Ultimate Struggle: Winds of Change, 5

Ultimate Struggle, Chapter 1: Winds of Change, Part 5

Marshal, Joseph and Issac looked around the white room, noticing a lot of devices of unknown technology, and a door leading to the staircase. “Joe, Marshal asked, those strange machines like nothing I’ve seen or read about… do you think we’re facing extraterrestrials?” – “Those strange beings we’ve seen confirm we’re not up against a simple human faction, Issac added. Though perhaps those were mutated humans?” – “While our village has seen mild cases of Toonite mutation, Joseph pondered, none changed human bodies in such a drastic manner. But it’s still too early to draw conclusion.” As he examined a computer screen lined with strange symbols, he added: “Whatever our enemies are, their technology is highly advanced, and they’re using their own language, or perhaps a cipher. I could gather some of their data to analyze later, but the question still remains: how do we stop for good the power theft?” – “Call for backup, but make sure they come equipped with the best weaponry available, Issac advised him. You do NOT want to take any chances against this mysterious enemy.” – “Very true, Joe agreed. I’ll also do you one better: I suggest we sabotage this base’s defenses, or cut off its power supply, to give our troops a bigger edge.” – “On that topic, Marshal added, can you determine if our stolen power is being siphoned to other hidden bases?” – “This shouldn't be hard, replied Joe, but it’s best we first neutralize the enemy, so I can perform said analysis without interferences or risks.” – “Quite reasonable, agreed Marshal. Now, let’s plan this right. Joseph, if we wait up where it’s safer, can you tamper with their receiver to disable this base’ power grid, even if only temporarily?” – “Yes, that should be feasible,” Joe nodded.

But before the trio could plan things out properly, the 2 previously incapacitated came down the slide. Wasting no time, the one with green tentacles smashed a button on the wall, causing the alarm to go off and metal bars to come down the ceiling and block the stairway exit. Horrified by this sudden turn of events, the 3 friends knew their only way out of this mess was to fight. The red alien with four eyes and arms lunged at Marshal, only for the latter to slide beneath his legs and avoid the attack. Before the red brute realized he’d missed, Issac swiftly stepped in and delivered a swift, but brutal roundhouse kick, knocking the red guy back into the wall. The green creature drew a blaster and shot Issac with a resilient energy net, pinning him under it to the floor. As the red guy got back up and cracked his knuckles, Joe immediately took out from his blouse’s pocket a weird device, which he pointed at Issac and activate. The energy net distorted before violently exploding, blasting everyone away of their standing spot. “Sorry friend, Joe said while helping his slightly hurt friend back up, the wave distorter still needs some work.” The green alien tried shooting Joseph this time, only for Marshal to dash over and kick the blaster out of his hand. Annoyed, the creature tried throwing a direct punch at the him. In his head, probably thanks to all his training, Marshal formulated on the spot a counter-move to neutralize both opponents. He lowered his body, dodging the punch, then grabbed the alien’s arm and threw him full force at the big red guy, knocking both out cold as their heads collided with each other’s.

“Damnit, Marshal yelled angrily. They’re already onto us! I didn’t expect this to happen! What should we do, what should we do!?” he panicked. – “First of, calm down,” Issac said, doing his best not to stay calm. Panic will only lead us into fatal mistakes.” – “Call the troops right now to rescue us, Joseph added. Seeing our hand was forced, we do not have the luxury to make a clean counter-attack!” Marshal nodded, grabbed his communicator and contacted the police network: “Haratropolis Special Units, Hars speaking. I am beneath the sewers in a hidden base! Urgently send a rescue squad to my communicator’s signal, then use the only non-leaky pipe in the area as a lever to open a secret door! Use of the most advanced tech available to you! GO!” Suddenly, the gate leading deeper within the base slid open, revealing a dozen or so different creatures armed with energy and bladed weapons. The trio literally backed into a corner, Marshal whispered to his friends: “Guys, work on unlocking the damn exit. I’ll handle these bastards and buy you some time.” – “Are you crazy!? Issac almost yelled. You can’t take them all on by yourself!” – “Don’t worry about him, he knows what he’s doing, Joe retorted while dragged Issac towards the door. And if he ends up needing our help, we’ll intervene in a flash.” The leader of the battalion, a whitish giant twice the size of the others and red facial markings, spoke to the intruders: “I don’t understand how you humans managed to sneak into this place, but I can’t allow you to leave alive.” Still in a half-state of panic, Marshal quickly replied: “I take it you guys are not humans then?” The enemy horde burst into laughter, as the man internally facepalmed at how stupid his question was in retrospect. “What gave you that idea? The colossus jested. And here I thought only an Opticoid could notice all the subtle the differences between us and your primitive species! HAHAHA!” After calming down, he added: “You’re a funny guy. So tell me, what do you think we are exactly?” Taking this opportunity to gather intel and stall for time, Marshal asked: “You’re not humans who got mutated by Toon- I MEAN, radioactive materials buried around here, at least?” – “Wrong again, Homosapien, the giant chuckled. We’re not mutants, monsters, or any of that other crap. We’re extraterrestrials, or “Aliens”, as most of your kind calls us. Besides, most radiation would cripple or outright kill humans, not turn them into us.” – “How interesting, the main replied, hoping to exploit the giant’s talkativeness for all its worth. I also see you guys have already learned my language.”

The colossus laughed once again, and said: “Hahaha, you keep amusing me! Why would we bother to learn any of you primates’ dozens of languages, especially when we’re operating in the shadows and avoiding any contact with your species? We’re equipped with universal translators, pretty standard tech required to work in a team. Your language is just one of the hundreds it can translate in real time. Seeing humans are still so far behind technologically, I am not surprised by your guess.” Annoyed at being called primitive, Marsh flared up and retorted: “Oh yeah? Would a primitive monkey invent – ouch!” Feeling a minor pain near his waist, he looked down to see one of Issac’s throwing stars. He realized his mentor was subtly telling him it was a bad idea to give in to anger and reveal his hand to enemies. “What’s the matter, kid? The giant chuckled. Were you going to tell us you’ve invented nuclear fission? Or as some of us would call it, their sixth-grade science project? HAHAHA!” The horde joined him in his laughter this time, but Marshal kept quiet, despite fuming on the inside. Once the laughter dissipated and he calmed down a bit, the young man asked: “Why are you beings even here? And why steal energy from our plant? I find it hard to believe aliens who claim to be so technologically advanced are interested in Earth’s power supply.” – “I like you kid, the giant replied, so I’ll play along for a bit. Earth is a very low-level planet, and it shows in most of its power plants. By our standards, they’re ridiculously unstable for the little power they produce. But I’ll admit your city’s technology is more refined, enough for us to siphon some of its energy into our base without risks. But you’re not getting anything else regarding our goals. But don’t fret over it, we’ll ensure you three can’t do anything about it,” he added menacingly while cracking his knuckles. Marshal grinned while placing his hand over his chest, and said: “Aw, you don’t need to worry about us. We’ll have all the time we need to uncover your plans after I take down everyone inside this base.” Just like before, the entire alien horde burst into laughter in response to the man’s boast. “HAHAHA! Kid, you’re the best thing I’ve seen so far on this planet, the giant added amidst the laughing hysteria. It would be a shame to immediately kill you, so here’s one last gift: I’ll let you deliver the first blow! Show us where all this confidence comes from!” – “My sincerest thanks, Marshal sarcastically quipped while turning the dial hidden underneath his shirt; from one gentleman to another, I apologize in advance for the WORLD OF PAIN I’LL PUT YOU THROUGH! TELEPORT TRANSFORM!”

He pressed the dial through his shirt, creating a blinding flash. A teleportation energy field engulfed both him, and mechanical armor parts he kept hidden in his special arsenal, far from here. The parts were moved throughout space at blinding speed, and covered Marshal head-to-toe in a futuristic blue armor with gold outlines, which looked straight out of a superhero comic book. Before the confused aliens could react, Marsh dashed forth using rocket boosters in his legs, and struck the white giant’s face with a punch, its power further amplified by the armor’s system. The giant was knocked back into his comrades; the horde kept going back until they crashed into the wall. Once the initial shock quickly passed, the aliens got back on their feet, but Marshal was not going to give them a chance for a counter-attack. His fist glowing with energy, he lunged at them and punched the ground, causing a huge shockwave which blasted his opponents to the four corners of the room, with the lightweights even hitting the ceiling. The colossus defiantly got back up, looking both angry and enthusiastic. He cracked his neck and said: “Ha… you never cease to surprise, kid. But I’m afraid the party is over!” He tore off a huge chunk of metal from the floor, and charged at the man with a battle cry. Quickly reacting, Marshal activated a special function of his armor, getting engulfed by a reddish aura, and intercepted the brutal blow with his arms, placed in an X shape. Much to the giant’s surprise, not only was his opponent not obliterated, but he didn’t even move an inch backwards. Marshal smirked underneath his armor and said: “You bragged about your advanced technology level. Which means you know what a “Kinetic energy absorber” does, right?" The aliens’ eyes widened in shock, as the human continued: “I’ll take that as a “yes”. What comes around goes around!” Marshal spread his arms, violently releasing all the energy he absorbed from the impact and blasting the colossus into the ceiling, knocking him out-cold.

The immediate threat now passed, Marshal looked behind to check on his friends. Joseph and Issac had managed to unlock the exit by melting off the metal bars using miniature blowtorches (Joe stored his in his abyssal pockets; Issac’s was one of his swiss-army-staff’s many functions).  “Colored me impressed, Issac said in admiration. It was really something, both your combat prowess and your armor.” – “Told you the lad can take care of himself, Joseph joyfully said. But back to business: let’s go up back to the receiver, and disable the base’s power before our troops conduct their assault.” – “You two do that, Marsh added, but I better stay behind and guard to exit to make sure no aliens catch up to you.” – “Fine, but at the first sign of trouble, immediately run back to us, don’t take any unnecessary risks,” Issac told his student. While his friends took the staircase back up, Marsh tore metal plates from the floor, then using his armor’s laser weaponry, welded them all into one huge barricade which blocked access between his room and the rest of the base. It was only a matter of seconds before a new battalion started violently banging on the improvised barrier, with Marshal hoping his friends would hurry in cutting the power out before things spiraled further out of control. As if to answer his prayers, Joseph contacted him over his helmet’s built-in communicator: “Alright! Power blackout in 3, 2, 1… NOW!” Cue on time, the lights went off in the room, as well as the entire base. But before Marshal could cheer internally, the lights came back on a few seconds later. As the pounding on the barrier intensified, the young man contacted back his friend: “JOE! The power came back on! What’s happening?” – “DAMN MY LACK OF FORESIGHT! Joseph blamed himself. Those bastards are probably using a backup generator!” This time, Issac joined the talk on his own communicator: “Marsh, abort mission! We’re coming down, then the three of us together will run back up to safety!” Marshal glanced at the barricade, then at his armor. Almost immediately, he yelled back to his friends: “DON’T! You two are not properly equipped for such a fight, you could get killed! Let our trained soldiers handle the assault! Buy before they do, I’ll use my armor to find that damn generator, destroy it myself, and then escape to safety!” – “Have you lost your FUCKING MIND?” Issac shouted in disbelief. Joseph added: “I agree with sensei. It’s one thing to handle a dozen aliens, but an entire base full of them is a whole different story.” – “Hey, don’t worry about me, Marshal reassured them. I have enough power in this ultimate armor to power through this entire place, destroy my target and escape before the enemy can even react! Over.” He forcefully terminated the connection, having already made up his mind and not wishing to debate his friends over this. Just as he did that, a new alien battalion managed to successfully tear through the melted metal barrier, only to be greeted with a swift energy-charged tackle courtesy of the human, who wasted no further time on the knocked-out soldiers, and dashed his way deeper into the base in his search for the generator.

After about 15 minutes of fruitless search, Marshal realized he may have bitten off more than he could chew. Until now, he’d destroyed a few security systems, fought a few waves of aliens with his not-so-bare fists or his armor’s special features, deflected their laser weaponry with his energy forcefield, and evaded the more heavily armed waves, but he seemed no closer to finding the generator than he was at the start. He was unsure if consulting the barely decipherable digital maps on the wall helped him at all, or only confused him further. He barged in on yet another room, stumbling on a couple of aliens in white blouses, and a spherical forcefield containing a strange, slimy substance. From the looks of it, it seemed the aliens were busy conducting experiments on the slime using sharp tools, chemicals and electrical shocks. Taken aback, the alien scientists tried drawing the blasters from their blouses, but thanks to his armor enhancing his reflexes, Marshal dashed at them in the blink of an eye, knocking one out with a punch, and the other with a roundhouse kick. But unbeknownst to him, there was a third alien near the entrance of the room, outside of his field vision. This one turned on his Taser and silently snuck behind the human. Just as he was ready to strike the intruder, something inexplicably “flashed” inside of Marshal’s mind. He “saw” the room from a 3rd perspective, with himself in the middle and his attacker just behind him. Reacting on pure instinct, he swiftly moved aside just as the alien lunged at him, Taser first. The scientist missed his target, and collided with the machine generating the forcefield. The Taser’s electricity short-circuited the machine, causing the forcefield around the slime to vanish. Sensing its restraints were gone, the slime lunged at the alien, wrapping itself around its head. In a fit of panic, the alien tried in vain to remove that thing from its head, before starting to desperately bang over the floor; it became obvious the slime was trying to suffocate the scientist. Marshal felt malicious intent radiate from that puddle, as if it were alive and seeking revenge on those who experimented on it. Horrified at the thought of this stranger in front of him slowly suffocating to death, the human charged his armor’s cestus with electrical arcs and punched the slime without thinking. He only realized later that he’d ALSO punched the scientist the slime was trying to kill, but luckily for him, this hit knocked the slime off its hostage, who escaped with his life and a minor injury.

In response, the slime took a vaguely humanoid form, then shifted its sight onto the armored man. The human-like shape fooled Marshal into instinctively presuming the slime would fight like a conventional enemy, but that wasn’t the case. The slime stretched its arm a couple of meters and punched Marshal, who was thought he was outside its melee-range. Still taken aback, he almost didn’t see a second tentacle coming his way, barely managing to dodge it. But that didn’t do him much good, as the creature sprouted 6 more tentacles and followed up with a flurry of jabs, landing most of its hits on the dumbfounded human and knocking him down. Marshal realized this was not the time to catch his breath when he felt something moving him: he looked to see one tentacle wrapped itself around his ankle and was dragging him towards the monster. Reusing the same trick as before, he punched the tentacle trapping him with his electrified fist against the floor, causing the slime to roar in pain and retract its damaged limb, freeing its prey. But it did not give up: seeing the armored man was still lying on the floor, the slime took the chance and lunged at him, coiled itself over his head like it did a minute ago with the alien scientist, and started squeezing like a boa constrictor. Feeling the intense pressure even underneath his armor, Marshal tried grabbing the monster and pulling on it, but it was of no use: it was hard to get a proper grasp over the slippery demon wrapped around his head; and even when he managed to get a proper grip and pull on it, the fiend resisted, adamant on harming him. Marshal realized this thing might actually succeed in killing him if he doesn’t pull some desperate move. He charged both of his cestus with electrical arcs, and prayed the damage he’d do to himself while punching the slime would be minimal.

But before he could hit anything, a sharp probe stabbed the slime and delivered into it a small bio-electrical shock, causing it to lose control over its body and fall down as a small puddle, letting go off Marshal in the process. Despite being dizzy from the pressure and lack of oxygen, the man could still identify his saviors, Issac and Joseph; the former had used his swiss-army-staff to save his pupil from the devil slime, while the latter was piloting a compact Mini-Mecha. “That was one way to field-test our bracelet’s locator function, Joe jested, but next time, I would prefer a test with lower stakes at hand.” The slime, sensing it was outnumbered, shrieked and dashed as fast as it could towards the nearest ventilation shaft. “What the hell was that thing? Issac asked while helping his student back up on his feet. Let’s get out of this room before it comes back.” – “Don’t worry about it, old friend, Marshal replied. For all his faults, that asshole is not stupid enough to pick a fight when he’s outnumbered.” – “Wait, are you implying that thing was actually…” Issac pondered. – “Marcus Slick, the man confirmed. That thing looked very similar to his mutated state. In our fight, he also managed to take a human form … sort of, at least.” – “Knowing him, he probably blamed you for his predicament and wanted revenge,” Joseph added. – “To address the elephant in the room, Marshal interrupted him, where did your Mech come from? Your suitcase?” – “Please, even a genius has limits to how much he can cram inside a suitcase, Joe joked back. I merely used the same “battle teleportation” system you used for your armor.” – “Now back to the more important point, Issac sternly told his student. Marshal, what you did was immensely foolish. You don’t want us in harm’s way, which we appreciate, but you have no problems with recklessly endangering yourself, with no one to bail you out? Had we not arrived on time, you might have been killed!” The youngest one lowered his said and shamefully said: “You are absolutely right. Even if I wanted to keep you safe, I still pridefully overestimated my capabilities, believing I was strong enough to handle this alone. I’m sorry, and thank you two for saving me.” – “Please remember you’re not the only one who’s afraid his friends might get hurt,” Issac said compassionately. Joe cleared his throat and said: “If I may interrupt this touching reunion, let’s get back to business. By hacking the receiver and deciphering the digital maps on the wall, I managed to locate the generator room’s position. Seeing we’re already neck-deep in trouble, AND the aliens would fortify their base further if we postpone the attack, I propose we strike while the iron is hot and destroy the backup power source before our troops attack. Everyone agrees?” Both of Joe’s friends nodded. He smiled and said: “Excellent. Follow me, I’ll lead the way.”