Duckary! *hugs*

Radium ticks off the local monarch again. YaY!

"No way," Jack said, shaking his head. "No way."
"I tell you, Radium's got the Riveth," Shinyso said, voice firm. "He swore he wouldn't let it fall into the hands of the Order Mage. He also said we'd get it back."
"That was our only chance of getting Jazz and Eva back," Lori said, pale. "Who else will he kidnap?"
He didn't kidnap Eva," Sasha said, landing on the windowsill. "Irinn Hariam did."
He winced as Eva slid off his back. The princess looked no worse for wear from her stay with her kidnapper. As soon as her feet touched the floor, she was being hugged by most of the assembled rabbits. Spaz clung to her arm and would not release her.
When she finally emerged from the small mob, Spaz in tow, Jack greeted her with just as much enthusiasm but a little more restraint. Finally he managed to ask, "who did Sasha say kidnapped you?"
"Irinn Hariam," she said, smile vanishing. Jack turned to Wizard.
"Find out as much as you can about him - her? - will you?"
"Sure."
Jack turned back to Eva. "So if Irinn kidnapped you, who wants the Riveth? And what did this Irinn want?"
"I have a contact, an ally in Irinn's HQ. He couldn't say much, but he mentioned one of Irinn's allies as a possible Order Mage. What Irinn wanted was for Jazz to surrender ... "
"So he doesn't know about Jazz missing."
"No. He's got a huge invasion fleet - Jack, we need Jazz. We have to get him back!"
"We can't. The -"
"Why not?" the Queen demanded, having just come in. "Oh, hello, Eva dear. Nice to have you back," she added absently. Then she turned back to Jack, a steely glint in her eye. "Why not, Flash?"
Jack sighed. "The Riveth has been stolen."
"Stolen by whom?"
"Radium," Jack admitted. Sasha's head came up so fast that he cracked it against the wall with a muffled "ow".
"Radium? How dare he! I told him to leave it alone. How dare he?"
"We couldn't stop him," Shinyso said quietly. "I'd forgotten the tricks he has."
"Such as?" Eva inquired.
"Mind control, shapeshifting, the like."
"Oh."
"The worst part is," Jack said, "we still haven't located Jazz."

Yay, goodchappie. I love being the bad goodguy.

*hugs Copper*

Kaz here claims the ninth page.

*beats Kaz down with a baseball bat and gives the page to Copper*

*beats Kaz down with a baseball bat for no reason at all*

Dukk'ri! *also hugs*

Mmm, I don't think Jack has been referred to by his last name before... nice touch.

I hate royalty. ><

Very nice!
I like stories where the bad guys are not the only bad guys, and not all the bad guys know about all the other bad guys, and where both bad guys kidnap good guys without knowing that the other bad guys kidnapped other good guys, and the good guys do bad things, and where one of the good guys (the one who is doing bad things) made one of the bad guys as a clone of himself so that he could be both good and bad at the same time, and where my char is one of the main fighting squad of the good guys!
YaY!
*Beats Kaz with a baseball bat and takes the page from him, then gives the page to CT*

`N0

x_x everybody hates me.

*hugz Kaz*

N0, you've lost me.

*un-beats Kaz with an un-baseball bat*

If it makes you feel any better, CT, I was lost to start with.

You're on your thirtieth MSWord page, btw. Congrats and stuff.

Really? Wow. I haven't been keeping track.

With a grinding shudder, the Cambion's massive engines gave the carrier a final thrust to put it into orbit. There was a silence, and then smaller transports began dropping away from the flagship, heading towards Carrotus' tranquil surface, and the outskirts of Carrotus City. In the dawn sky, the mirror-hulled transports were not even noticed, by the Carrotans at least.
As the transports landed quietly (for transports, that is) and the ramps extended, what they were transporting marched down those ramps to stand rigidly at attention.
The transports carried fifty soldiers each. There were ten transports, and as the last one emptied they rose back up into the air, heading for the Cambion once more.
Those who stood at attention were mostly Shellians. Vicious Snappers, flailerang-wielding schwartzenguards, brawny Tuff Turtles, even the occasional lizard stood assembled, mingled with the energy-charged shockbots, deadly Shockflyers, and a new, segmented robot that looked vaguely like a bizarre mating between a preying mantis, a scorpion, a spider, and a tank.
Irinn watched expressionlessly. The success of his most recent creation, the Imbara Frostar I, was one of the few things he had actually looked happy about. Eva's disappearance didn't really seem to bother him. Justiar stood next to him, worrying inwardly about Jazz's kidnapping.
Jheran came up beside them, Tephro his homicidal shadow, as ever.
"Your pet mage seems to have disappeared, Irinn," he said. Irinn shrugged.
"I don't control Chaos Hydra. Where are your Bloodflames?"
"Down there." Jheran gestured to where the mercenaries were joining Irinn's troops. The Bloodflames, mostly rabbits, were clearly less disciplined than the soldiers, but every one could fight like a demon, up to and including Tama, the communications officer.
"I don't like Chaos Hydra's absence," Jheran said finally. "We need the edge a mage will give us. Carrotus is a tough nut to crack."
"Chaos Hydra's presence is not necessary," Irinn said firmly. "Neither his nor Eva's disappearances will make any difference to this invasion."
Jheran looked away and shook his head.
"I hope not."

Radium bent over the Riveth, once more in rabbit form. The pulsing red-blue light that emanated from the firegem was the only illumination in the darkness that surrounded him.
He inspected the power that lay dormant within the crystalline structure of the Riveth. Satisfied, he withdrew for a moment and concentrated.
The furious thoughts of a thoroughly foiled Order Mage named Chaos Hydra could be dimly heard by anyone listening.
With a grin, Radium turned back to his work.

Jack checked the ammo in his blaster again. Firefox sighed.
"Jack, that's the fourth time in the last ten minutes that you've done that. I assure you that your ammo won't run away any time soon."
"What? Oh, right," Jack said absently.
Headcheese had attached herself to Wizard, who was trying to track the progress of Irinn's invasion forces. "Maybe a thosuand, all told," he said to no one in particular. Sasha brightened.
"Oh, is that all?"
Wizard eyed the winged rabbit, unable to tell if he was being sarcastic or not. Coppertop's entry stalled any comment he was about to make.
"Well, my fleet-footed friends, looks like you've got quite the storm brewing. Good thing I brought help," she said dryly as someone Jack assumed was Claw followed her in. Trailing behind was a figure Jack knew quite well, however -
"Basta!"
"Yeah," the scarred maroon rabbit said. "I hear there's going to be a fight."
"No," Shinyso said, "I couldn't have guessed." His tone was pure sarcasm.
"Really," Claw said, deliberately treating Shinyso's comment literally. "How odd. All the signs are there."
"You bet," one of the two ferrets who had followed Basta in said. Jack vaguely recognized the pair, though he couldn't remember their names offhand.
"It was SO obvious that I brought a little help along," Copper said. "You might need it."
Firefox eyed her suspiciously. "Just how much are you being paid for this?"
"Definitely not enough," she said. "Anybody know what we're facing?"
"I already said," Wizard said grouchily. "Close to a thousand."
"A thousand what, though?"
"Ehh ... mixed Shellians, shockbots, Shockflyers, some new prototype robot I've never seen before called the Imbara, and ... rabbits?!"
"Rabbits? What are rabbits doing in Irinn's army?" Jack demanded, turning from checking his blaster again.
"Irinn ...?" Copper's expression was quizzically expectant.
"Ah .. the mastermind behind Carrotus' most recent takeover attempt and Eva's kidnapping."
"Eva's kidnapping ... wait, I think I can guess."
"Okay, well, he's not the mage who nabbed Jazz. Oh, uh ... Radium stole the Riveth. He said you'd understand?"
"Sounds like Rad. Why am I not surprised?" Not waiting for an answer, she went on. "If he's got it, he's got it. There's nothing we can do now. I should have expected it. Have to trust him with it; he knows what he's doing."
"We hope," Lori muttered under her breath.
"We hope," Copper agreed. "So. You know Basta, that's Claw, and the duo behind me there are Shuriken and Sai Darkblade. And, of course, me."
"Right. Um ... "
"Hey guys, heads up," Wizard announced suddenly. "Troops entering the west side of the city. The CCSF* is already there, with some militia. You'd better get a move on."
"RIght. Thanks, Wizard. Okay, I don't suggest airboards because of those Shockflyers. We'll have to go on foot. Any suggestions?"
"Yeah," Shinyso said. "Use long-range weapons first. The less people in close combat, the less we lose."
"Good idea. In fact, that launcher of yours could come in handy, Acid." He was about to say more, but Wizard cut him off.
"You'd better go, like, now. The CCSF can't hold out for long."
"Okie. Headcheese, let go of Wizard's leg. The rest of you ... let's go."

*Carrotus City Security Force. Whee, acronyms! More coming up, too.

YAy, another great chapter.

... *hugs CT*

Thanks. =D
*hugs Rad*

Yay, 2 more chappies! Both are w00t.

Another three of my characters in. Wow.

Speechless.


By the way, another nice touch with Jack checking his ammo every two minutes. He tends to do that when he's nervous. If he didn't before, he certainly does now.


...


*hugs CT as well*

Originally Posted by CT

N0, you've lost me.

Oh, I was basicly outlining this story, just without using any names. Maybe that helps?

Oh, and great story! Keep it up! *hugs CT*

`N0

Oh, NOW I see.

The CCSF was indeed "holding out". Defalcon also noted that the militia was doing well - someone was enthusiastically flinging paint onto the forces below from the top floor of a building. Several Shellians and a shockbot were staggering around, having been brained with the buckets; the shockbot still sported a dented pail jammed upside down over its head, the rest of it splattered with flourescent orange paint. Humorous and ingenious, though not entirely effective.
The Diamond twins were advancing, guns blazing, mowing down the first few who dared oppose them. The pair were nigh to untouchable in those first crucial moments, while the Shellians were still startled.
Unfortunately, shockbots do not get startled. So while Kira and Tira were happily carving a path through the slow-reacting Shellians, a quartet of shockbots were busily flanking the feline furies.
Elexei noticed. Diving forward after the twins, he whipped one katana (thank you 4I for making me remember WHAT a katana is) up and around, smashing it into the weak waist joint of the nearest one. Sparks flew as his blade sheared through, slicing through wires and separating the bot in two. The shockbot on the same side as the now-destroyed one turned with mechanically precise movements, and proceeded to zap Elexei twice, point-blank, with its shockcharger.
The pale gold rabbit promptly diverted both blasts, and set a bolt of static electricity crackling from the tip of his katana in return. The shockbot's armor deflected much of the blast, but the shockcharger it held did not fare so well. Overloaded with a sudden influx of power, the weapon exploded in the unsuspecting shockbot's grip.
Before it could move, Tira's unusual short-range weapon plowed through it, knocking it to its scantily armored knees. Another blow laid it out, the circuitry and armor mangled. Elexei ducked as her weapon flew overhead once more, before straightening gingerly and heading back in.

Short one, more battle tomorrow.

Yachappie. Too short to be a Yaychappie =P. (just kidding)

Katana... those are the sword things ninjas kill people with, right? And look, I'm quoted four times in your sig! *hugs*

Alright! Keep it up! Love the new fighting skills of the new char's!

`N0

W00t-abulous.

You forgot what a katana is, CT? For shame.

I should probably elaborate more accurately on the Diamond twins' melee weapons... I didn't do a very good job of describing them in their profiles. (What the frell is a cement staple?)

Mmm, adrenaline. Good job again, CT.

It's been AGES since I last heard of one. When you mentioned them I had to think really hard to remember.

Originally Posted by Radium

And look, I'm quoted four times in your sig! *hugs*

Yes. *hugs* And Faw's quoted 3 times, and 4I twice, and Derby twice, and Tick and Addie and Kaz and Shade once each, and ...

That's my best quote too...

Katana is the word for 'sword' in japanese, also the favored two-handed sword of the samurai.

Awaiting the next chapter CT =7.

I'm not quoted, CT? =(

... one quote for Acid ...

YaY for double posts!

N0 and Kaz had charged in and found themselves faced with a large segmented warbot, nearly four times the size of the shockbots. The Imbara Frostar slashed agilely at Kaz with scythe-like, hooked, serrated forelimbs, balancing on four other legs like a preying mantis, as the pair beat a hasty retreat. N0 hovered, analyzing the robot, which was armored with tough, lightweight stuff that resisted Kaz's pepperspray easily. N0 was sure that his ANE could slice the thing up like so much scrap, but he didn't want to get close to it.
Which gave him an idea.
"Distract it," he yelled at Kaz, who began gleefully divebombing the robot. N0 hovered at the side of the battle, hopefully away from the notice of any stray Shockflyers, and began to concentrate, drawing ANE (atomic neutron energy) from the surrounding buildings. With it, he constructed a glowing yellow cage around the robot.
Apparently the Imbara didn't notice, because it ignored the cage. As N0 set the last bar in place, Kaz darted away from the overly-focused Imbara. It charged after him, going right through the ANE bars and slicing itself into ribbons. With a sigh, N0 let the cage fall apart again.
Kaz spiralled over, not noticing the trailing Shockflyer. N0 blinked; before he could say anything, the Shockflyer fired a bolt of bright yellow energy that sizzled past a startled Kaz and crisped the bird's tail feathers black. A moment latert he Shockflyer exploded violently, victim of Tiger's expert sniping.
"Darnit," Kaz yelped, "I just grew those back!"
N0 snickered. "Really?"
"Yeah," the irate bird replied, and if you want to know the details, just ask Acid!"
"Maybe I will," N0 said, and might have said more had not another Shockflyer risen up between them.
N0 reacted immediately; ignoring the stinging pepperspray that Kaz was firing, he blinded the Shockflyer with one wing long enough to kick it halfway across the battlefield with his mechanical leg, nearly hitting Kaz, eliciting a startled "whoa" from his friend.
The Shockflyer dropped, caught itself a few feet from the ground, started to rise. It hovered for a moment to sight on N0 and Kaz once more; a moment too long. A moment in which a bright orange rabbit in blue launched himself gleefully onto the preoccupied Shockflyer, and, clinging tenaciously to the slickly rounded hull of the thing, proceeded to blast the access hatch open. As Phish wormed his way in, the Shockflyer froze, and turned away from its intended prey. Apparently it didn't quite know how to deal with this kind of internal conflict.
Phish obviously won. The Shockflyer spun suddenly, firing what looked like nothing more than bolts of lightning at a close-knit group of startled Shellians. As they scattered from the vindictive Phish many displayed scorch-marks on their tough, armor-like shells; one was electrocuted outright, resembling one of those cheesy cartoons.
N0 grinned at Kaz, and the pair glanced around for more of those segmented robots.

... I predict some impressive (I hope) battles coming up.

"Resembling one of those cheesy cartoons," hah. Great chapter.

*grins*
I can post more, if you want and if I have time.

Awsome battle! Way to go on the ANE cage, thats exactly what I would have done. *kicks random shock bots around*

`N0

It's exactly what you DID do, N0.

Oh, right. :p

Can't wait till the rest of the gang shows up and starts wrecking havoc. Thanks for letting me get there first!

`N0

Awesomepwntacular, CT.

See, I've run out of normal, english compliments, so I'm just making them up now. ^^;

*needs to say more stupid crap so's he will be quoted more in CT's siggy*

Acid and Electrik harried the Imbara, having quickly realized that the thing couldn't be confused like Shellians or shockbots. Elextrik zapped it twice in succession, but didn't overload its circuits like he would have a shockbot.
The Imbara whipped around to lash out at Electrik; Acid shot it in the rearmost leg with his blaster. He didn't want to use his launcher until Electrik was well out of range. He scurried away from that devilishly quick curved forearm, looking deceptively cumbersome as it slashed by.
Electrik sent a crackling arc of energy at the thing's massive, steel-jawed head. The glowing photoreceptors that served as enhanced eyes snapped to Acid's brother; despite its mass, the Imbara was very quick. Electrik managed to dodge away, out of range of both the robot and Acid.
Acid tried a shot at the eye, but the Imbara dipped its head and the shot spanged off of the protective armor. The robot maeuvered around to face Acid, like a scorpion; Acid already had his launcher ready. As the jaws, like a massive steel trap, descended towards him, he aimed and fired -
The Imbara, intent on decapitating this annoying biological, was istantly aware of the projectile that had been fired at it. It experienced a second of the robotic equivelant of surprise, before its head and segmented neck exploded in a spray of shrapnel, molten metal, and fire.
Acid expected it to deactivate, as so many of the shockbots had done. Instead, the Imbara's now-directionless body proceeded to go into robotic death throes. It flailed and thrashed, and Acid slowly backed away from it. He barely had time to react before one of the hooked forearms lashed out and caught him. Slender Acid was no match for the might of the dying leviathan; he was tossed aside as effortlessly as though he had been but a rag doll, his limp body crashing unresistingly into a wall. Beyond him the struggles of the once-mighty robot steadily weakened, until it lay as still as he.

*Looks for more stupid crap to quote in CT's siggy*

Yay for two new chappies!

...Ow...

And a big YAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAY for my quote in CT's siggy!

O.o, CT's getting really good with characters and what they'd do in combat. However all action and no dialouge makes a story a slapstick ;D




Noticed I haven't replied: Splended chapters, but you sort of use glee a lot o.o;;

Originally Posted by Coppertop

*Looks for more stupid crap to quote in CT's siggy*

<--- Stupid crap? Look no further.

Nice chapters.

*checks* Oo, I did get carried away, Kaz. Oops.

*hugs Defalc*

Mm, no dialogue? I guess I'm trying to make up for the complete lack of action in the beginning.

A small bit of comedy.

Jack dropped a Shellian in its tracks with a well-placed sot. He yelped as a Snapper nipped the back of his leg, and smacked the offending turtle with one blaster while dispatching it with the other.
Firefox was having a heated firefight with another rabbit, pale grey and armed with a minigun. Splitter was behind the grey rabbit, ready to put him out of action; before he could, the other tripped him and Splitter missed completely. It was enough of a distraction that Firefox nailed the grey rabbit, who keeled over indignantly. Splitter peeled himself off the ground, cringed under Firefox's "why did you wait?!" and slunk off to find another unsuspecting victim.
Indigo bashed a startled turtle over the head, and almost clobbered the unsuspecting Headcheese before she twisted out from under his blaster, glaring expressively at him. He grinned sheepishly and shrugged, before a stray shot clipped his shoulder, forcing him to take cover. Headcheese wheeled away, leaving Indigo in the midst of unfamiliar CCSF members, shoulder stinging.
Headcheese flattened a shockbot by running over it; she then proceeded to buttstomp it into its separate components. When it became clear that the shockbot was beyond repair and not getting up again, she charged off in a random direction, bowling over several Shellians on the way. She ran headfirst into Firefox, almost knocking the solidly built red rabbit over. When she realized that she wasn't going anywehre, she paused and looked quizzically up at the Captain.
Taking her by the shoulders, Firefox gently turned her around; a second later she was off again. Firefox shook his head sadly.
Jack shot a shockbot in the shouder joint; the arm parted company with the robot. The now one-armed shockbot paused, inspecting its disconnected limb in puzzlement. A second shot ended its wondering forever.
A flailerang whipped by Jack's head; he ducked at it returned to the schwartzenguard who had thrown it. Jack didn't have a chance to fire back - the schwartzenguard fell, caught by crossfire, and Jack was facing a dark yellow rabbit. Startled, he didn't have time to react before a searing pain ignited alond his left arm. Instinct took over - he fired with blurring speed, and the rabbit fell soundlessly to the ground.
Sasha landed beside Jack, scoring a hit on a nearby Shellian with his scimitar.
"C'mon, Jack," he called, "pull back! Close quarters are no good for marksmen like you!"
A slighly dazed Jack pulled himself together. "Right," hes aid, and Sasha was gone, a pair of CCSF members converging to cover Jack's retreat.

Sasha hovered above the melee for a long moment. The Shellian horde was thinning, despite their superb trainin, and the smoldering remains of numerous shockbots lay strewn around. Unlucky Carrotans and mercenaries lay among them.
From his vantage point, Sasha realized that the real danger came from the tough, ruthless Imbaras. One rampaged across the field below him, looking like some weird insect; it looked up at him, photoreceptors a burning scarlet. Sasha dodged away before it decided he would make a good target.
Collapsed on the ground at the foot of a tall, scorched building lay the smoking, sparking remains of an Imbara. Beside it was the broken body of Acid, who was being fiercely defended by Electrik. Sasha winced in sympathy. Beyond the fallen Imbara lay the shredded remains of another, Nobody's victim.
Two down, roughly eight more to go.
A rabbit took aim at him; Sasha spun away, out of her sights. Evidently the presence of rabbits surprised Sasha's allies; not so with Sasha. He knew what it was to be a turncoat, he'd done it often enough himself. THe rabbit was trying for him again. A rogue Shockflyer creamed the sniper before Sasha could be targeted again.
Turncoats on both sides, it seems.
Sasha blinked, shrugged, and dove back to the fray.

Awesomeness squared. Due to the fact that I missed a chapter completely.

So who was this dark yellow rabbit who nearly took Jack's arm off? Any one of anyone's characters, or just another turncoat rabbit?

*hugs CT again*

Just some random Bloodflame. No one important =P

*hugs 4I*

Yayfulness cubed.

*hugs Copper*

I claim the 10th page.