_____________________________________________________________________ Timecrash Pt 4 By Zac _____________________________________________________________________ Authors Notes: The ‘Interlude’ at the end is because I couldn’t think of any real way of stretching the race out into a complete chapter. Sorry it took so long to get this out but I’ve had to many assignments to do as well as far to much computer trouble. Sorry but the next few chapters may take even longer to get out. Also I’ve used the Downunder freedom fighters from the tails mini-series. Zac __________________________________________________________________________________ CH 6 the gold stone ___________________________________________________________________________________ Laran looked out the window at Sonic and the others as they lifted off. Seeing Quinton looking back she gave him the thumbs up then turned back to the map she had on her lap. "Steer for Downunder Wingz. Max burn" Wingz nodded and swung the transports prow around then engaged the thrusters. He then flicked the safety cover off the booster ignition switch. With his finger posed over the button he said "Boosters in 5. 4... 3... 2... 1... Boosters online" The acceleration crushed her to the seat for a few seconds. There was a few loud crashes of equipment being thrown around by the sudden acceleration from the cargo hold. Poking her head through the hatch Laran called out. "You alright back their guys?" A few "Guess" or "What do you think?" came echoing back. "I'll take that as yes" She said smiling to herself. “Hey benny. Remind me to tell the troops before you do that again” The next few minutes passed quickly with little or no talking as Benny set the auto pilots Nav points. “There. All set. Now all we have to do is sit back and relax while the computer does all the work” Benny said putting his feet up on top of the control panel. Then the radar Started flashing red and an alarm went off in the cockpit. "Frak!" Benny yelled as his feet practically flew back to the rudder peddles. "Whats up?" Laran asked swinging her feet off the instrument panel. "We've got hostiles!" He yelled as he grabbed the radio. Wingz started yelling into it as Laran jumped up and stuck her head into the cargo compartment . "Heads up boys we've got incoming!" She yelled. There was a mad scramble for the 3 fire control stations for the gun turrets mounted on the craft. The rest ended up back in their seats muttering. "Alright listen up” She called out. “Strap in for a rough ride Forecast is heavy turbulence and the chance of a light shower of laserbolts so put those flak vests on" Turning around she pulled her head back into the cockpit and strapped herself into the copilots seat. “Now what?” She asked benny. "Here they come!" He yelled pointing at the radar screen. A full flight of 3 SWATfighters closed into attack the transport as it cruised over the great forest. The 3 gun turrets mounted on the transport spat a rain of defensive fire at the incoming craft, but the fighters were just to fast to hit. "Stravag!" One of the troopers yelled into the com. "There to fast to hit!" he yelled out. The SWATbots small computers decided that the large transport was a hostile and there for a target then broke formation and started an attack run. Wingz whipped the transport around the sky as if it was a fighter but it was to unmanoeuvreable to throw the fighters of for any period of time. "Mayday! Mayday this is NX 12 we are under attack! Repeat we are under attack!" He was yelling into the com as the heaved the flight stick over to the left. The fighters ignored the wall of laser fire streaking up to meet them dove in to the attack. Their heavy lasers scorched armour off the left wing and hull but not doing penetrating. Inside the plane the troopers were hanging on for dear life as the transport went through every trick in the book and then some to avoid the incoming laser fire. The transport shook as it took more hits and an alarm went off in the cockpit. "Slag! Fire in engine 3! Hit the extinguisher Laran!" Benny yelled. Laran looked around the control panel until she saw a hazard striped cover marked 'extinguishers'. Flipping the cover she hit the one marked '3' then looked back out the window. White foam streaked from the engine killing the flames and smoke. "Fires out" She yelled back then looked at the screen showing the rear of the craft. One of the fighters dropped into view. "Here they come again!" Yelled one of the troopers operating the turrets. The fighters were swinging around then attacked in a V formation. This time the troopers operating the turrets had more success and the lead fighter was caught in a cross fire between the wing turrets and went down in a corkscrew leaving a trail of thick black smoke. "Yahoo! I got him!" someone yelled. Laran recognised the voice as Hild Boman, one of the nebbie in her squad. "Keep it down Hild" She said then added "Good work though" Turning back to the control panels she glanced at the radar. "Uhoh" 6 more points had appeared on the screen 2 coming from the northeast 4 from the south. "Frak!" Benny yelled as he nosed the transport even lower until the bottom scraped on the tallest of the trees' branches. "Come on! Come on!" Benny yelled. "Whooo hooooo!" One of the troopers yelled as another of the fighters went up (Or rather down) in smoke. Glancing at the radar Laran saw the final fighter broke off and head towards the group coming from the south. Benny pulled back on the stick and brought them up about 50 feet. The intercom crackled with congrats and yells of victory. At least they did until Laran broke in. "Back in your seats boys there's another 2 waves approaching!" "Not quite sergeant" Wingz spoke up. "What?" She asked puzzled. "You'll see" Looking back at the radar Laran tyred to work out what he meant. “I don’t get it” She said. The pair of blips on the radar were almost on top of them. "Here they come! 6 O' clock level!" She yelled into the com. "Roger that. We see them" One of the gunners responded. Instead of the reassuring sound of laser fire she heard the sound of cheering. "Gun crews respond!" More cheering. She felt a tap on her shoulder turning she yelled "What!" The only response she got was Wingz pointing out the window next to her. Glancing out she almost missed the sleek tomcat cruising off the wing. A large red claw emblem was next to the cockpit. Glancing back at Benny she saw a revamped FW 190 drop into formation on the other side. "Oh..." She said her face relaxed alot. "This is fox 2 to leader" The radio crackled. "Are you receiving?" "We read ya Meg. Loud and clear and if I may say so your timings almost perfect" Another voice interrupted "Don't give her all the credit Wingz. This heres a team" Benny chuckled "I know Sanma but.." He was cut off again. "But nothing Benny. Now get your tail out of here while we here swat some SWATs" The fighters broke off and headed towards the incoming SWAT transports. Laran turned to Benny. "You knew they would be here didn't you!" "Sure did. I drew up their patrol rout" Laran watched out the window at the streams of laserfire and missile tracks marking the dogfight. "Next time could you at least... Oh ...TELL ME!" The tomcats radio crackled into life. "2 on your 6!" Glancing in the rear view mirror Meg saw that one of them had slipped in behind her "I see it!" She pulled back on the stick making her plane stand on its tail. "Come on..." Slamming the stick hard forward and over to the left the plane almost stalled The sudden lose of speed leaving the SWAT fighter screaming ahead of her. "Come on..." She locked onto its tail and followed it as it dived away trying to throw her off. Waiting for a good shot she closed the distance. "Now!" The nose mounted lasers shot a carpet of green death at the SWATfighter. One of the laser bolts pierced the engine manifold causing the fighter to erupt into flame. "Nice shot 2! I've got a lock.. Fox 1!... Got him!" Another SWAT dissolved into a ball of expanding fire and debris as a missile struck it just behind the cockpit. "4 O'clock high! Break 3! BRAKE!" Slamming the stick had to the right Sanma glanced behind her. "FRAG! How the did that tin head get there!" The jet and the SWATfighter entered a sort of aerial dance. One trying to throw the other off while the other trying to get behind the leader for a telling shot. "I can't shake him!" She yelled into the com diving all the way down to the ground. "Hold on 3 I'm coming!" Laser bolts started pummelling the fuselage and left wing. "I'm taking hits! urry up!" Banking to the left the whip rolling to the right she desperate tried to shake her attacker but almost slammed into the ground. "Just hold on a few ticks..." Suddenly the laser barrage stopped "Got him!" Letting out her breath slowly she had to swallow before being able to answer. "Thanks. I owe you one" "I'll put it on the tab... Hold on a sec.." Another one of the blips disappeared from the radar screen. "Ha flew straight into my sights!" Nursing her damaged fighter away from the combat. "Lead this is 3 retiring from combat" "Acknowledged 3. Good luck" "2 here. the remaining fighters are fleeing. Should I peruse?" "Neg 2. Escort 3 back to base" Meg dropped in beside the limping jet. "Aff sir. Over and out" Laran watched out the window at the retreating planes. One was easer to track because of the trail of smoke it left behind. "Well that was fun" Benny commented. Laran turned on him with a look that would curdle milk. "Just get this crate moving before I do something I might regret..." Then she stormed out of the cockpit into the cargo area. Wingz just hits the autopilot and put his feet up shakin his head while chuckling. Much much later.... "There! land!" The cliffs of Downunder were just appearing on the horizon "Finally. This old girl could down with some repairs. Not to mentions that I'm tired" Wingz said tapping a few buttons on one of the control panels "ETA 3 minutes" "Conny nodded. "I'll be back with the troops" Benny looked at the controls panel again. This time He payed particular attention to the engine read outs. 2 of the 3 remaing engines were creeping into the red. The other was in the yellow. "Definitely not before time" He muttered easing back on the throttles. "Attention!" Laran yelled. Most of alpha squad snapped neatly to attention some of the older members just stopped talking and looked up. Satisfied with their responses Laran continued "All right troops listen up. We are arriving at Downunder in about 3 minutes. As soon as we're down spread out, you got that!" Most of the squad nodded "Good. Every one check your weapons then get ready to rock! Dismissed!" As the transport's landing gear settled into the soft sandy ground the rear access door rolled up. Running out came Alpha squad scattering around the transport taking up protective positions around its exposed flanks. "All clear!" One of them shouted. In response some of the squad members slung their weapons over their shoulders and walked back into the transport only to emerge again carrying toolbox's and repair equipment. "Well that was a nice waste of time Laran" Benny commented from the cockpits now open window. "Good exercise for the troops" She yelled back "Any way haven't you got more pressing things to do?" Benny just shook his head. "Need to wait for the engines to cool down first" Laran went to check on the defensive positions the troops had set up. Later. Evening was just setting in when Wingz was sitting on the wing. scanning the dessert for any signs of movement. Swinging his binoculars he focused on a point. Startled he double-checked then muttered "Where the smeg did they spring from" Standing up he yelled out "Hey!" Laran looked up then he pointed into the distance. "Company!" He yelled. Laran spun and began shouting orders. "But it don't look like the robot kind" All the troops dived for cover and aimed there weapons in the direction of the approaching group. Grabbing her electobinoculars from her pack Laran focused on the small group of approaching there landing sight. It consisted of a large wallabee, an Emu, a duckbill platypus, a koala and a small wombat. Calling up the computer file on the Downunder resistance movement Wingz nodded down to Laran. "It's the resistance all right. Primary cell out here" Laran acknowledged with a small nod. Then turned back to her troops. "Lower your weapons boys. It's the backup" A collective sigh went through the ranks. They had already had two hard fights today they were looking forward to a good nights rest. As the group approached the perimeter they eyed the guards. "Peace Man" The Emu called out. Laran walked over to where the small group stood. "Hi. Your the Downunder ff aren't you?" She asked the wallabee. "First who are you!" He responded. "Sergeant Laran, Alpha squad of the brigade. You are?" "Walt wallabee. Leader of the Downunder FF. This is my group" He pointed to each of the respective members "Wombat Stu, Guru Emu, Barby Koala and Duck 'Bill' platypus. What are you doing here anyway?" Wings had walked over. "Names Benny but call me Wingz. Where here to recover a item" Guru Emu tapped Walt on the shoulder. "It's gotta be them Walt" he whispered none to quietly. Walt nodded "What item?" "A Stone. About so big" Benny Indicated with his hands "Glows, and has some interesting qualities" Wombat Stu nodded spoke up. "We know where it can be found" Walt Glared at him for a moment than turned back to Benny. "We can take you there tomorrow. It’s to far for today" he said pointed at the sunset. Laran nodded. "Tomorrow morning then. We’ll set out then" As the first rays of light came over the horizon the landing sight was already buzzing with activity. The sparks of welding illuminated parts of the transport while the Sentries patrolled the perimeter. Sounds of metal being worked hung in the air along with the calls of the repair crews. In the middle of it all Laran was trying to get some rest when Walt tested his latest bomb-a-rangs. At the sound of the first explosion Laran was on her feet rifle in hand while the rest of the troops were running for cover. It quickly became apparent that they were not under attack as no more explosions or other weapons fire followed the fires all eyes turned to Benny. "What?! It wasn't me!" Was his answer to the unspoken accusation. Eyes scanned around then rested on Walt as he was throwing another bomb-a-rang. "I'm going to kill him" Laran muttered as she stormed toward Walt. Another explosion echoed around the camp as Wombat Stu spotted Laran's approach and tapped Walt's shoulder. "What?" Walt glanced in the direction Wombat Stu was pointing. "Oh. Good morning Sergeant" "What the heck do you think your doing!" She demanded. "Testing some new bomb-o-rangs. Why? Something wrong?" He retorted. Laran looked as if she was about to explode but instead she just shook a fist at him. "This camp is full of combat hardened veterans! You work it out!" By this time Benny was standing next to her ready to stop her doing any thing to rash. It took all of half an hour to get the matter sorted out peacefully. In the end Walt promised not to test any more explosives of any type without warning the troops first. Repairs on the transport were coming along nicely with about 50% of the hull damage had been repaired. The damaged engine had been partially repaired back to 86% of maximum capacity. Up in the cockpit Benny was resting in the cockpit with his feet up on the consol drinking a mug of coffee from his thermos. Suddenly a buzzer went of and red lights started flashing all over the radar screen. Spluttering Benny almost dropped his mug on the control panel in his haste to leave the cockpit. Outside Conny was rounding up the troops in preparation to leave for "The Crater" Whatever that was to recover one of the missing timestones. When she heard Benny shouting a warning. It was just in time. As the troops scattered the sound of ramjets filled the air with a piercing scream. "It's the Robo dingo's! They've found us!" Walt yelled ducking for the closest cover. The dingos first attack run was remarkably ineffective damage wise. The only casualty was the transports mostly repaired engine. laser beams causing sparks to fly from the open access panels. "Arh Smeg!" Benny cursed seeing the smoke rising from the engine. Losing what his cool drawing his pistol he ran down the ramp shooting wildly at any bot he could get a bearing on. "I just fixed that you slagging bots!" Sporadic laser fire rose to meet the second wave of 'Bots as they dived into attack. Laser bolts rained down on the area around the transport causing more damage to its hull. Benny saw one of the solders sheltering under the transport take a hit in the chest. Running out he grabbed the solder by the back of her flak jacket and dragged her into the back into the transport. A large burn covered the lower part of her flak jacket. She groaned as Benny grabbed the first aid kit from its rack next to the door. Pulling a large pressure bandage from the box he opened up the front of the jacket and slapped the bandage over the wound. Benny placed her hands over the bandage and told her to hold it there until it set. Reaching back into the box he grabbed a painkiller and administered it. Outside the battle raged Laser fire lanced through the air as bombs slammed into the ground. Laran sheltered behind the rock taking snapshots at any bot that flew her way. She glanced around the rock's edge just in time to see Walt barrelling towards the hiding spot with a Robo dingo in hot pursuit. "Frak!" She swore moving out of the way as Walt dived behind the rock. Laran popped up above the rock and loosened off a volley of laser bolts. The bot was just starting to pull up when the laser bolts struck its left wing. Out of control, its climb became a spiral that ended at ground level. "Nice shot" Walt commented. looking at the smoking crater that was all that remained of the bot. Another bot went down leaving a long trial of smoke. Walt stood up and pegged a bomb-o-rang at one of the dingos strafing the transport. The projectile slammed into bots torso causing a massive power surge in its power core transforming the bot into a fireball. Shrapnel rained down onto the transport pinging off it's armoured hull. "Your not to shabby yourself" Laran commented as she raked the sky with fire. Suddenly one of the laser turrets on the transport opened up transforming the sky into a maelstrom of laser fire. "Way to go Wingz!" Laran yelled as the turret fired a constant stream of laser fire at the swarm. Bot after bot fell from the sky victim to Benny's guns. The rest of the bots beat a hasty retreat, some of them streaming smoke and oil. Some of the younger solders stood and cheered while the more experienced helped the wounded or simply scanned the skies for more bots. Laran held her rifle ready until the last of the bots had disappeared over the horizon and benny had singled the all clear from the cockpit.. "They'll be back" Walt commented. "Huh?" Laran said turning his head slightly. "I said they'd be back. They always come back and next time there will be more." It took benny half an hour to come up with a damage assessment. The number one engine on the transport was completely out of action, so was one of the turrets. It had taken a direct hit, 4 wounded 1 seriously and 3 with small shrapnel wounds. "So much for the crater" Aves said. "No were still going. Though the team will be reduced to Me, you, Walt, and Shamron. So go get your gear together. I'll go give the rest of the squad their orders" 2 minutes later Laran was supervising the construction of defensive positions around the disabled transport. "Hey Laran!" Benny called out from the transport. She turned and saw him leaning out the cockpits window with Aves standing behind him. "What is it Wingz!" She yelled back at him. "What's Ave's telling me to drop everything and get ready to move out about? The Transports still non-operational" "Where walking" "What?!" he looked startled. "You heard me. where walking. Apparently is about a day there a day back but even you should be able to make that" He shook his head. "You must be kidding me. There aint no way I'm walking!" Half an hour later the small group set out from the camp lead by Walt. Benny was grumbling something about the how he was a pilot not a trooper but everyone just ignored him as they tramped across the dessert heading for a low mountain range. About 2 hours after they had started Benny pointed off towards the horizon. “The camps in for a rough time. Look theres the second wave” The rest of the group looked out the way he pointed. Sure enough there was a fleet of specks cruising through the sky, just above the horizon. Laran started for her radio but Benny stopped her. “Don’t. They may just pick up the signal. And then we’d be in trouble to. They’ll spot them on the radar even at that hight” He said. “Hey are we just going to stand here all day? Or do you want to get somewhere?” Stu’s voice rang out. Laran nodded in acknowledgment and they started walking again. They stopped for lunch under a large rock overhang. A barren landscape of rock and sand stretched off into the distance in all directions. Benny spoke up, breaking the long silence. “How far are we from the crater now?” “Not to far now. About an hours jump” Stu replied. “We should start moving soon if you want to get back to your camp by sundown” At that most of the Downunder FF stood and started getting ready to leave on the final leg of their journey to the crater. About 3 minutes after they had started off again Laran spoke up. “What can we expect when we arrive at the crater?” She asked Walt. “I’m not sure. It all depend on Anther” He replied. “Who?” She said puzzled. “Never mind...” Walt said “You’ll be meet him when we arrive. But be warned you may find him a little strange” Benny nodded. “I’ll keep that in mind” “Hey Walt! Whats that?” Guru said pointing with one of his wings towards a small stream of smoke. “I don’t know. We better check it out” Walt replied then turned to the brigade troops. “You don’t have to come if you don’t want to. The craters only about ten minutes away. You can see it from here” Lara was about to say something but benny beat her to it “Ok” Benny said “We’ll meet you there. My feet are killing me!” Walt nodded “See you later” he said than headed off with the rest of the Downunder Freedom Fighters. When the brigade personnel arrived at the crater Laran was amazed at the size of it. “What caused this?” Aves asked taking out his binoculars he scanned the perimeter. “It’s the former sight of the place you now know as the floating island” A voice rang out from behind them. The small group turned around to face a old grizzled echidna. “Where did you spring from?” Ave’s asked him. “I live here. What are YOU doing here?” The elderly echidna retorted. “Looking for someone” Benny said keeping Aves from replying. “You wouldn’t be Anthar by any chance” He asked “I would. And you are?” Laran took a step forward. “Were here for the timestone” “Ah. So you are the one who have come to take the tests?” Laran shared a glance at each of her friends. “So be it. There are 3 tests...” Anthar said “Wait a moment” She said but Anthar continued as if he hadn’t heard her “The first is a test of intelligence. The second is of friendship. The third and final is of a test of spirit. Prepare yourselves” End of CH __________________________________________________________________________________ Interlude: The race for Little Planet __________________________________________________________________________________ “Their gaining on us!” Conny yelled as Shamron went into another set of evasive manoeuvres. “Tell me something I don’t know!” He yelled back as he jinked to avoid incoming laser fire and juggle the power relays at the same time. “Kain do something about those speeders will you!” Shamron called out. In response he lined up the rifle on the lead speeder. “Steady Shamron.... Steady...” Kain called out and the sights settled on the black craft. Squeezing the trigger the rifle spat a green bolt of coherent light towards the enemy speeder. Only to have it deflected about a meter from the crafts hull by a shimmering wall. “FRAK! They’ve got shields!” Another salvo of laserfire shot past, just missing. Standing the jeep on it’s tail Shamron pulled up at a 80 degree angle. “I don care! Just do something!” Kain continued to fire at the speeder. Though his fire was ineffective it still caused the driver to jink. “It’s no good! His shields to strong” Conny called out. The second speeder returned fire scoring a minor hit to the hover jeeps roll cage. Looking forward Kain saw that little planet had all but filled the area ahead of the jeep. “How far till the grav flip!” Kain called out. “About 2 minutes” Sharon called back his voice all but silenced by the wind. “No good! Can you get any more speed put of the engines?” Kain yelled as he let lose another barrage of fire at their perusers. “No! At this rate the engines will burn out in about 10 minutes! If I push them any more we might not even make it to Little planet” Conny broke in “Hey why don’t we use our grenades?” Kain shook his head. “No we’d never hit them” Shamron stood the jeep on its side just in time to dodge a missile fired from the second speeder. “What about the smoke bombs?” She asked. Kain looked at her for a second “Why the hell didn’t I think of that?! Shamron this thing still has its smoke projector doesn’t it?” “Sure does!” Shamron replied “Punch ‘em!” Kain told him. Shamron used one hand to flick a switch on the dashboard. On the back of the jeep a couple of vent opened and a thick clouds of smoke started pouring from them. Using the screen to cover their retreat Shamron no longer jinked the jeep as much as he used to allowing him to increase his speed slightly. “I can’t see them any more” Kain called out. “It’s Ok I’ve got them on radar” Conny called back. “Their still closing but not as fast as before” She said “Good. How long till the gravity transition now?” Kain asked “I estimate it to be about a minute away... distance to Little planets surface is now 2 Km and closing” Kain shook his head “I can feel that the gravity is starting to balance. I make the flip to be about 30 secs max” Kain called out. Indeed the gravity of little planet was starting to pull at the jeep and all its occupants. Grav flip Fighter attack Black speeders shot down. Crash land on little planet End of part 4