaped structure, and a walkway, which led to the entrance into the Holding Facility, he
ld the pad up in the air. Several fighters were dotted around the pad, with a large number of Ribiyar soldiers stationed around the ships, waiting to be deployed into combat. In addition to the troops, two of the ball-shaped Enforcer Pods guarded the way towards the entrance into the Facility.
“That’s a big role to fill, tinman,” Colonel Brown said as he unbuckled himself from his chair. “I’m going to hold you to that commitment. All right ladies,” the major said as the rest of the group unbuckled from their seats, “here’s the game plan. We’re going to split up, take out fighters and the metal heads defending them. Oakland, while we’re keeping the rest of the forces busy, have that little fur ball of yours take out those Pods. Rogers, Davidson, Aru will go with me to the left side of the pad. The rest of you, go right. We clear?” When all the officers replied yes, Brown punched a button on a panel near the end of the fighter, and the ramp quickly lowered onto the surface of the landing pad.
When the ramp lowered, several Ribiyar approached the entrance to investigate the fighter’s unexpected arrival and looked in the vessel to see the team standing inside it. Before the surprised aliens could even reach for their weapons, the Dark Serpent lunged toward them, activating the Phantom Blade as he flew through the air, and sliced them all in half with one swing of the Blade.
“Finally, time for things to get entertaining!” Victor said as he deactivated the Phantom Blade, attached it to his belt, and disappeared from sight as his stealth device activated. Sighing from Victor’s unwillingness to stay with his unit, Colonel Brown cocked a round into his rifle, and charged down the ramp of the fighter, and turned left as he engaged the Ribiyar on the landing pad.
Deploying his machine guns, which latched onto the side of his arms, Jack took the lead and charged down the ramp, turning right when he reached the surface of the landing pad, and fired relentlessly as the Ribiyar grabbed their weapons and began to fire back at him. The rest of his unit also began their attack as well. Lieutenant Commander Stone used his specially-modified bow that allowed him to shoot three times the distance of a regular bow, and fired arrows that had been equipped with electromagnetic pulse emitters that were placed behind the tip of the arrow. The size of a small, rectangular box, the emitters activated the second the arrows pierced into the surface of the Ribiyar’s metal surface, effectively frying all of their internal mechanisms. Rogers, somehow chomping on a piece of jerky as he did so, launched waves of intense fire from his flame thrower, which Jack had recently upgraded with a small, Genetic Modulator in its fuel tank that created an endless supply of fuel for the weapon. Once a perimeter of fire had been erected around the aliens, Rogers let go of his flame thrower, which held onto him with the strap that went across him, and retrieved his laser rifle from his back, and expertly shot down the Ribiyar, with some assistance with Lieutenant Commander Stone.
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