Two aircraft were aloft, one flying, a standard fighter, and one hovering, the Troop Destroyer, one of the best specialized
aircraft the world military had. Below them, a tank stood ready, and a group of troops ensured everything was in order before
the experiment began. It was a cruel experiment, there was no doubt about that, but it had reason to it, or so Commander Ficemog,
the one who had authorized the experiment, said. The troops at work here knew none of the reason, only how the experiment was
to be carried out. And now it was about to begin.
The group of subjects of the experiment stood nearby. They were volunteers, from a small village, a fairly primative
one, excepting whatever equipment they had aquired over time. So it needed to be, for the experiment to work.
There were about twenty, maybe thirty of them. And almost certainly, by the end of the experiment, all or most of
them would be dead.
It was to them that Leiutennant Corser adressed his words.
"All right, now, before we begin, let's go over this one more time."
The milling villagers paused, turned to Corser.
"When I blow the whistle, the first one of you - you have all been given numbers, I believe? - good. So, the first one
of you will make a mad dash for jeep over there, trying to avoid the blasts from the tanks, shots from the soldiers I am commanding,
and the two airplanes' attacks simultaneously. Once in the jeep, you will drive, I suggest quickly, over to the three
villagers we hired over there, by that rock. After the first one makes it, or after he dies, I will blow the whistle again,
and the second one will go, then the third, fourth, etc. Those who make it will be rewarded greatly. Those who do
not - well, you'll probably be dead, if not, we will send medics to heal you. This is a volunteer based experiment.
You all made the choice to be here today. If you want to back out, now would be the time to do it. No? Ok,
let's begin.
He blew the whistle.
The first one ran crazily, practically tripping over his own footsteps. The tank shot at him, but missed, and he ran
on. Two snipers took aim, fired. One bullet slammed into the ground behind him. The second slammed into his head. Bucking,
the dead villager tripped and fell facedown into the sand.
The whistle blew.
The second hesitated, got a false start, then froze and fell as a bullet lodged itself in his chest.
The whistle blew again.
The third villager was calm, collected, and in shape. The bullets whizzed by him, some missing only by inches, but always
missing. The fighter fired its pulverizing Vulcan gun. The bullets came close, shredding the ground behind him, getting nearer.
But the airplane could not control its yaw, and the bullets curved off, away from the racing villager. He was feet away from
the jeep now. Suddenly and unexpectedly, the troop destroyer fired. Its deadly laser bolts pounded into the villager, and
he collapsed to the ground, his dead body rolling.
And again.
The fourth made it to the jeep, jumped inside, drove off. The Troop Destroyer fired, but too late, it's flesh-biting
laser bolts dinged the jeep, but the armor fought it off. The jeep was making distance, the villager was close to halfway
there now. But then the fighter launched a guided missile at the jeep, and though the villager jumped out before impact, the
shrapnel from the explosion shredded into his back, and the heat wave burned his back as he flew down. The jeep was replaced
and the whistle blew.
The fifth villager ran in zigzags, evading, he alternated jumps and rolls, but bullets from scattered sources slammed
into him, driving him into the ground.
The whistle blew.
There was a moment of pause. The villagers realized the futility of their attempts, and, in fury, turned on their attackers
- as predicted and planned. All part of the experiment, not that the villagers knew it.
Most of the villagers were on hoverboards, and they flew at their attackers. The rest were mowed down quickly. The others
on hoverboards split up, some flying at the soldiers, others at the tank, and still others at the planes. Those attacking
the planes did not last long, even in flight, the bullets and laser bolts slammed into them. The group of military soldiers
fired into the oncoming villagers' midst, but even though they killed a few, the group of ten or so villagers quickly overpowered
them, and second later there were only corpses. The villagers flew off to support those atacking the tank.
The machine gun on the tank had killed many, but one brave strong, and skilled villager placed a shot dead center in
the machine gun's turret. It went dead, as did the man in the tank behind it as the gun exploded. The villager, then joined
by his friend, started blowing bolts of the hatch of the tank as the other remaining villagers of their group, now joined
by the group who had killed the soldiers distracted the planes as best they could. For most of them, this involved some sort
of dying.
The skilled villager and his friend had now successfully taken the hatch off, and had killed everyone in the tank and
taken it over. The fighter saw this, and, leaving the villagers to the Troop Destroyer, turned on and fired at the tank. The
two villagers inside, both on hoverboards, leaped out.
The missile rammed into the tank, blowing it to pieces, but the two villagers escaped in time. They flew up towards the
airplanes, where three other village members remained, dodging the attacks of the Troop Destroyer. The fighter began to turn
to turn to those three as well, but turned back quickly as the copilot spotted the two oncoming villagers.
One swept by, and with amazing accuracy ripped a shot off that slammed into the glass of the cockpit.
Technically, the glass was bulletproof, but at such a close range, with the speed of the villager's downward sweep added
to it, it shattered. The pilot and copilot had not been wearing their masks, at this altitude, and as they fumbled for them
in a blind panic, gasping for air, the second villager swept by and delivered two shots into the cockpit, killing both
pilots.
At the speed they were going, they would have been dead from lack of air soon anyway, but no use taking chances.
The two heroic villagers now flew to join the one remaining other villager dodging the laser blasts of the aircraft he
was facing.
Ordinarily, one cannot "dodge" a laser blast, it moves at the speed of light - approximately 186,000 miles every
second -, but this was a particularly skilled and experienced individual, who could anticipate that the aircraft
was going to fire, and move to avoid it. He had been singed, but so far he was still alive, and frustrating the pilot of the
aircraft to no end.
But he was tiring, exhausted after a long time of dodging in an instant.
Even as the two villagers approached him, the Troop Destroyer took aim again, and this time the third villager took to
long to begin moving. As he began to slide out of the way the bolts slammed into his chest and torso, killing him.
As the life left his eyes, he plummeted to the ground far below.
The Troop Destroyer turned on the two remaining villagers.
Veering off in opposite directions, they approached the offending aircraft.
The plane turned, began to fire on the first one of them, to the left.
The villager pulled to a complete stop, and the plane kept turning, unable to compensate for the short stop. However,
the Troop Destroyer was a maneuverable plane, and quickly turned back to face the him.
The villager dropped suddenly, laser blasts sizzling over his head moments later.
As the plane lowered its nose to face him, the second villager shot down from far overhead, firing his gun at the weak
spot of the Troop Destroyer - its engines.
The bullets hit the engines. The first one dented, the other one burst into flames.
The Troop Destoyer started to list, rolling slightly to try to recover its balance.
The first villager shot up from below, shooting fiercely at the remaining engine. After a few shots, this, too, exploded.
The plane began to fall, slowly at first as its hovering capability kept it aloft, then tumbling down as it gave
out.
Pulling together, the two villagers watched the plane drop, exploding in a great ball of flame as it hit the ground.
"How did they do that?!" Lieutannant Colonel Jidray nearly shouted. "That's impossible!"
Sheetrock Run Station was a flurry of activity. They had been monitoring the experiment, via a soldier with video recording
binoculars that had been hiding in the cliffs nearby. Through his eyes, they had seen the entire event as the information
was streamed straight to their computers.
Now everyone was trying to sort out what had happened, and deal with it.
One villager smiled victoriously. A tall, lean man, he made up for his thinness with much athletic muscle. He had brown
hair and light brown eyes, the kind with a glint in them that let you know their owner meant business. He was dressed
in traditional village garb, almost similar to a cowboy's, loose, baggy pants of leather, with a rough, no-nonsense shirt,
also made of leather. He had a gun clutched in one hand and another on his hip, and plenty of ammo handy in packets on
his belt, across his chest, and tied on with leather straps all the way down one leg.
The second villager nodded his own satisfaction. A heavier man, he was slightly shorter and had darker features than
the first villager. Dressed similarly, he also had two guns and plenty of ammunition to boot. He turned now to the other.
"Hey, Orcill, now what?"
Orcill turned.
"Now we kill the rest."
"Really?"
"Yes, Weskor. Don't forget why we're here."
"They're on the move."
An SRR Station Tactical Observer was reporting to Lt. Colonel Jidray.
"They're moving toward the nearest base, which, in this case, happens to be SRRS."
Jidray growled. Just one more thing on his overcrowded mind. Just one more thing to deal with.
"All right, prepare defences and deploy defence troops."
"But sir, are you sure that'll be enough? Remember what they did back there."
"My memory is just fine, Lieutennant Penson. Follow your orders."
"Yes, sir." He left.
Orcill and Weskor approached SRRS rapidly. In the distance, they saw troops setting up barricades and readying themselves
for battle. Airplanes were circling overhead, and heavy artillery cannons jutted up out of the ground.
Ignoring this site, however, they sped on confidently.
Lt. Colonel Jidray stared out the window, drumming his finger on the table beside him. He had spoken to Tactical Observer
Orsen very assuredly, and at that time he had been. Now, however, as he watched the threat draw ever closer, and reviewed
in his head the awe-inspiring scene that had taken place, his confidence lessened.
He held out only a few more moments before his confidence broke completely.
"Orsen!", he called.
"Yes sir?"
"Send any off duty soldiers out to aid original defence group. Also prepare any extra aircraft or other defences."
Orsen gave him an odd look, but, being a faithful soldier, said "Yes, sir.", and was off.
Dozens of troops assembled outside the base, preparing for battle.
The two forms that were their targets approached rapidly, growing closer by the second.
Major Trennidy was the commanding officer in charge of the troops.
"What is the longest-range weapon we have in our arsenal?", he asked the man beside him.
"The artillery, sir", his junior officer replied.
The Major stared ahead intently at the oncoming figures.
"The artillery has been loaded as instructed?"
"Yes sir."
"Then command them to fire. I want three ranging shots first. Have the system computer triangulate that position and
calculate the distance between the shells' explosions and the enemy's position. Also have it calculate the distance between
them and us, and their speed. I believe you will have to make use of the video tower for that."
"Yes, sir. It will be done"
A few moments later, after everything had been set up, the shots were fired.
There was a pause, then Trennidy's junior said:
"We missed them by approximately 100 feet, sir. They are slightly less than a mile away and are approaching with a speed
of 30 miles an hour. But what I don't get, sir, is why they are going so relatively slowly. Their hoverboards can do more
than that."
"I think they are testing us, seeing our action and reaction before they strike."
"Mmm-hmm"
"But we must hurry. Is artillery ready?"
"Yes sir."
"Fire."
His junior relayed the order, and the artillery fired again, more slowly, methodically, laying down shells at plotted
points where the two enemies would be at the time of the landing of the shells, calculating for all necessary factors.
The hits would be precise, on the mark exactly.
And they were, except that their targets were no longer there.
The two villagers hurled along, despite the artillery fire. By the time the shell had come anywhere near the ground,
the two were in new locations, veering off from the danger areas. Evading, they proceeded unendangered
by the flying shells.
The base defence force had better have something better than that to fight with.
Major Trennidy clenched his teeth. He'd expected that, really, but he had hoped; those artillery had never missed anything
before. Then again, they had never fired on something that wa moving that fast. Still, that shouldn't make too much of a difference.
He set up the snipers in his force. They would wait until the enemy was in range, then fire. He also prepared the
Hoverboard Pursuers. The HPs were highly trained soldiers, specializing in giving chase on hoverboards. If the snipers failed,
the HPs would be the backup.
He also had aircraft in his command, but his confidence in them was low. He had seen the video from the village experiment
just hours earlier. Still, it couldn't hurt. This threat had to be stopped.
The enemy was almost in range. He steeled himself for what was to come.
They fought well, they really did. Trennidy was a superb commander, and he had fine troops under his command. Still,
the fight had lasted only minutes. An hour after that, the base fell. The structure itself was hardly damaged at all, actually.
Only almost every living thing that had been inside was dead.
Major Trennidy sat unsteadily against a wall of the base. He was wounded, but would recover in time. After his men had
fallen, he pursued his enemies into the base, tried to stop them as they wreaked havoc upon all its inhabitants. He himself
had been there as Lt. Colonel Jidray died, laying, freshly wounded, against the wall where he now sat.
And yet he had been unable to stop them. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't touch them.
That was what amazed him most of all. Through all of this, neither one of the villagers had recieved so much as a scratch.
Trennidy sighed. His part in the battle (or was it a war?) was done. He had played his part, and, though
failed, it was over.
Taking a deep breath, he crawled slowly through the base, seeking survivors and preparing to call HQ with the grim
news.
Things did not get better from there. The two unstoppable villagers tore through base after base, leaving them, though
physically untouched, nearly devoid of life.
No matter what plans were lay, nothing stopped their rampage of destruction.
High up officials conferenced, considered all sorts of dramatic plans to stop these unbelievable men of
power. Even an atomic missile launch was considered, a wide plain of destruction that could not be
prevented or evaded. But that plan was vetoed as Orcill and Weskor approached more heavily populated areas.
The might of the World Military was brought down upon these ferocious enemies, but nothing prevented them from continuing.
It seemed as though they were invincible.
With time, though, this myth was shattered.
One day, during a battle of tremendous force bearing down upon the unstoppable, a momentous ocassion occured
as a flying bullet lodged itself in Weskill's chest. He slowed, and ten more shots pounded into his stomache, ripping
it open, mutilating it. It was as though time itself slowed down. All the forces gathered there, a number of collossal size,
turned, stared at the unkillable, presently killed. The life-driven hoverboard powered down, its
rider tumbling off, falling down, down onto the ground below, skidding to a halt, dead.
Everything paused as Weskor died. Even Orcill himself was watching, staring raptly at the scene. Moments passed. Orcill
began to turn.
And everything resumed.
Orcill's fighting fury seemed doubled, almost as if to make up for the loss of Weskor's presence. Blood poured over the
battlefield as Orcill passed through the masses, slaughtering everyone there, destroying everything.
A grim silence hovered over the field as Orcill slay the last man standing.
The man tumbled to the ground in bloody agony as Orcill sped on, heading away toward his next doomed victims.
By this time almost half of the World Military's might had been cut down by the terrible duo, now reduced to one. The
military was at a lack of what to do, for many of the bases Orcill and Weskor had penetrated had held high up officers, and
by now very few commanders were left.
So Orcill's rampage continued. Things were looking gloomy.
The last flag officer remaining in the World Military, Brigadier General Arken Sofer, shifted uneasily as he watched
Orcill's progress from the control room of his base. He should have been shifted to a more secure location
a long time ago, and ordinarily, he would have been. However, under the circumstances, that was not possible. Many of
the hidden bases Orcill and Weskor had somehow found. And now with most of the military network down, the hidden bases were
inoperative. These bases required connections with other bases or outposts, communication with the outside. With the connections
offline, the bases gone, a commander hiding in a secret base would be unable to do his job, to communicate with the army.
So instead Sofer was here, in a base out in the open; well-protected, yes, but that hadn't stopped Orcill yet, and it
made Sofer feel very vulnerable.
What's more, Orcill was now headed toward the base. And with the rate of success other bases had had at stopping him,
Sofer didn't feel very confident.
But as current head of the world's military forces, he had to sound confident, whether he was or not. Otherwise moral
would go down completely. It's sort of a chain effect, Sofer though distractedly. If an officer is troubled, and he shows
it, everyone below him will worry as well.
So, putting as much ring in his voice as he could, Sofer said, "How far away is the enemy currently?"
"Approximately 3 miles, sir", responded a TO.
"Very good."
This base had no outer defence forces, and if it had, they would have been useless, a waste of life and men. However
that's not to say they weren't prepared. The base had an excellent inner guard, with some of the finest men, including some
from the military's top elite team, the Tan Team, who's captain was there as well.
The base also had very thick, tough walls. It would be hard to break through them, and the men inside would be ready
for Orcill when he got through.
Orcill closed in on his target, the last High Commander left in the world. This would be sweet. Everything was going
smoothly, exactly as planned. Soon, with the death of the last high commander, the World Military would be in chaos. After
that, there would be almost no resistance whatsoever.
The men in the base waited stolidly now, ready for what would likely be the last battle of their lives. Everybody
watched the monitors as Orcill approached the base door. All eyes turned back to the door as a bang was heard. Another heavy
knock resounded. There was a pause, and then the sound of bullets against metal.
"What's going on?", one man whispered, "He knows that the door is too tough for those kind of bullets to penetrate!"
There were murmers all around, but no one had an actual answer.
But then somebody pointed. The bottom corner of the door was slowly being hammered in, shot by shot. Suddenly the shooting
stopped. There was a glint of metal. A shot was fired. And one of Sofer's guards dropped down dead.
Then they spotted the gun peeking out from under the door. A guard shot at it. Before Orcill could withdraw it, it was
blown to pieces.
There was a pause, and then they heard the sound of a revolver cocking.
"His second gun", somebody whispered.
The hammering shots on the door continued.
Slowly, bit by bit, the door was giving in.
The men inside got ready, prepared the last things for the battle ahead. Some prayed, others shuffled nervously, and
every man tried to rid himself of his fear.
The shooting stopped again. The bottom of the door was bent in almost fourty five degrees.
The men shifted, aiming their guns at this new entrance point, and waited for Orcill to enter.
He came before anyone was ready, rolling in sideways, shooting every time he turned. Before anyone could get a good shot
off, he had sprung up and into the group, and seconds later he showed up on the other end of the room, unscathed, holding
General Sofer hostage, a gun pointed at his head.
The men looked for an open spot, but Orcill was a slim man, and pesented little target.
Orcill breathed heavily, and for a moment nothing happened.
Then one man said, "I've found a spot." And to Orcill, "Now listen, you. Let the commander go."
"Why should I?" Orcill responded, "You'll just kill me. "
"Besides", he added, "I've accomplished my mission."
Laughing softly, he pulled the trigger.
As Sofer slid to the floor, a thousand bullets flew into Orcill, shredding him.
He fell to the ground, nearly dead, with a half-crazed victorious smile on his mutilated face.
Laughing softly one more time, he died.
An hour later, the men buried Sofer. The threat had been averted, but the military had no commander left.
Slowly, the news spread. The world at large rejoiced at the victory, the conquering of the foe that had eaten up so much
of their military. The military rejoiced as well, but mass confusion spread through the organization.
Sofer had had assistants, high ranking individuals, but many were on the same rank, and that rank was shared by others
of the military.
It would be a long time before order was restored to the World Military.
The day after this momentous occasion, mass conferences were held. Military staff met, other government officials joined
the soldiers in meeting.
One such of these, the first one started, was being held in the Capitol in Washington. Even though it was the first started,
others had finished already, smaller ones, of less importance, regarding lesser personel and the like.
But this one was likely to go on for a while.
In the middle of a heated moment, as a soldier vieing for the position of general argued with several presidential
staff members, the conference room doors opened unexpectedly.
A man strode in wearing the uniform of a general, followed by guards and assistants.
"Who are you?" demanded one officer.
"I am the last remaining general, and currently the leader of the World Military."
There were murmers of disbelief all around.
"All the generals were killed", someone said.
"Yes. All except me." the general replied. "I was hidden in a secret base at the time, more of a military research station,
really. I -"
"I know you", one Colonel interrupted. "You're General Corden, 3 star."
"That is correct, and you are pardoned for the interruption, under the circumstances. Anyway, I was there when the battles
with Weskor and Orcill started, and I stayed put, being of more use where I was then. I'm not really the fighting type. But
now that the war is over, I figured the time was right to show myself, in case anybody had forgotten about me. Turns out the
time couldn't have been righter."
"I realize that there must surely be some doubt, and I will willingly subject myself to any tests you wish to impose,
DNA, certification, whatever."
There was general consent all around, and all rose to begin the testings.
A few days later, newly reapproved General Corden stood looking out the window of his office at the sunset, with assistants
behind him. He had been thinking for while, pondering and now finally spoke.
"I don't think that was the attack.", he said. "I think there's more, that that was just the precursory attack to a new,
and larger one."
"But sir, that can't be", responded an Assist Guard, "There's no force left in the world that's large enough to attempt
an attack."
"Exactly"
"Huh?"
"There's no force left in the world that's large enough to attempt an attack."
"You mean..."
"An alien invasion."
"But sir, don't be insane - " He stuttered, "Uh, sorry, sir."
"That's fine. But I'm not insane. Think about it! This whole thing was masterminded, plotted from the very beginning
to make way for an invasion, even if some of the forces involved had on clue."
"How's that, sir?"
"The whole thing is just too curious, too worked, to be natural. Listen! First, our hired villagers didn't do anything
to stop the rampage. This is because they are in cahoots with the Mad Militia, for their own purposes. They think Warrior-General
Ficemog authorized the experiment - he didn't, but we'll get to that later. They're happy to trick him, to
use his experiment for their own devious plot.
The two strong, inhumanly so, villagers - I say it that way specifically - start this rampage, cutting through the
military like a knife through butter. The MM then sacrifices a few of their men in the action, as a natural course of events. For
them, everything is proceeding as planned.
The remaining rebel villager - the other one, remember, was killed - has killed most of the military's head men, and
torn hell out of the military itself. He is even on his way to killing the last, as far as they know, for I was hidden then,
head man of the military.
So now, when the villager is finally killed, the way is open for the Mad Militia to attack, and they did, with help of
the hired villagers they were working together with. Due to the state of our army, they did a fine job, and even killed
Commander Shogen. Finally, however, we defeated them, and stopped their attacks, killing their highest men in that final attack
of theirs.
And now our military is in shambles, I the highest - and only - commander left, and the alien invaders' plan is complete.
For now the way lies open, ready for them to attack."
"Well, that sort of makes sense, sir, but..."
"Ah, yes, I left out a few things that tie it all together. You see, the aliens must not be that advanced of a race,
or not have to large or strong of a military. Otherwise they were just being very careful. You see, they wanted, or needed,
as the case may be, for our army to be weak and staggering, when they struck. Apparently if our army and theirs went to war,
we might win. They did not take this chance. So they plotted, and they must be masterminds to weave a plot like this and not
have it go wrong. It's easy to see, from hindsight like this, but to have a plan like this go through... well, anyway, they
planted two of their men in a small village, disguised to look like normal villagers, but in reality very powerful. They must have
planned this for a long time, for they then planted another two men on earth, one in the normal military, and one in
the MM. I say this must have taken a long time, for these men had to work their way up the ladders in each of their environments,
gain the trust of those they worked with. The man in the military got close enough to Ficemog to learn about him, and be near
him enough to kill him, and take his place.
They must be masters of disguise, as well, to be able to replace him so well, and have nobody notice. Maybe somebody
did, but not quickly enough. Anyway, replacing him was the only way to truly ensure that the job got done. He probably could
have convinced Ficemog to give the order, but it could never have worked as well.
As soon as the order was given, the experiment authorized and begun, and publicized throughout the military, the alien
man who had been waiting this whole time in the MM now brought the idea of attack to his own commander. He explained that
he had found out that two of the villagers involved were extremely tough, inhumanly so. They could be used, he said, to start
an attack that the MM could finish. The MM and our army never having been best of friends, the MM commander sprung upon the
idea immediately.
I think they always have wanted to attack, but have never had the opportunity, being inferior to our military as they
were. All four of the aliens planted on earth knew that they were on a suicide mission, and carried out their responsibilities
dutifully, and amazingly, pulling the plan together with perfection. So the attack happened, and now, with us weakened,
the aliens who have been waiting so long and patiently, now have perfect opportunity to strike."
