Surge Story: Chapter 3- "Game Of War: A feud of Lightning and Earth" [IC]

[Chim]

Logan marched in line. His thoughts were filled with the upcoming Urban Games. He considered this the first real test and knew he had to keep a close eye on Clint. His fellow soldier still wasn’t recovered and as a medic he felt responsible to treat Spark Alpha the best way he could.

[Ragnar]

Sid marches along with the group with a stupid smile on his face, seemingly unremovable. as he was excited for this 'games'.

[Supernovae]

Clint did his best to keep up with the rest of the group, though he wouldn't really call what he was doing, 'marching.' No, it was more like stumbling about only really being carried by the crutches under his arms. He knew he should be thankful that he could even get around, but all he felt was bitter about the whole situation. When everything had gone to hell on the battlefield, it was Rocky that had to carry him out. Hell it had seemed at the time that his fellow soldiers had forgotten about him. Something Clint couldn't really forget.

He knew he should be excited for the war game, but over the passing months he couldn't really focus on anything other than the loss in faith in his own fellow soldiers. He knew he'd have to keep up appearances of trust, but deep down the only person he knew he could trust was himself and his own partners.

[Sutoratosu]

It wasn't long before Spark Alpha made it's way to the Entry Gates of Bexly, to find none other than Clemont waiting for them there, meditating. They'd been seeing more and more of the Fox man over the past few months, and less and less of McCarthy and the other High Ranking Superiors... in fact, It sometimes seemed as though command of the whole base had even been handed over to him.

He had gotten into the strange habit of actually wearing attire over time, which almost always meant that he wore Lab Coat and nothing else, and today was no different. He didn't even bothering opening his eyes when he sensed the team approaching, hovering there over top the front gates.

"The last Squadron to arrive, as usual." his telepathic voice seemed to ring out from everywhere at once around them. "Disappointing, Surge, indeed."

"Just send us to the Area of Operations, Foxman." Surge retorted impatiently.

"You forget that you're technically addressing a US General right now, Staff Sergeant."

"Excuse me then," Surge scoffed, not a trace of respect in his voice at all. "Sir, Spark Alpha reporting to be deployed to the Area of Operations. If your foxliness would deem it fitting-" he couldn't even finish the insult, Clemont waved his hand and they were engulfed in a white light and gone the next second. But his voice followed them to have one last say.

"Someday, I may well decide to have you dropped back to an E-1, Surge. When your standing at attention before a Staff Sergeant yourself sometime in the future, just remember the incidents like this and what you chose to say to your superiors, because You'll have no one but yourself to blame." and then the Telepathic presence was gone from the soldiers' minds.

"Ah, look at that, Spark Alpha," Surge chuckled afterwards. "Someone doesn't like being visually compared to a fox. Needs to learn to take a joke is what he needs to do. All that brain power and yet no sense of humor..."

They stood on the Outskirts of an expansive city, Spark Alpha did. A metropolis, complete with countless high-rises and complex streets and several suburbs. The place was absolutely massive, at least the size of New York and Las Angeles put together. And there they stood up on a high hill, looking down over all of it.

"Anyway, We're here, Soldiers," Surge continued, sending out Infantry, and giving it a few orders to begin sniffing down any one who was nearby. The Flareon stuck his head low to the earth, and like Star Trek, the search began. "First thing we need to do is descend this Hill and scout the area for any Hostiles, after that, we need to secure a position for the night where we can wait for Fox Man to send us the actual mission prompt, which should come at about Dusk. Now move out!"

Infantry stopped sniffing the ground, lifting up his head and giving an "All Clear" nod to Surge. "No tangoes detected, Spark Alpha, Now move out!" he ordered the Team, walking over to Clint and tossing his Rifle to Private Carter as he passed, telling the soldier to carry it for him.

"Give me your arm, Soldier," he said when he finally reached the crippled Private. Obviously he was going to help him down the hill.

[Chim]

Logan walked close to Clint and Surge when descending the Hill. “Where do you want to set up camp, sir?” he asked. “It may be advantageous if we can keep an eye on that bridge. Some enemies might try to cross it or decide to take a swim to reach this shore.”

[Sutoratosu]

"We need to go Underground, soldier" Surge said, dead serious. "A city this big has simply GOT to have a huge Sewer system, and before you go cringing in recoil, calm down, soldier. This isn't an actual city, no one has ever lived here and the place hasn't even existed until probably a day ago or so. The Sewers themselves should be completely clean then, no human waste to have to worry about, just clean water that probably is filtered in from that river." he pointed quickly at the massive torrent making it's way under the bridge.

"As for the bridge, we just leave it alone for now, while true, some commanders may try to cross over to this side, If we make it impassable about half way over, then they'll have to swim if they want it that badly, and with the strength of that River's current, they'll be swept downstream before they ever get close." He lowered his finger, returning his attention to Logan. "This is our plan; First secure entry into the Sewer System, establish base camp, which shouldn't be to hard. Second, we split into two fire teams and sabotage the Bridge's integrity. Third, we return to our Base camp and wait for Clemont to send the mission intel file via Teleportation. Got all that, soldier?."

[Supernovae]

Clint looked over at his commander in confusion, "Hold up Lieutenant, you want to set up base under ground in the sewers? Won't that leave us sitting ducks for grenades and any falling rubble due to what the GAO can do to the streets?"

[Sutoratosu]

"Not if The sewers are built to national Regulation levels, Soldier," surge said. "The Legislation passed after Hurricane Sampson hit and crippled the southern East coast a few decades ago requires that all Sewer systems be built to withstand any significant force from above, including that equivalent to the blast of a grenade, and a 10.0 earthquake. If they conjured up this city and followed regulations for the underground, then we should be good to go. But if not, we head across the bridge and take City Hall; there should be a door to an emergency bunker hidden in the lowest levels of the basement, which also leads to multiple tunnels beneath the city that run deeper than even the main sewer lines, taking of that threat. And besides, Private... This is a War Game, just an exercise, not the actual thing. I can guarantee you that no one out here is going to be equip with frag grenades. at the very worst we'll only encounter Flash Bangs, which you all know the standard procedure for; cover your hears and turn your back to the device."

Flareon began barking and snarling at something down the hill and in the city suburbs at the bottom. His fur bristled on full alert, glowing red hot as he began to spit several bouts of a fiery missile attack down at the streets below, which all burst upon impact and scorched the asphalt, sending someone down there scurrying for cover. The exterior of some of the houses were burnt from the power of the impact, but luckily nothing was burning.

"Infantry, Heel!" He ordered. The Flareon glared at the distance for a few moments... then reluctantly took a sitting position on the hill's slope, body still glowing fuzzily with heat. Surge looked to Logan and Clint again.

"Looks like we have a minor change in plans, then," he said before ordering out to the rest of the squad. from where they were, they couldn't here whoever it was down in the burbs... but that meant whoever was down there also could not hear them. "Spark Alpha, Looks like we Got company!" Surge called, pulling out a pair of Binoculars from a side pocket on his pack and sweeping the area. A flash of motion was seen... then a whole company came out of hiding, dashing across the streets and taking cover, all of them focused up on the hill as they disappeared from sight again.

"We got ten tangoes, 2 o'clock," he dropped the binos, looking behind him. there was a wood line not far from the southern base of the hill... "Listen up, what we're going to do is split into Two Fire Teams! One stays here with me and Distracts them from up here, while the other falls back to the south, skirts along this wood line, at the other end of the hill, Enter the Burbs from the west and flank these Hotiles. Maelstrom, Grey, Cannon, You three are with me! Robertson, Walker, Holmes, Carter, and Kaiser, you all will take to the wood line and flank them! Do not use Lethal Force! I Repeat, DO NOT USE LETHAL FORCE! Corporal Robertson is in Command! Walkies are in all the packs, Now move out!"

[Supernovae]

Clint quickly grabbed the capsule for Pimparella and tossed it on the ground. Without a moment's hesitation the monstrous Onix quickly placed its body between the oncoming group and Clint's group, giving Surge, Clint, Logan and anyone else standing nearby cover.

[Ragnar]

"Distration? you got it chief!" SId answered. He release Smoke from its capsule, ready to release a thick smokescreen at Sid's command.

[Chevaleresse]

Nathan quickly released all of his GAOs with a deft motion. "Crusader, get us some eyes on them!" The bird flew upward with a screech as Nathan ducked down, taking cover.

[Chim]

Logan took cover as he released Ace. The Monferno followed his trainer and under the cover of Pimparella made their way to the wood line as instructed.

[Sutoratosu]

Crusader took to the sky as Nathan ordered, soaring up high above the Burbs and scanning the area with Eyesight surpassing an American Bald Eagle from the pre-infection era. He managed to confirm Surge's count; ten tangoes, as well as secure intel of each of their positions behind the cover of houses and cars before having to bank hard back towards the south, narrowly avoiding a pillar of thunder that had been launched up at it faster than an old fashioned Drone Missile Strike. It circled around one last time before heading back towards Bravo Team's Position on the hill... only to be rammed into by some sudden force from below, sending it tumbling through the air before it managed to regain consciousness and right itself, shooting back up to proper cruising altitude, scanning the barren morning skies for whatever had just assaulted it. Within another Sweep or two it spotted the enemy aerial Combatant, a Large, dark grey Bird of prey GAO with a black, red tipped crest extending over it's head.

The thing let out a war cry as it glared at Crusader, and the Skarmory in turn gave one of it's own to the Staraptor. The duel for control of the skies over the burbs had begun, far above the two squadron's heads and far out of range of any attacks from the grounds to intervene in a timely fashion. They began strafing around each other, both of them keeping an eye on the other, neither one willing to back down from the challenge of Life and Death that had just been initiated... unfortunately for the Staraptor, Crusader had the huge advantage...of armoring stronger than steel.

Meanwhile on the ground, the Squad holed up in the burbs began to open fire with their modded rifles, which sounded exactly like the real things as they sent Paint Ball after paint ball soaring up the hill, splattering against Pimparella's rock hard exterior. She seemed to be more amused than actually injured by the pellets though.

"Infantry, sent another one of those burst at em, but don't kill anyone," Surge ordered from where he crouched behind the Rock Snake's girth. The Flareon obeyed eagerly, taking a deep breath and inflating it's internal combustion sack, then exhaling in long, hard stream, sending multiple missles of pure hell fire streaking down towards the housing development, being sure to aim for the areas where none of the enemies were actually hiding, but were instead close to. Just as before, they burst apart into fiery splashes upon impact, destroying several structures and starting a small fire that was quickly beginning to burn...

"Shit! Get out here!" The Staff Sergeant called, taking another capsule from his belt and sending out something that the Soldiers hadn't seen for a long time; The Strange, bipedal Green toad he had used to stop the fire in the atrium. The moment it was out of it's capsule, the skies began to darken mysteriously. a few seconds passed, then a hard rain began to fall, dousing the inferno that had been growing down the hill. Surge recalled the toad as soon as the blaze was dead, himself and his men still dry up on the top of the rise. "I keep forgetting that we can't fight to actually kill anyone... Infantry, to me!"

((Murdoc, you control Crusader as if he were your actual PC rather than simply an extension, and I'll control the Staraptor, Soldier. There are no calling out orders at this distance, so Crusader has to call his own shots. It's a death match... you know what that means. there can only be one ruler of the skies here))

[Flux]

Lars followed the others down the woodline, moving over to Jory.

"Hey, you're in charge of our group, right?" he asked, a grin taking hold on his face. This was exciting. A chance to get away from the monotony of training and into real battle. "Listen, I think Sleepy can give us a bit of an advantage, if things work like I think they will. Our goal is not to be seen on our way down from this hill, and what better way to do that than to teleport? Sleepy's done it before, and I think he can do it again with enough coaxing. It's worth a shot, right?"

[Ragnar]

As Nathan's Skarmory takes battle in the sky, Sid release Luxio and Croagunk from its capsule and huddle up despite of the turmoil, "Vicious, Venom... secure the area, give a little taste of what lightning and poison can do" Sid said to his GAOs. "Me and smoke will stay here and provide cover, make me proud guys." Sid commanded the lion and the frog to hunt down any enemy units nearby, cause why_not? the two GAO excel in melee combat.

Venom jumps on the Lynx's back, as they nimbly run off through the battlefield like a graceful lion in the Savannah, dodging paintball guns elegantly and was set to pounce on the first enemy they would encounter.

Edited November 10, 2014 by typhlosionrulez

[Chevaleresse]

The Skarmory wheeled about, screeching in rage as he prepared for another attack. Crusader gained altitude, positioning himself above the other bird Pokemon, then came crashing down, spreading bladelike wings out at the moment before impact.

[Supernovae]

Clint kept himself hidden behind his GAO only popping up periodically to fire a shot or two in the enemies' direction.

"Lieutenant," he said turning to Surge, "Give me permission to give them a distraction they won't soon forget."

[Sutoratosu]

The Staraptor wasn't expecting the Steel clad bird to be able to move so fast, but nevertheless it gave it it's damnest attempt at evading when the thing came at it. It managed to get it's center mass out of the way barely in time, but felt a searing pain tear through it's upper back along the right shoulder. Crusader's bladed wings had torn a large cut through the flesh, sending the bird of prey into a pain fueled frenzy, blood droplets spraying through the air as it powered through the agony and soared higher into the atmosphere, so far that it soon became a speck in the sky, then disappeared... and then when it had flown as far as it could handle, it dropped altitude and allowed itself to enter free fall, righting itself with it's beak oriented towards Crusader as it righted out from it's attack earlier... And as it fell it's body became engulfed in a harsh blue light, a trail streaking behind it;s wake as it plummeted further and further towards it's target.

Within an Instant, Crusader began to hear a harrowing screech from up above. The Staraptor flung open it's wing span once more, soaring downwards at terminal velocity with it's body flaming in harsh blue aura... It was heading right for the steel clad bird.

***

"Permission granted, Soldier!" Surge shouted over the din of several bolts of electricity being hurled from down the hill, all of them slamming against Pimperalla's exterior with very little effect. "You!" he said, nodding to his electric mouse. "Absorb one of those bolts, pronto! then sent it back at em!" The Pikachu did as ordered, Surge tossing the thing up high into the air as a stray blast arced overhead. The mouse came back down a moment later, the glands on it's cheek glowing a hot red from the electricity it had absorbed. It landed on it's feet atop Pimparella's head, arcing itself back and raising it's tail, collecting a few more blasts that came it's way, drawing them in from the air as they passed and storing them up too. it unleashed a powerful dose of it's own lightning after a few more rounds, sending an immense blast hurtling back down the hill, scorching earth and leaving a blackened trail as it made it''s way to the tangoes. Several figures were seen diving out of the way as the Tesla-like death beam closed in, demolishing several houses with it's power.

A slight squeking was heard as the Mouse began to totter and fell off balance, tumbling off Pimperella's head and onto the back of Infantry, who had rushed out to catch it's team mate. The thing was completely out cold. a path of pure destruction had been carved...

"Go on soldier," Surge said to Clint as the Flareon returned carrying the mouse on it's back. "Give em hell... show em the power of Spark Alpha."

[Supernovae]

Clint couldn't hold back a smirk. "All right Pimparella you heard the boss man, distract them. Dig up whatever you want, just don't kill them, I don't feel like getting chewed out again." Clint smiled and quickly grabbed his crutches in order to make way for some different cover. "I suggest you move, sir." He said to the Lieutenant his smile plain as day.

The Onix, likewise was smiling, knowing full well what her master wanted her to do. She gave Clint and whoever else was hiding behind her a moment to move then decided to make her move. She quickly changed positions, digging her tail deep into the Earth and aiming it at her enemies. Then she swung, carrying with her any loose dirt. She flung the dirt as hard as she could making sure that the position wherever the silly men with weak guns were would be covered in dirt. She continued to swing back and forth each time digging deeper and throwing more sand and dirt at the enemies. Where they stood now it almost looked as though it was raining sand.

[Jory]

Jory grinned as Surge assigned him his squad. Ever since the events at the tarmac, Jory had begun to undergo a change. There was no longer a pit in his stomach when he entered battle. Instead, it was a hunger, and one that was no longer held back by his concern for his own well-being. Seeing injustice and being able to act on it was the greatest feeling he had ever had. The adrenaline rush of combat was like nothing the young man had ever felt before. It wasn't just exciting; it was downright addictive. Logan's interruption shook him from his reverie and the Corporal nodded, taking stock of the situation. "Alright guys, here's the plan. We're going to sneak around back and get up into the woodline. From there, we should be able to move around the enemies' lines and hit them where they'll never see us coming. We move on my mark."

The Corporal watched from his position, waiting for Pimparella to begin her dirt barrage. Once she did, he turned to his squad and barked his order. "Move it, move it, move it!" he shouted, poking his rifle over cover and providing suppressing fire so his team could move toward the woodline. "Once you get to that cover, provide cover fire for me to move up!" pointing to cover on the way to the woods.

[Chevaleresse]

Crusader saw the other bird coming, and his pride would not allow him to flee the challenge. He gained altitude as quickly as he could, head straining upward against gravity, trying to meet his attacker head-on.

[Chim]

Under the cover fire provided by Jory, Logan ran towards the tree line with Ace behind him. Once he reached the trees he signaled for the next person to start running while providing cover.

Ace jumped from tree to tree and kept an eye out in case an enemy was hiding close by.

[Jory]

Jory continued laying down suppressing fire in bursts before reaching down to his belt and hitting the release button on Oliver's ball. "Oliver! Help me lay down cover fire! Spray'em down with seeds!" he shouted over the cacophony of gunfire and GAO attacks. The lizardlike GAO nodded and peered around cover, firing bursts of seeds at high velocity toward the enemy lines.

"Next runner, move up! Go, go, go!"

[K_H]

Kenny was next to head to the Tree Line, using Jory's Cover Fire to get there safely. once there, he sent out Eve, and gave her a Command.

"Eve, lay down some Cover Fire on my mark!"

Eve responded, and then readied herself.

"Vui!"

Kenny took out his gun, switched off the Safety, motioned for the next person to come, and then spoke to Eve.

"Now!"

Eve then shot off some Stars towards the Tangoes, while Kenny laid down more Cover Fire in the same direction.

Edited November 14, 2014 by K_H

[Sutoratosu]

In the Skies...

A burst of the blazing aura cloaking the bird of prey issued forth the moment it made contact with Crusader, along with the pained cries of both avian GAOs. the Staraptor was the first to plummet from the sky, it's neck torn apart from the collision with the Metal Bird's bladed, sleek body. It's wings were singed with the power of it's own attack, it's feather's burning bright blue as it tumbled to earth, looking like a fallen angel.

Crusader wasn't in much better condition though. The last assault had nearly killed him from the impact force and raw transfer of energy. His armor around the face and neck was melted a little from the heat of the Staraptor's friction, unable to see out of one eye due to the damaged metal. His chest was scorched, but otherwise unscathed... but he too was plummeting down to the earth like a fallen star in the morning, gleaming silvery light in the sun as his battered form soon came to pick up terminal velocity. The thing was obviously out cold. He eventually managed to come to though, just in time to straighten out and manage to gain a little altitude, smacking into the top of a few trees over near Corporal Robertson and his team before ultimately losing control and crash landing right next to the Commander.

((Battle Intensity Tier: 3))

Jory's Fireteam

Oliver was so startled by the sudden incident that he stopped his attack with a jolt and turned around, looking at the torn earth behind Jory... and at Crusader. The Metal Bird lay there in the dirt, struggling to retain consciousness... but at least it had won... and lived to fight another day. But a medic would be needed... and soon.

Meanwhile, The tangoes had noticed the small fireteam trying to flank them thanks to the covering fire they had chosen to lay down. A few moments later a couple bolts of electricity began to be fired at them from a few GAOs behind cover in the distance, streaking through the air like bolts and charring the trees and cover around the team. One even managed to hit Oliver, though the Geeko seemed to not be too injured, but it definitely felt it, that much was for sure... in fact, he seemed to be having a few problems moving now, like all of his muscles had suddenly stiffened or something... but then just as suddenly as it happened, the firing and the thunderbolts all stopped... and if Corporal Robertson and his team weren't mistaking, their could swear that is was raining...mud.

The Force on the Hill

Surge smirked when he saw what Private Cannon was doing. He had an idea of his own now... "Here, let me help you with that, soldier," The moment later the Green Bipedal Frog creature was out again, And again, the skies darkened over their enemies and deluge began, rain water mixing with the dirt Pimparella had tossed into the air. The result... was that instead of raining dirt, it was now raining mud.

The firing stopped. as did the bolts of electricity. Everything stood silent. Surge held up his hand in a halting gesture, ordering the team to hold further fire. A few minutes passed... then a few more... still silence. What the hell had just happened?

*****

Fort Bexly Auxiliary Genetics Laboratory; 09:32 Hours, September 20, 2062

"Six months of researching this damn subject..." Ray snarled in frustration, slamming his Laptop shut and tossing the thing aside. He rubbed his temples, trying to reign in the anger he could rising like a steady tide. Six long months... for all that time, he had been assigned to this project from hell, this pursuit that had proved beyond pointless; To try to determine why these Creatures had so much power at their disposle, why they were capable of what they were. He had worked tirelessly, taking countless expeditions into the forest and mountains, observing GAOs in their natural habitats, their behavior, even the environment around them itself. He had evaluated the GAO Partners of countless Soldiers in the program, run battery after battery after motherfucking battery of worthless test, or rather, test that had ultimately proved to be worthless to his study. He had even studied his own GAOs, Salem and Romulus both... all with the same amount of yeilded results, nothing.

He was done. over six months, he'd gotten nothing for all his work, not even the most minuscule of relevant results... well, perhaps that was exagerating. He had found one thing, whatever the reason, the power exhibited by these new species of animal definitely had something to do with Energy to Matter Transference. That seemed to be the basis of everything... EtM Theory. The energy given off by GAOs in the forest and accompanying Soldiers gave off a nearly identical energy signature as was detected at Hiroshima after the incident. But he had known this many months ago, had figured it out right after being assigned to Bexly, it was the very basis with which he had constructed the Signature Reader that all Soldiers carried with them; a basic principle, the more power a GAO naturally has at it's disposle, the higher it's energy signature will be. And over the last six months... all he'd really done was learn what he already knew.

"Fuck it... I'm done, I'm just...fucking done." He continued, resting his elbows on the table, his head in his palms. "The idiots should never have assigned me to this study... I'm a Genetic Scientist, Damn it. I have a fucking PHD in Biology and Genetic Manipulation, not fucking Physics!" with that last sentence he kicked the table in a rage, sending it, along with the piles of research results on it, toppling over onto the floor with a loud slam. he got up from his chair, kicking that over as well and stalking for the door of the Auxillary lab, deciding that McCarthy and his lackies could clean up his damn mess since they had been so disgustingly ignorant as to miss assign his talents and expertise. He needed to go talk to someone about this utter bullshit... where was Oak? The old professor had always been there for him in the past...