Supernovae

Mr. Buttons Oarloff squealed in joy, "You can talk Mr. Buttons?!?! Oh ho ho, you is one of the best aminals me has ever brought home!"

"Hey man, like I said. I didn't catch nothing. So, if everyone else is cool with it, you can give Logan his cash back. If they ain't cool with it, well then it'll stay in the pot."

Maximus made a gesture over to Atton. "That guy over there is in the magistrate. He's likely near the top as well, possibly even the Arch-Magistrate. I'd ask him about what's going on, he seems to have all of the answers anyway."

Spark Alpha Squadron sounds sweet. Great idea K_H. As for why I want Enyo re-assigned. It's not that I don't trust her. It's just that, at this point, she's basically just a recurring character anyway. She already hasn't been present for any of the major plot points and I just don't feel like she has a great dynamic with anyone from the group.

I'd rather have Enyo as a recurring character type, not an actual squad member. Maybe re-assign her and have her show up from time to time?

All joking aside we should be something like the 'Shock Squad', to honor our glorious commander. And Kenny, unless Enyo or Logan say something to Clint he should be back outside, all he did was give his pokeballs to Logan and walked back outside.

Clint noticed as Logan made a rush in to the medical ward and quickly realized he hadn't dropped off Pimparella or Rocky just yet. He quickly finished his cigarette up and headed inside to drop them off. However, as he made his way down the hallway he noticed Logan talking to Enyo. Of course he was talking to her, now that she had the baddest GAO, Clint wasn't really necessary anymore, was he? Clint shook the feeling of inferiority and decided to address Logan, making sure to keep his distance, "Yo man, you mind droppin' off Pimparella and Rocky for me?" he called out as he tossed their spheres over to Logan. He then quickly turned away, careful not to make eye-contact with Enyo, and made his way back outside.

Alright, since typh is going for Scyther I think I'm going to grab a Growlithe next. ((I know I can get a Scyther, but I'd rather not overlap any of the other cadets.)) And we should be called the Big Pimpin' Squad.

"I ... I don't know." Rodriguez was the first good man Maximus had met in the city. He had been a completely stranger at the time, but the bartender had taken Max in and given him food and drink for the night. "He disappeared shortly after the Sky Slayer began his attack. I thought he'd gone to look for you." Maximus looked away, his face beginning to redden with anger. Why did such a good man have to die? It was that dark god's fault. His appearance alone must have killed thousands of people on this night. Hell, maybe even millions. How many daughters were wondering where their fathers were? Sons wondering the fate of their mothers? Wives wondering if their husbands still drew breath? Maximus didn't care what his spear told him to do anymore. Nor, did he care for the opions of Atton, Boho, or hell even the Sky Slayer himself. Maximus knew what he had to do. He wouldn't let children be separated from their parents again. A feeling of confidence washed over the young Ekarder as he turned back to face Esmeralda. "Your father escaped, don't worry. And I swear to you that we will find him."

Thanks for the input Acqui. I always enjoy a nice critique from someone more experienced than me.

Oarloff turned to Abraham, "Umm, Papa ... Can me go with them? Me knows how to get to the Raven's Spiral, so me can take them there tomorrow. They say they want to beat a mean bad man, so maybe me should help them. Please papa, me will do lots and lots of work tomorrow if you let me take them!"

Damn it, I wanted Scyther, . But wait, if Eric is getting a Phantump, does that mean we can get gen 6 mons? Because if so, I'm totally grabbing a Tyrunt.

Maximus raised an eyebrow. That voice and that face, had she really made it out of the city? Maximus rushed over to Esmerelda. "Esmerelda, is that ... Is that you?" A smile, quickly grew on to the young Ekarder's face as he kneeled down and checked her for wounds. "Are you okay? And where is Rodriguez?"

Maximus pushed himself to his feet and began brushing the dirt off himself. "So, Atton was it? Now that we're out of the city I suppose you wouldn't mind answering a few questions." Maximus decided not to wait for an answer, "First off, where are we? Secondly, you wouldn't happen to know a man by the name of Rodriguez would you? I believe he can help, well if he escaped from the city. And thirdly, my spear." Maximus pulled out his drake lance and held it out so that Atton could easily see it, "The Steele-Splinter. It's been in my family for generations. It ... it spoke to me. When Stratos was under attack, it told me to save him."

You could always use the good old 'shoot the other trainer in the face' strategy. That one always seems to work. And that was really innovative Strat, I'm kind of sad I didn't get a chance to let my Onix be a bit confused after that (from the e-m waves.)

T-Tar won't be a problem for my team, it's that damn Gyarados I'm worried about.

I was waiting for Surge to catch an electric type, I'm still surprised he has a Flareon and not a Jolteon. And I'm sort of in the same boat Jory, the next GAO I have set up is pretty popular, so I'm kind of worried someone might grab him.

Clint started paying attention after seeing Nathan's steel bird. "Yo, Nate that thing is bad ass as hell. Where'd you find that sucka, the only thing I could find was a..." Clint stopped himself quickly before revealing the fact that Diva existed, "bunch of rattata, bidoof, patrat, weedle, wurmple. You know the lame stuff. I didn't even both capturin' them. I guess Pimparella and Rocky is all I need, but that bird man. She is sweet, I'm considerin' goin' back out and trying to hunt one down before the Lieutenant gets back."

Maximus was still smiling. He'd finally seen one. A real life drake, right before his very eyes. It was every Ekarder's dream to see a dragon, drake, or wyvern. Many believed them all to be extinct, Maximus may have been included in that group before this day. But, today of all of the horrible things he'd discovered he at least got to see something truly majestic. Of course his sense of majesty was quickly reduced after the drake's cryptic message. Maximus turned quickly and grabbed on to Atton, hoping he and Boho had some kind of plan.

Oarloff gave Marcus a bit of a scared look and scrambled to try and sit next to him. "Is you gonna beat this mean man up?" Oarloff asked in a half whisper, trying his best to be as discrete as possible. And of course failing miserably at discretion. "And what did this mean man do? Does you need help? Ooooooooooooooooooh, me has so many questions!"

Oarloff again refused the knights hand, instead preferring to pick him up and hug him. After placing Marcus down, he smiled at everyone, "What questions is you need answereded? Me knows a lot of stuffs, maybe me can answer your questions?"

"General!" A voice bellowed from bellow. "We have radar movement ..." the young soldier gulped, clearly afraid of what he was about to say, "They ... they are coming." The general grinned, then lifted his helmet over his head. It was standard issue armor. All soldiers should wear the same thing, just because he was commander gave him no privilege. "How far are they colonel?" "Roughly 3 AU, sir." "Prepare the fleet, tell them to fire at my command." "Yes, sir." With that the colonel got up and head out of the general's chambers. The general looked out his window. The black sky soothed him, it was littered with stars. Stars that perhaps hosted planets that weren't in this situation. Maybe not all life was evil, maybe war wasn't the natural course of nature. Of course this war did nothing to prove that idea. The general wished there were a simpler solution to this conflict. One that wouldn't cause his people to die in droves. But, this was all they could do at this point. Negotiations were over. Now, would be the time to fight. The general turned and walked out the door, he knew it was time to address the troops. This would be it. The final stand of his army. The making point of his career. The end of the war. He twisted and turned through the hallway, until he finally walked through the door leading to the main brig. The brig was loitered with activity. Some men were busy putting on armor. Others were readying their own fighter ships. And still others were busy staring at consoles, trying to ready the troops for there conditions. Another man made his way to the general and spoke, "Sir, we have there movement on radar. We can get a read on there numbers, because, err. Well, why don't you take a look." The general nodded and quickly followed the main to his console. He pointed at the screen, which the general could see mostly black. A few points were red, ally ships. Then there were the green dots. Or perhaps it would be better to say the green shade, quickly enveloping the black screen. With each second it seemed that more enemy ships were coming and the end wasn't in sight. The general nodded and patted the man on the back. "How long?" "Roughly five minutes, sir." The general nodded again and left the man to his work. His men would need a speech, it could very well be the last thing any of them ever hear. He walked and looked out the other window. He could see it, perhaps for one last time. The massive blue and green sphere looked beautiful from way up here. The general wiped a tear from his eye. But, he new he couldn't linger. He had a speech to give. He walked over to a familiar face. "Colonel, get me on the line. I want to be on the screen of every ship and in the mic of every helmet." The colonel nodded and started to hack away at his terminal. A few seconds later he turned back to the general and nodded. "Ready when you are." The general returned the nod and began to speak. "Men!" the tone of the general's voice had changed, it was fierce now, yet calm. Deep, yet comforting. Powerful, yet non-intimidating. "Our foes have every advantage in their favor. Their technology is superior, their stature greater and their numbers are far great. In fact we are outnumbered so greatly, that if each of our ships took out one hundred of there's, they'd still crush us. Men, they have every reason to win." The general, paused and looked back to the window, "Every reason, except one. Look behind you men. Do you see it? That green and blue sphere? That's it, that's your home. Everyone you know. Everyone that has ever lived. Every animal you've ever seen. Every member of your family. Every child alive. They all live there." the general paused again, looking now to the other window, where only dead space lingered. "And these foes ... these monsters. They mean to destroy them, they mean to destroy EVERYTHING. Now, we are surrounded at every side, by an amount of ships, that not even a supercomputer can count and I am afraid. I am afraid of what my men will do to the monsters who attempt to take everything from them!" The general couldn't help but smirk as a roar of cheers moved though the brig and filled his microphone. However, that smirk was quickly reduced by the return of the radar controller. "Sir," he said patting him on the shoulder. "One minute." The general stared now at the window filled with empty space. He grabbed the microphone again, "Prepare, for attack on my command." "50 seconds" "Steady" "40" "Ready" "30" "Aim" "20" "And" "10" "FIRE!" The dark space, quickly filled gray as bullets, missiles and nukes met a sea of invading ships. Fire roared, in the gray as ship after ship exploded, succumbing to the general's attack. However, no matter how many ships went down, another quickly took its place. The general stared at the scene in amazement. In all his years of service, he had never destroyed so many enemy ships. And yet he had never felt so hopeless. "Sir, why are they not returning fire?" The general whisked around to see that the colonel was the one who asked. "Because, those aren't fighters, nor are they destroyers. Every ship we have destroyed has been a lander." "But, why?" "Because they don't mean to destroy us, they mean to capture us. You haven't heard the stories? Of these monsters capturing our men and experimenting on them, changing them, and incorporating them into there own fold." The colonel looked aghast, "Those weren't just stories of soldiers, gone mad? So if we surrender, we live?" "No, colonel. If we die in combat, we live. Don't you see, if are ships are shot down and we die, they lose. But, if they capture us, then we die. Maybe not our bodies, but everything we stand for. We become mindless slaves only set to serve them." The colonel turned and walked, to a fighter. The general looked over at him, raising an eyebrow. The coward had no idea, what was about to happen to him. By the end, the colonel would be wishing for death. The general turned to the window once again. The sea of grey was closing in. "Sir, we're too close to fire nukes." The voice came from the radar man, who looked close to tears. The general nodded, then reached for his microphone again. "Every ship, release your payload on the Earth, no survivors." Silence ringed in the microphone. Then a voice came on, "Nuke ... the Earth? Aren't we fighting for survival here?" The general responded, "No, we are fighting for freedom. I will not be a slave and nor will any other Earthling. We will not join there conquest for intergalactic dominance. This will be our stand. Now obey your orders captain or I will find someone who will." There was no verbal reply from the other lines, instead the ships gave there reply. Each and every ship began releasing its payload. The general removed his helmet. Revealing teary eyes as he watched the entirety of the human race be obliterated. "So, this is how our species ends..." He turned back once more, facing the ever approaching sea of grey. The ships were beginning to follow landing procedures. The general spoke into his microphone once more. "Release your payload, then ram them." Again only silence filled the lines. Instead, each ship fired madly, some hitting there own ships in the process. Then as each and every ship ran out of ammunition, they launched themselves into there nearest ship. One by one the ships sacrificed themselves until only one remained. The general smiled as he saw it. His ship was spiraling right for a lander, he turned to the radar man. "Your race truly was a foolish one. I can't believe how easily you could be fooled." The radar man's face dropped, this man wasn't really the general. "So, you're an impostor..." His eyes looked out as the enemy ship drew closer. "That's right, we've been observing your species for some time now. You're smart, in fact you were set to pass us in the next 100 years." The general's smile grew, "However, from our studies we concluded that you're biggest weaknesses were your pride, gullibility and attachment to emotion. A plan was set in motion to remove people in prominent positions and replace them with our own. We're not so biologically different you know? With a bit of plastic surgery we in fact look just like you." The general stared as the ship seemingly moved away from the enemy ship. The radar man couldn't help but smile. "Our gullibility, huh?" And where do you think the corporal is off too. The impostor's face dropped. "So he and you both knew? What gave me away?" The radar man smiled, "This was just like a movie, the real military doesn't operate this way. In fact, don't you find it a little odd that just about every ship was completely compliant about killing themselves and our entire planet? Also, what continent do you think that is down there?" The impostor turned madly, looking down at the now scorched planet and back at a map, "So .... this isn't the Earth at all." The impostor turned again viewing the landers getting further and further away from his ship, when suddenly an explosion went off in the distance. "No, no it's not. But, that was your mother ship. Courtesy of that coward Corporal." The radar man smirked and pulled out his gun, aiming it directly at the general. "So, we're only one-hundred years away from surpassing you huh? But, luckily for you, we're gullible, huh?" The impostor's face grew increasingly pissed off. "Who in the hell are you?!?!" "Me, I'm the guy you're supposed to be impersonating. When we gained intelligence of your little plan, we decided this plan would work better. We knew your race wouldn't be able to discern between one another, just like we can't tell two different animals a part. And did you really think this was our Earth? No, you idiot this is just an outpost so that we could quickly travel to your planet. A base planet if you will. Earth is over 100 light years away from this place." The real general cocked his gun. The impostor looked out the window again, staring at an increasingly black sky, as the grey ships filed away for retreat. "So how did you know?" "Like you said, we don't look to differently. We have spies among you just like you do us. Of course though, we're not dumb enough to impersonate any high commanders." The impostor smiled once again, "So, that's it?" "That's it." The general fired his gun and the impostor's body collapsed. The general walked over to his impostor's helmet and picked up the second microphone in his helmet. "I don't know who's listening to this, but just know. That if you fuck with my planet, there will be consequences. We will give you one last chance to surrender and if you don't, you will face the full force of the Earth. And don't worry this small force you saw here today, was just a fraction of our army. This war you've declared is one that you can not win. Throw down your arms and we will leave you in peace. Fight and we will destroy you as you wish to do us. You should take my advice here. Don't FUCK with the Earth." The general clicked the microphone off and picked up the microphone to his own ships. "Prepare an assault, I want every ship on it's way to Asytyria."

Oarloff smiled at the man, "Thank you misturr! But, why come here? You all look very, very strong. Why you don't go through the wilderness to find a nicer town?"

After Oarloff's song had finished, he quickly stood up and returned to his room. He looked over at the harp's stand and gently put it back into its place. He stood still a moment, staring silently at the harp. His face swelled slightly as a single tear ran down his eye. "Me see you soon..." he whispered to himself. However, the moment was quickly ruined by a goat neigh. Apparently Mr. Buttons was getting a bit rambunctious. Oarloff smiled at the goat. "Is you hungry Misturr Buttons? Here, me have a treat for you." Oarloff reached for the nearest button on his shirt and ripped it off, revealing even more of his over-sized belly. "Here, you go goatie, eat up!" The goat responded by licking up the button immediately, then he released another neigh as Oarloff reached down and began petting him. "Me be back soon Misturr Buttons, me want to say high to Misturr Thunderbrew's friends." With that Oarloff stood up and headed over to the table his father, Odin, and three of Odin's friends were sitting at. "Did me do good?" he addressed the table as a whole, with a silly smile filling his face.

Mr. Taylor stood up and placed one hand on Phantom's shoulder, while the other held his cane in place. He looked over and gave the masked man a nod.