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The Clones Return (Chapter 3)
By Vader
JohnArnold did his best to control the craft, but it continued to spiral downward in a fury. In the back of the vehicle, River and Para were thrown against the walls as the Flooder commando smashed to the floor as everything spun in a circle around them. All of a sudden, there was a massive shock and a jolt to the craft as it slammed into something.
The bottom of the stolen vehicle smacked against the top of the ocean water repeatedly, as JohnArnold was hurled into from the pilot's to the co-pilot's seat. The vehicle smashed into the side of an upcoming landing platform, twirled into the air, smashed upside down, skid across the platform as sparks flew and came to a stop when slamming against the side of one of broad, smooth towers on the aqua base.
Everyone sat breathing hard, trying to take in everything that had happened. River realized that they should not be wasting time just laying there. He hopped up, his sword ready and marched over to the commando, pulling him up. "This isn't any time to be taking a cat nap!" he sarcastically remarked as Para bolted up behind him. She slammed the button to open the hatch as JohnArnold raced forward to join them, guns out of their holsters and twirling. They all leaped out of the vehicle just as a troop of Flooders came running forward and open fired on the vehicle, quickly blowing it up.
The Admins raced sideways, River and Para deflecting fire as JohnArnold shot back with guns blazing. Several of the local pteranadons were tied up nearby with saddles and reins on them, used by the troops to fly over the choppy ocean quickly. They all darted behind one of the agitated birds as River dragged the irritated commando with him. It was important to protect their hostage - he was the only one who could take them to their friends and free them. "What do we do now?" River asked. "This bird isn't made of steal you know!"
As the words popped out of his mouth, a super-grenade came soaring over to blast the bird, torching it to pieces and sending the Admins flying backward to slam into the pteranadon behind them. "River! You and John go rescue them! I can hold them off here!" she said as she twirled her sword back and forth, deflecting the bullets. "Run through the entrance! When they turn around to fire at you, I'll attack from behind! You can meet me back here later!"
"Para, that's-" River bursted but was cut off.
"Desperate times call for desperate measures! Do you want to get out of this drenching pit or not, River! There's not other way! Go!" Para replied. She had a reason to be irritated - there wasn't any time for stalling whatsoever. River reluctantly agreed, and turned to nod to John.
"Alright let's go!" John shouted. He, River, and the commando bolted across the platform as the Flooders turned their direction away from Para to turn and head for them. JohnArnold slid across the wet floor, holding down his triggers for rapid fire as River deflected any bolts that came near them. As those three reached the entrance to the inside of the aqua base, Para was on top of the troop of Flooders before they even knew what him them. She jumped upward, kicking down two troopers in the head and twirling to slash two more in the chest. She expertly fought her way through the crowd like twirling in a circle, attacking her enemies by slashing while at the same time deflecting the bolts that came her way. It was times like these that she was extremely thankful for her Admin expertise training.
JohnArnold and River, meanwhile, immediately turned to consult the commando once inside. "Okay, where are Jon, Majestic-1, and Rexoraptor being held?" John asked fiercely as River held a sword to the man's back.
"Up three levels," the commando whined. They wasted no time in rushing up stairs. In the process, three Flooders came running downwards and shooting across the cavernous flights of stairs. All within a fraction of a second, River skillfully angled his sword to deflect the blasts back into the body of one of the Flooders as JohnArnold shot twice, taking out the other two. After the amazingly quick setback, they raced onto the third floor of the complex.
"Now what?" John asked tersely.
"Let me lead you! It's like a maze to get there!" the commando replied. River rolled his eyes, more untrusting of this man than he could possibly have been. But at John's nod, he let the commando walk in front of him as he maintained his grasp to his arm, sword at his back. The commando raced over to activate a nearby blast shield door. After a few seconds the door opened, and they raced down a corridor that was curved.
It was very claustrophobic in the new, winding, narrow corridor. There were no windows and it seemed as if the space was becoming thinner and thinner. But JohnArnold and River simultaneously realized that it was taking a suspiciously long time to get to the end of the hallway. "How much long-" John was cut off as they rounded the corner to walk right into a wide room, filled with squads of Flooder commandos. The surprised Flooder whirled to unload upon the Admins as the commando that had been leading them went darting away.
"Oh no you don't!" River yelled, whipping a knife out from his belt and hurling it behind him while at the same time deflecting a bolt. The knife pierced through the thought leather of the fleeing commando's outfit, pinning him to the wall. He jolted to a stop and slammed to the floor, knocking himself unconscious. It was a fine trick he'd played by leading them into the midst of bunch of squads.
River darted forward, spinning his sword in a fluid motion as if cutting through a field of grain rather that a sea of Flooders. JohnArnold leapt into the air, landing on the opposite side of the room and fired on the back of the Flooders. A bullet slapped into River's hand as he howled with pain and ducked to avoid another bolt, retaliating at the waist in doing so. JohnArnold conked two of the Flooders heads together, slamming them forward into their fellow commandos and fired shots at them, taking the closely nit batch of his enemies down in a split-second. Deflecting five more bolts and leaping to spin backwards, River disposed of three as John took out the last four.
They took a moment to catch their breaths.
They had conquered the squads.
And then there was a loud hum from behind as a hidden panel opened and fifteen more squads flooded into the room, guns cocked and ready. "Oh this is just ridiculous!" John screamed out of frustration. He pointed his guns backward through his legs, taking out the feet of all the troopers behind them as River ran forward, taking a bound toward the roof and cut a massive chunk out of the metal with his sword. As John backed the Flooders against a corner, the chunk of ceiling fell and slammed into the commandos, crunching them into the floor.
"Let's get out of here before any more show up," John said, retrieving River's knife from the wall and tossing it back to him.
"Good suggestion," River stated blandly. He gestured to the new opening in the roof, which seemed to be a better alternative to get around than skirmishing through a maze of narrow hallways floor by floor. River jumped out into the cold, wet air, JohnArnold following him and dragging their captive along.
Once in the rain on the roof, John shook the commando back awake. "Hey, snap out of it! Don't try anything like your last trick again! We are really, really pressed for time here, and sooner we get to our friends, the sooner we'll let you go."
"Alright, alright! Just don't kill me! I won't do it again," the cowardly commando replied, jolted from his brief unconsciousness. "Look, see that tower on the other side of the roof? That's out prisoner tower. Head there and I'll let you have your friends."
River and John looked at each other with affirmation. They turned and headed through the rain as thunder and lighting from the storm raged close by. While JohnArnold's thoughts dwelled on seeing his old friends again, River's dwelt on how his loving wife's battle was faring . . .
2/7/02 1:04:13 AM
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