Difference between revisions of "Atlantis: chapter 4"

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Tom blinked, and rubbed his eyes, then checked again. It looked like someone had taken his base features, and made them more savage. He looked more like a pre-historic animal than he used to.  
 
Tom blinked, and rubbed his eyes, then checked again. It looked like someone had taken his base features, and made them more savage. He looked more like a pre-historic animal than he used to.  
For one thing, he had received an enourmous growth spurt, growing two inches to 6'2'' tall, yet he was only 18. His well-kempt brown hair had tangled itself into a knotted heap and his sunny sky blue eyes had become a dark, stormy blue that emanated power. Also, he had been tan as a result from all his physical work outdoors, but now he was bronze, as if he had been cooked well done. He was more muscular, and he now had teeth and claws, each as sharp as knives and viciously long and serrated. To his surprise, his claws were no longer on his hands. It hit him a few moments later that they were retractable, and sure enough, when he tried,they slid out with a snick. His feet were the same. All in all, Tom had a far more agressive, angry and determined look about him that was eerily alien. All he could say was “Wow...”
+
 +
For one thing, he had received an enourmous growth spurt, growing two inches to 6'2'' tall, yet he was only 18. His well-kempt brown hair had tangled itself into a knotted heap and his sunny sky blue eyes had become a dark, stormy blue that emanated power. Also, he had been tan as a result from all his physical work outdoors, but now he was bronze, as if he had been cooked well done. He was more muscular, and he now had teeth and claws, each as sharp as knives and viciously long and serrated. To his surprise, his claws were no longer on his hands. It hit him a few moments later that they were retractable, and sure enough, when he tried,they slid out with a snick. His feet were the same. All in all, Tom had a far more agressive, angry and determined look about him that was eerily alien. All he could say was “Wow...”
 
He continued his momentary stupor for another second, then jumped into action.  
 
He continued his momentary stupor for another second, then jumped into action.  
“Alright, West, you stay here. Dr. Stephens and I are going to search for more survivors. Are the security systems still running?”
+
 
“No, they've been shut down, but the cameras are still operational.”
+
“Alright, West, you stay here. Dr. Stephens and I are going to search for more survivors. Are the security systems still running?”
“Excellent. Now, do you know how to use the computer?” West laughed.  
+
 
“Ha, use it! I could find you a single letter in a code of over 50,000 characters without breaking a sweat!
+
“No, they've been shut down, but the cameras are still operational.”
“Great. We are going to need you to be lookout for us using the cameras, tell us which areas are infested, which are not, which you see possible survivors in, and stuff like that. Dr. Stephens, get suited up. We're going hunting.” They both grinned.
+
 
Tom outfitted himself with a torso gun strap, which had 3 straps going across the front with handgun holsters, slots on the back for holstering various assault rifles, and side straps for holstering blades. He also put on a shin gun strap, for holstering a handgun. On the front torso straps, he had two Desert Eagles, two P22's, and two Glock 20's, some of the best handguns in the world. On the shin strap he holstered a Hush Puppy, a handgun with a special silencer. For the assault rifles, he had an assault rifle version of the SCAR, and a sniper version.
+
“Excellent. Now, do you know how to use the computer?” West laughed.  
“Why do you need a sniper rifle?” West asked.  
+
 
“Our mission starts on the roof. Dr. Stephens should bring one as well.” Tom also hooked on two katanas, and stuffed a backpack full of ammo.
+
“Yes sir.
Dr. Stephens was far less heavily packed, but he had on a good combat backpack stuffed with ammo of all types, and had a sniper hanging loosely around his shoulder. He preferred his Webley Mk over other handguns, but his main rifle was an MP5K, a shortened version of an MP5.
+
A knock at the door startled them all, and Tom heard a rough voice command “Open up!”.  Open up so we can shoot the living daylights out of you is more like it, Tom thought. He hurriedly screwed a silencer onto an Uzi.
+
“Great. We are going to need you to be lookout for us using the cameras, tell us which areas are infested, which are not, which you see possible survivors in, and stuff like that. Dr. Stephens, get suited up. We're going hunting.” They both grinned.
“Open this door or I'll blast it open!” a shout came. Tom gave Dr. Stephens a nod, and he pressed the unlock button. An Atlantian bursted in, and Dr. Stephens quickly closed and locked the door. Tom moved forward swiftly with a katana, but the Atlantian was expecting it, and he was armed with a spear, and the spear was decorated with feathers. Obviously, the man was an officer of some significance, as all the other spears were not decorated at all. Moving far quicker than Tom would previously have thought possible, he planted the weapon so that Tom's sword stuck into the wood, and then yanked it from Tom's grip. Then he twirled it, grabbing the blade, and once it was out, hurled the spear at Tom. Tom slid his claws out, and chopped the pathetic stick out of the air. The Atlantian, however, was now brandishing Tom's katana expertly. Tom just laughed. The man charged forward, acting as if he meant a simple thrust to the middle, but at the last second, changed direction and forced Tom back with a vicious uppercut that sliced Tom's cheek. The man let a smirk slide onto his face, but it quickly vanished as he returned his gaze to Tom.
+
 
Tom was angry. No one much liked Tom when he was angry with a person. Luckily for them, Tom rarely got angry, unless he or one of his friends had been injured severely. Now was one of those times, and Tom yelled furiously and jumped at the poor, oblivious Atlantian. Before the man could react, he had sunk his claws deep in the man's flesh. He refused to give up though, and valiantly tried to drive the sword into Tom's head. Tom caught it between his hands, and yanked it back, out of the man's grasp. Tom pulled out his other blade, and sliced the Atlantian across his face and torso. The man gasped back, as if he couldn't believe he was finally meeting his end. With a last rattling gasp, he flashed a knife out of nowhere, and chucked it at West. Tom blinked, and caught it with Telekenesis. The man's eyes bulged, then he lay still. Wiping off his blade, Tom took his silenced Uzi.
+
Tom outfitted himself with a torso gun strap, which had 3 straps going across the front with handgun holsters, slots on the back for holstering various assault rifles, and side straps for holstering blades. He also put on a shin gun strap, for holstering a handgun. On the front torso straps, he had two Desert Eagles, two P22's, and two Glock 20's, some of the best handguns in the world. On the shin strap he holstered a Hush Puppy, a handgun with a special silencer. For the assault rifles, he had an assault rifle version of the SCAR, and a sniper version.
“Let's go.” He said, and Dr. Stephens followed.
+
West looked at the monitor, and told them that there were 2 mounted Raptors in the hallway.
+
“Why do you need a sniper rifle?” West asked.  
“Thanks for the warning.” Tom opened the door, gun extended. He sprayed half a clip into one pair, and they fell, hitting the floor like a sack of vegetables. Before the other one could figure out what happened, Dr. Stephens opened fire. The Atlantian yelled as he was thrown off by the force of the bullets, and hit the ground. He didn't rise. The Raptor squawked and fled through the opposite door.
+
 
“Where's he going?!?” Tom yelled to West.
+
“Our mission starts on the roof. Dr. Stephens should bring one as well.” Tom also hooked on two katanas, and stuffed a backpack full of ammo.
“Uhh, umm, OK, OK, he went into the elevator landings.”
+
 
“Come on!” Tom said, and Dr. Stephens hurriedly followed him. Tom hastily opened the door, and yelled in surprise when he saw an outstretched AK-47 pointing at his head. The Atlantian opened fire. He was scarcely 3 yards away, so every bullet should have found its mark. Not a single one penetrated either Tom's or Dr. Stephens's skin. An entire modified clip of 50 bullets hung menacingly in the air, an arms length away from Tom.  
+
Dr. Stephens was far less heavily packed, but he had on a good combat backpack stuffed with ammo of all types, and had a sniper hanging loosely around his shoulder. He preferred his Webley Mk over other handguns, but his main rifle was an MP5K, a shortened version of an MP5.
A loud bang echoed through the room as Dr. Stephens fired his Webley Mk. He must have guessed what had happened, but Tom didn't figure it out for another few seconds.
+
 
 +
A knock at the door startled them all, and Tom heard a rough voice command “Open up!”.  ''Open up so we can shoot the living daylights out of you is more like it,'' Tom thought. He hurriedly screwed a silencer onto an Uzi.
 +
 +
“Open this door or I'll blast it open!” a shout came. Tom gave Dr. Stephens a nod, and he pressed the unlock button.  
 +
 
 +
An Atlantian bursted in, all six feet of him, and Dr. Stephens quickly closed and locked the door. The Atlantian spun, realizing he had stumbled into a trap. Tom moved forward swiftly with a katana, but the Atlantian was expecting it, and he was armed with a spear, and the spear was decorated with feathers. Obviously, the man was an officer of some significance, as all the other spears were not decorated at all.  
 +
 
 +
Moving far quicker than Tom would previously have thought possible, he planted the weapon so that Tom's sword stuck into the wood, and then yanked it from Tom's grip. Then he twirled it, grabbing the blade, and once it was out, hurled the spear at Tom. Tom slid his claws out, and chopped the pathetic stick out of the air. The Atlantian, however, was now brandishing Tom's katana expertly. Tom just laughed. The man charged forward, acting as if he meant a simple thrust to the middle, but at the last second, changed direction and forced Tom back with a vicious uppercut that sliced Tom's cheek. The man let a smirk slide onto his face, but it quickly vanished as he returned his gaze to Tom.
 +
 +
Tom was angry. No one much liked Tom when he was angry with a person. Luckily for them, Tom rarely got angry, unless he or one of his friends had been injured severely. Now was one of those times, and Tom yelled furiously and jumped at the poor, oblivious Atlantian. Before the man could react, he had sunk his claws deep in the man's flesh. He refused to give up though, and valiantly tried to drive the sword into Tom's head. Tom caught it between his hands, and yanked it back, out of the man's grasp. Tom pulled out his other blade, and sliced the Atlantian across his face and torso. The man gasped back, as if he couldn't believe he was finally meeting his end. With a last rattling gasp, he flashed a knife out of nowhere, and chucked it at West. Tom blinked, and caught it with Telekenesis. The man's eyes bulged, then he lay still. Wiping off his blade, Tom took his silenced Uzi.
 +
 
 +
“Let's go.” He said, and Dr. Stephens followed.
 +
 
 +
West looked at the monitor, and told them that there were 2 mounted Raptors in the hallway.
 +
 
 +
“Thanks for the warning.” Tom opened the door, gun extended. He sprayed half a clip into one pair, and they fell, hitting the floor like a sack of vegetables. Before the other one could figure out what happened, Dr. Stephens opened fire. The Atlantian yelled as he was thrown off by the force of the bullets, and hit the ground. He didn't rise. The Raptor squawked and fled through the opposite door.
 +
 
 +
“Where's he going?!?” Tom yelled to West.
 +
 
 +
“Uhh, umm, OK, OK, he went into the elevator landings.”
 +
 
 +
“Come on!” Tom said, and Dr. Stephens hurriedly followed him. Tom hastily opened the door, and yelled in surprise when he saw an outstretched AK-47 pointing at his head. The Atlantian opened fire. He was scarcely 3 yards away, so every bullet should have found its mark. Not a single one penetrated either Tom's or Dr. Stephens's skin. An entire modified clip of 50 bullets hung menacingly in the air, an arms length away from Tom.  
 +
 
 +
A loud bang echoed through the room as Dr. Stephens fired his Webley Mk. He must have guessed what had happened, but Tom didn't figure it out for another few seconds.
 
          Obviously, his powers had once again saved his life.
 
          Obviously, his powers had once again saved his life.
 
The man with the AK had been hit between the eyes. He fell to the ground, his face stone cold.
 
The man with the AK had been hit between the eyes. He fell to the ground, his face stone cold.
“Thanks” Tom managed. “We should keep moving.”
+
 
They got into the elevator and pressed the button for the top floor. It took a while, because the building was designed like a fortress, and was built up and out, but they finally got to the top. This was mainly a storage area, and it was eerily silent. The room wasn't lit well, with a single naked bulb hanging on a thin cord that looked like it could snap at any moment. They found the stairs after a moment, and Tom bashed open the door. Unfortunately, the blast doors were locked.  
+
“Thanks” Tom managed. “We should keep moving.”
“West, you down there? We need you to open the blast doors.” Tom whispered into his microphone.  
+
 
“OK, which ones? Read me a number.”
+
They got into the elevator and pressed the button for the top floor. It took a while, because the building was designed like a fortress, and was built up and out, but they finally got to the top. This was mainly a storage area, and it was eerily silent. The room wasn't lit well, with a single naked bulb hanging on a thin cord that looked like it could snap at any moment. They found the stairs after a moment, and Tom bashed open the door. Unfortunately, the blast doors were locked.  
“Uhh, number... 13A”
+
 
“Got it.” Tom heard West typing rapidly on the keyboard for a moment, then the blast doors opened. Tom and Dr. Stephens hurried through. The hard plastic doors closed after them, but the blast doors remained open.  
+
“West, you down there? We need you to open the blast doors.” Tom whispered into his microphone.  
The blast doors were actually made up of an extremely durable plastic under-door, and then the heavy solid titanium sliding door after that. At the moment, they were still open, so that Tom and Dr. Stephens could get back through fast.
+
 
Tom stealthily crept up to the edge of the roof, which was protected overhead by a hard plastic dome. The concrete had narrow slits, or battlements, used to stick weapons through. This gave the place a castle-like appearance. Tom layed down on his stomach with his arms holding his sniper, or prone position. He proceeded to take aim at the party of Atlantians who had gathered by the main gate, acting guards. Dr. Stephens followed his example. Tom passed a silencer to him, and screwed on his own to the barrel of his sniper. They were about to open fire, when a Non-USA hovercraft flew over the gate. It set down in the courtyard just beyond the gate, and more Atlantians piled out of it. They were all armed with guns. The Atlantians sprinted up the wide path suitable for driving tanks on that led to the garages. What are they doing in their? Tom thought. He signaled to Dr. Stephens to hold fire, and gazed curiously down at the huddled men. A moment later he was answered as an APC burst out the doors. A couple tanks soon followed, then a few hovercraft, some motorcycles, armored Humvees, all manner of vehicles. Even the Heli-plane on top took off, and set down in the courtyard. The filthy nuggets were stealing their vehicles! Tom screwed on another attachment to his sniper, and told Dr. Stephens to continue to hold fire. Tom then took aim, and fired at the Heli-plane. Dr. Stephens saw no damage to the exterior, but perhaps Tom had fired a gas-canister bullet, time delayed? At any rate, he removed the attachment and screwed on yet another, and this time, when he opened fire, an enormous explosion rocked the grounds. Dr. Stephens opened fire as well, and his bullets found a mark every time.
+
“OK, which ones? Read me a number.”
Tom was mainly concerned with causing the men to panic, confusing and separating them with his well placed shots. The hovercraft took off after a few moments of panic, and the rest of the men were trying to either climb aboard the hovercraft and escape, take cover in the building complex, or otherwise escape in one of the remaining vehicles. Man after man piled into the Heli-plane and APCs, but they weren't able to go anywhere without the gates being open. Tom brought down the hovercraft with a single accurate shot at its engine, and told West to lock the gates. The Atlantians were trapped. To add to the confusion, several more hovercraft flew over the walls, all of them raising the USA flag. Lead poured from the many machine guns, casting the confused Atlantians further into dis-array. Their numbers dropped by the second, but just as the last of them were being mopped up, more came charging out the doors, yelling incoherently. The Atlantians managed to bring down one of the hovercrafts in a concerted effort, and the demoralized Americans rose higher in the air, out of the range of the guns. At first it looked like they were running away, but then Tom noticed a group of Americans sneaking behind the shouting Atlantians. Tom fired a few more shots after taking of the explosive attachment, trying to keep their eyes off the small group. His ploy worked, and the first of the Americans crept up behind one of them and stabbed him with a vicious looking knuckle knife. Another Atlantian was cudgeled by the cudgel at the end of the knife, and a third was bashed by the brass knuckle part of the multi-function knife. Still none of the Atlantians were aware of their presence, until one man stabbed an Atlantian, and he fell on another. The man turned and uttered a hoarse shout of surprise, and Tom dropped him dead. But the damage had already been done...
+
 
The rest of the group turned to meet this new threat, and the small group of 15 Americans was about to be overwhelmed by the 60-and-more-Atlantians. Suddenly, one more hovercraft roared over the walls, this one of English origin. And it wasn't armed with machine guns. It was armed with men who were toting flamethrowers, and rocket launchers had been crudely attached, each launcher carrying four shots. A few shots from these pummeled the ground, and the flamethrower men were descending a drop line. The Americans fought back with renewed vigor, and the 60+ Atlantians soon turned to 50, then 10 as the English men landed and wrought havoc with their flamethrowers. The rest of the Atlantians raised their hand in surrender, except for two, who tried to flee, but soon met their end under Tom's and Dr. Stephens's fiery bullets.
+
“Uhh, number... 13A”
 +
 
 +
“Got it.” Tom heard West typing rapidly on the keyboard for a moment, then the blast doors opened. Tom and Dr. Stephens hurried through. The hard plastic doors closed after them, but the blast doors remained open.  
 +
 
 +
The blast doors were actually made up of an extremely durable plastic under-door, and then the heavy solid titanium sliding door after that. At the moment, they were still open, so that Tom and Dr. Stephens could get back through fast.
 +
 
 +
Tom stealthily crept up to the edge of the roof, which was protected overhead by a hard plastic dome. The concrete had narrow slits, or battlements, used to stick weapons through. This gave the place a castle-like appearance. Tom layed down on his stomach with his arms holding his sniper, or prone position. He proceeded to take aim at the party of Atlantians who had gathered by the main gate, acting guards. Dr. Stephens followed his example. Tom passed a silencer to him, and screwed on his own to the barrel of his sniper. They were about to open fire, when a Non-USA hovercraft flew over the gate. It set down in the courtyard just beyond the gate, and more Atlantians piled out of it. They were all armed with guns. The Atlantians sprinted up the wide path suitable for driving tanks on that led to the garages. What are they doing in their? Tom thought. He signaled to Dr. Stephens to hold fire, and gazed curiously down at the huddled men. A moment later he was answered as an APC burst out the doors. A couple tanks soon followed, then a few hovercraft, some motorcycles, armored Humvees, all manner of vehicles. Even the Heli-plane on top took off, and set down in the courtyard. The filthy nuggets were stealing their vehicles! Tom screwed on another attachment to his sniper, and told Dr. Stephens to continue to hold fire. Tom then took aim, and fired at the Heli-plane. Dr. Stephens saw no damage to the exterior, but perhaps Tom had fired a gas-canister bullet, time delayed? At any rate, he removed the attachment and screwed on yet another, and this time, when he opened fire, an enormous explosion rocked the grounds. Dr. Stephens opened fire as well, and his bullets found a mark every time.
 +
 
 +
Tom was mainly concerned with causing the men to panic, confusing and separating them with his well placed shots. The hovercraft took off after a few moments of panic, and the rest of the men were trying to either climb aboard the hovercraft and escape, take cover in the building complex, or otherwise escape in one of the remaining vehicles. Man after man piled into the Heli-plane and APCs, but they weren't able to go anywhere without the gates being open. Tom brought down the hovercraft with a single accurate shot at its engine, and told West to lock the gates. The Atlantians were trapped. To add to the confusion, several more hovercraft flew over the walls, all of them raising the USA flag. Lead poured from the many machine guns, casting the confused Atlantians further into dis-array. Their numbers dropped by the second, but just as the last of them were being mopped up, more came charging out the doors, yelling incoherently. The Atlantians managed to bring down one of the hovercrafts in a concerted effort, and the demoralized Americans rose higher in the air, out of the range of the guns. At first it looked like they were running away, but then Tom noticed a group of Americans sneaking behind the shouting Atlantians. Tom fired a few more shots after taking of the explosive attachment, trying to keep their eyes off the small group. His ploy worked, and the first of the Americans crept up behind one of them and stabbed him with a vicious looking knuckle knife. Another Atlantian was cudgeled by the cudgel at the end of the knife, and a third was bashed by the brass knuckle part of the multi-function knife. Still none of the Atlantians were aware of their presence, until one man stabbed an Atlantian, and he fell on another. The man turned and uttered a hoarse shout of surprise, and Tom dropped him dead. But the damage had already been done...
 +
 
 +
The rest of the group turned to meet this new threat, and the small group of 15 Americans was about to be overwhelmed by the 60-and-more-Atlantians. Suddenly, one more hovercraft roared over the walls, this one of English origin. And it wasn't armed with machine guns. It was armed with men who were toting flamethrowers, and rocket launchers had been crudely attached, each launcher carrying four shots. A few shots from these pummeled the ground, and the flamethrower men were descending a drop line. The Americans fought back with renewed vigor, and the 60+ Atlantians soon turned to 50, then 10 as the English men landed and wrought havoc with their flamethrowers. The rest of the Atlantians raised their hand in surrender, except for two, who tried to flee, but soon met their end under Tom's and Dr. Stephens's fiery bullets.
 
All looked well for a moment, but then Tom remembered the men in the APC, and glanced at the explosive attachment. Fresh out of ammo. Great.
 
All looked well for a moment, but then Tom remembered the men in the APC, and glanced at the explosive attachment. Fresh out of ammo. Great.
 
“Stay here!” he shouted to Dr. Stephens “Do what damage you can from up here! I'm going to get lower.” With that, he unslung his sniper, took off his backpack and threw it over the edge. His body followed a moment later. He spread his arms and legs out wide, and went into a rapid free fall. The building was 30 stories high, and he experienced 25 of those at such a rapid clip that his eyes watered, and the moisture was whipped away behind him, strangely elongated from the speed of his travel. At the 4th story, he started to slow himself down with Telekenesis. It was only semi effective, but he slowed down to about 60 miles an hour. Unfortunately, that is still pretty fast.  
 
“Stay here!” he shouted to Dr. Stephens “Do what damage you can from up here! I'm going to get lower.” With that, he unslung his sniper, took off his backpack and threw it over the edge. His body followed a moment later. He spread his arms and legs out wide, and went into a rapid free fall. The building was 30 stories high, and he experienced 25 of those at such a rapid clip that his eyes watered, and the moisture was whipped away behind him, strangely elongated from the speed of his travel. At the 4th story, he started to slow himself down with Telekenesis. It was only semi effective, but he slowed down to about 60 miles an hour. Unfortunately, that is still pretty fast.  

Revision as of 21:06, 18 December 2007

Again, part four! Yay!

Please note this is a work in progress and the authors reserve the right to edit and/or re-format the book



Chapter IV: The Escape

Tom blinked, and rubbed his eyes, then checked again. It looked like someone had taken his base features, and made them more savage. He looked more like a pre-historic animal than he used to.

For one thing, he had received an enourmous growth spurt, growing two inches to 6'2 tall, yet he was only 18. His well-kempt brown hair had tangled itself into a knotted heap and his sunny sky blue eyes had become a dark, stormy blue that emanated power. Also, he had been tan as a result from all his physical work outdoors, but now he was bronze, as if he had been cooked well done. He was more muscular, and he now had teeth and claws, each as sharp as knives and viciously long and serrated. To his surprise, his claws were no longer on his hands. It hit him a few moments later that they were retractable, and sure enough, when he tried,they slid out with a snick. His feet were the same. All in all, Tom had a far more agressive, angry and determined look about him that was eerily alien. All he could say was “Wow...” He continued his momentary stupor for another second, then jumped into action.

“Alright, West, you stay here. Dr. Stephens and I are going to search for more survivors. Are the security systems still running?”

“No, they've been shut down, but the cameras are still operational.”

“Excellent. Now, do you know how to use the computer?” West laughed.

“Yes sir.”

“Great. We are going to need you to be lookout for us using the cameras, tell us which areas are infested, which are not, which you see possible survivors in, and stuff like that. Dr. Stephens, get suited up. We're going hunting.” They both grinned.

Tom outfitted himself with a torso gun strap, which had 3 straps going across the front with handgun holsters, slots on the back for holstering various assault rifles, and side straps for holstering blades. He also put on a shin gun strap, for holstering a handgun. On the front torso straps, he had two Desert Eagles, two P22's, and two Glock 20's, some of the best handguns in the world. On the shin strap he holstered a Hush Puppy, a handgun with a special silencer. For the assault rifles, he had an assault rifle version of the SCAR, and a sniper version.

“Why do you need a sniper rifle?” West asked.

“Our mission starts on the roof. Dr. Stephens should bring one as well.” Tom also hooked on two katanas, and stuffed a backpack full of ammo.

Dr. Stephens was far less heavily packed, but he had on a good combat backpack stuffed with ammo of all types, and had a sniper hanging loosely around his shoulder. He preferred his Webley Mk over other handguns, but his main rifle was an MP5K, a shortened version of an MP5.

A knock at the door startled them all, and Tom heard a rough voice command “Open up!”. Open up so we can shoot the living daylights out of you is more like it, Tom thought. He hurriedly screwed a silencer onto an Uzi.

“Open this door or I'll blast it open!” a shout came. Tom gave Dr. Stephens a nod, and he pressed the unlock button.

An Atlantian bursted in, all six feet of him, and Dr. Stephens quickly closed and locked the door. The Atlantian spun, realizing he had stumbled into a trap. Tom moved forward swiftly with a katana, but the Atlantian was expecting it, and he was armed with a spear, and the spear was decorated with feathers. Obviously, the man was an officer of some significance, as all the other spears were not decorated at all.

Moving far quicker than Tom would previously have thought possible, he planted the weapon so that Tom's sword stuck into the wood, and then yanked it from Tom's grip. Then he twirled it, grabbing the blade, and once it was out, hurled the spear at Tom. Tom slid his claws out, and chopped the pathetic stick out of the air. The Atlantian, however, was now brandishing Tom's katana expertly. Tom just laughed. The man charged forward, acting as if he meant a simple thrust to the middle, but at the last second, changed direction and forced Tom back with a vicious uppercut that sliced Tom's cheek. The man let a smirk slide onto his face, but it quickly vanished as he returned his gaze to Tom.

Tom was angry. No one much liked Tom when he was angry with a person. Luckily for them, Tom rarely got angry, unless he or one of his friends had been injured severely. Now was one of those times, and Tom yelled furiously and jumped at the poor, oblivious Atlantian. Before the man could react, he had sunk his claws deep in the man's flesh. He refused to give up though, and valiantly tried to drive the sword into Tom's head. Tom caught it between his hands, and yanked it back, out of the man's grasp. Tom pulled out his other blade, and sliced the Atlantian across his face and torso. The man gasped back, as if he couldn't believe he was finally meeting his end. With a last rattling gasp, he flashed a knife out of nowhere, and chucked it at West. Tom blinked, and caught it with Telekenesis. The man's eyes bulged, then he lay still. Wiping off his blade, Tom took his silenced Uzi.

“Let's go.” He said, and Dr. Stephens followed.

West looked at the monitor, and told them that there were 2 mounted Raptors in the hallway.

“Thanks for the warning.” Tom opened the door, gun extended. He sprayed half a clip into one pair, and they fell, hitting the floor like a sack of vegetables. Before the other one could figure out what happened, Dr. Stephens opened fire. The Atlantian yelled as he was thrown off by the force of the bullets, and hit the ground. He didn't rise. The Raptor squawked and fled through the opposite door.

“Where's he going?!?” Tom yelled to West.

“Uhh, umm, OK, OK, he went into the elevator landings.”

“Come on!” Tom said, and Dr. Stephens hurriedly followed him. Tom hastily opened the door, and yelled in surprise when he saw an outstretched AK-47 pointing at his head. The Atlantian opened fire. He was scarcely 3 yards away, so every bullet should have found its mark. Not a single one penetrated either Tom's or Dr. Stephens's skin. An entire modified clip of 50 bullets hung menacingly in the air, an arms length away from Tom.

A loud bang echoed through the room as Dr. Stephens fired his Webley Mk. He must have guessed what had happened, but Tom didn't figure it out for another few seconds. Obviously, his powers had once again saved his life. The man with the AK had been hit between the eyes. He fell to the ground, his face stone cold.

“Thanks” Tom managed. “We should keep moving.”

They got into the elevator and pressed the button for the top floor. It took a while, because the building was designed like a fortress, and was built up and out, but they finally got to the top. This was mainly a storage area, and it was eerily silent. The room wasn't lit well, with a single naked bulb hanging on a thin cord that looked like it could snap at any moment. They found the stairs after a moment, and Tom bashed open the door. Unfortunately, the blast doors were locked.

“West, you down there? We need you to open the blast doors.” Tom whispered into his microphone.

“OK, which ones? Read me a number.”

“Uhh, number... 13A”

“Got it.” Tom heard West typing rapidly on the keyboard for a moment, then the blast doors opened. Tom and Dr. Stephens hurried through. The hard plastic doors closed after them, but the blast doors remained open.

The blast doors were actually made up of an extremely durable plastic under-door, and then the heavy solid titanium sliding door after that. At the moment, they were still open, so that Tom and Dr. Stephens could get back through fast.

Tom stealthily crept up to the edge of the roof, which was protected overhead by a hard plastic dome. The concrete had narrow slits, or battlements, used to stick weapons through. This gave the place a castle-like appearance. Tom layed down on his stomach with his arms holding his sniper, or prone position. He proceeded to take aim at the party of Atlantians who had gathered by the main gate, acting guards. Dr. Stephens followed his example. Tom passed a silencer to him, and screwed on his own to the barrel of his sniper. They were about to open fire, when a Non-USA hovercraft flew over the gate. It set down in the courtyard just beyond the gate, and more Atlantians piled out of it. They were all armed with guns. The Atlantians sprinted up the wide path suitable for driving tanks on that led to the garages. What are they doing in their? Tom thought. He signaled to Dr. Stephens to hold fire, and gazed curiously down at the huddled men. A moment later he was answered as an APC burst out the doors. A couple tanks soon followed, then a few hovercraft, some motorcycles, armored Humvees, all manner of vehicles. Even the Heli-plane on top took off, and set down in the courtyard. The filthy nuggets were stealing their vehicles! Tom screwed on another attachment to his sniper, and told Dr. Stephens to continue to hold fire. Tom then took aim, and fired at the Heli-plane. Dr. Stephens saw no damage to the exterior, but perhaps Tom had fired a gas-canister bullet, time delayed? At any rate, he removed the attachment and screwed on yet another, and this time, when he opened fire, an enormous explosion rocked the grounds. Dr. Stephens opened fire as well, and his bullets found a mark every time.

Tom was mainly concerned with causing the men to panic, confusing and separating them with his well placed shots. The hovercraft took off after a few moments of panic, and the rest of the men were trying to either climb aboard the hovercraft and escape, take cover in the building complex, or otherwise escape in one of the remaining vehicles. Man after man piled into the Heli-plane and APCs, but they weren't able to go anywhere without the gates being open. Tom brought down the hovercraft with a single accurate shot at its engine, and told West to lock the gates. The Atlantians were trapped. To add to the confusion, several more hovercraft flew over the walls, all of them raising the USA flag. Lead poured from the many machine guns, casting the confused Atlantians further into dis-array. Their numbers dropped by the second, but just as the last of them were being mopped up, more came charging out the doors, yelling incoherently. The Atlantians managed to bring down one of the hovercrafts in a concerted effort, and the demoralized Americans rose higher in the air, out of the range of the guns. At first it looked like they were running away, but then Tom noticed a group of Americans sneaking behind the shouting Atlantians. Tom fired a few more shots after taking of the explosive attachment, trying to keep their eyes off the small group. His ploy worked, and the first of the Americans crept up behind one of them and stabbed him with a vicious looking knuckle knife. Another Atlantian was cudgeled by the cudgel at the end of the knife, and a third was bashed by the brass knuckle part of the multi-function knife. Still none of the Atlantians were aware of their presence, until one man stabbed an Atlantian, and he fell on another. The man turned and uttered a hoarse shout of surprise, and Tom dropped him dead. But the damage had already been done...

The rest of the group turned to meet this new threat, and the small group of 15 Americans was about to be overwhelmed by the 60-and-more-Atlantians. Suddenly, one more hovercraft roared over the walls, this one of English origin. And it wasn't armed with machine guns. It was armed with men who were toting flamethrowers, and rocket launchers had been crudely attached, each launcher carrying four shots. A few shots from these pummeled the ground, and the flamethrower men were descending a drop line. The Americans fought back with renewed vigor, and the 60+ Atlantians soon turned to 50, then 10 as the English men landed and wrought havoc with their flamethrowers. The rest of the Atlantians raised their hand in surrender, except for two, who tried to flee, but soon met their end under Tom's and Dr. Stephens's fiery bullets. All looked well for a moment, but then Tom remembered the men in the APC, and glanced at the explosive attachment. Fresh out of ammo. Great. “Stay here!” he shouted to Dr. Stephens “Do what damage you can from up here! I'm going to get lower.” With that, he unslung his sniper, took off his backpack and threw it over the edge. His body followed a moment later. He spread his arms and legs out wide, and went into a rapid free fall. The building was 30 stories high, and he experienced 25 of those at such a rapid clip that his eyes watered, and the moisture was whipped away behind him, strangely elongated from the speed of his travel. At the 4th story, he started to slow himself down with Telekenesis. It was only semi effective, but he slowed down to about 60 miles an hour. Unfortunately, that is still pretty fast. Tom had only a second to panic, then he hit the roof of the garage, which was still 15 feet up. He bounced straight off, at least another three feet back up in the air, then fell the remaining 18 feet to the ground, where he landed on his back. All he could think about was the pain. God, it was intense. All the breath was knocked out of him, and he figured he had broken a rib or two as well. The pain was so intense, it drove everything else away. Only his most basic actions, like breathing, still functioned. He layed there for a whole minute, meanwhile the APC was being controlled by stupid Atlantians! Who knows what they've done by now! At least I'm still alive. was his next thought. He layed there another 30 seconds, then forced himself unwillingly to his feet. He stumbled, but one of the Americans had noticed his spectacular jump, and came to help. Tom gratefully grasped at his arm for support. “Whew, that was some jump!” The soldier whistled. “Anything broken?” he asked anxiously. Tom felt his ribs, his arms, neck, everything. Nothing damaged. “No, I don't understand, that was a 40 story fall! But you have to warn the others, there are some Atlantians in that APC over there, and the tanks are also manned. We have to take them out!” The soldier gave no verbal answer, instead, he turned and ran off, jumped and clutched blindly at the English hovercraft, hauled himself over, roughly shoved the pilot aside, and fired three rockets at the APC and the nearby tanks, all in the span of about 45 seconds. The great hunks of metal blew up like fireworks on the 4th of July. Another soldier came over, and Tom had by now recovered. “Give that guy a raise.” he muttered, than ran and jacked an Iraqi out of a motorcycle. These weren't the sissy street mopeds you saw all around town, nor was it a cool, black and white gangster motorcycle. It was a dangerous military vehicle, armed with rockets, flamethrowers, and machine guns, with 'Experimental' stamped on both sides. He launched a couple more rockets at a Humvee, and it went up in flames. He made the 'Dough nut' turn, and fired the machine guns on a group of Atlantians. The ones who didn't die scattered, and Tom did a front wheelie, coming around 90 degrees and smacking another Atlantian in the head with the back wheel. He stopped, facing a Humvee. The man behind the wheel obviously wanted to play a little chicken.

To add to the effects, it started raining, and the man flared the engine. Tom kicked back the kickstand, twisted the throttle, and they were off, down a 100 ft stretch of asphalt. Tom gritted his teeth, getting ready for his secret move. He wasn't going to turn, nor was the other guy. And yet Tom wouldn't be run over. He had practiced this so many times, but it just came down to sheer timing. 90 ft to go, and Tom could already smell the other vehicle's fumes. Its engine had been damaged, and it was leaking gasoline. That was good. 80 ft to go. The windshield was slightly cracked in a spider web pattern, where someone had shot at him. 70 ft to go. He heard the revving of his engine, roaring down the pathway. 60 ft. 50. 40. 30. He could see the man, his gritted teeth, and unkempt, greasy black hair. His mind focused on one thing, the thing that he had to do to survive. 20 feet. 10. 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, with 4 feet to go, he kicked the motorcycle so that it was down on its side, but still moving, meanwhile he jumped up in the air, above the Humvee, a C4 stick in his hand. His motorcycle sped underneath the Humvee, and Tom landed on the roof, rolled off, and landed back on his motorcycle. He had shoved the C4 stick in through the cracked windshield, and that, coupled with the leaking gasoline, would end up with the driver's death. He drove a ways off, then skidded to a stop. The Humvee was still going. What had happened? Why hadn't the explosive gone off? Was it a dud? BOOM!!! It did go off after all, and the Humvee was enveloped in an ever expanding wave of orangish-yellow flames. They licked off the metal of the Humvee with an almost caressing behavior. The man behind the wheel uttered a silent scream, then was no more. Tom panted for breath. The rest of the Atlantians were being mopped up. Only about another 15 were holding out bravely, peaking out behind the burning tanks and opening up a round or two, then ducking back behind cover. They were giving the Americans a fair deal of opposition. Tom ran, and picked up his backpack. He snuck up behind them, and stabbed one with a katana. The English soldiers had taken out another three, and another met his end from Dr. Stephens's sniper. Tom slashed at another, but as he fell another Atlantian stabbed over him. The blade didn't pierce his Kevlar, but he had already called over a few of his buddies to help. Tom evaded them with a back hand spring, bringing out two P22s in the process. He emptied both clips, and most of the men fell down to the ground with sickening thuds. Only about three were still alive, and Dr. Stephens picked off another, for a grand total of two left. They fought to the bitter end, but these weren't ordinary foot soldiers. These were two officers, armed with spears and daggers. Tom laughed in their faces, bringing out his two Desert Eagles. To his surprise, the men moved with incredible speed, and knocked the guns out of Tom's hands, slicing them in the process. Tom gave a yelp of pain, and involuntarily stepped back. The Atlantians advanced menacingly, and Tom knew he was in trouble. No one could save him. The Americans were busy taking care of a few of the Iraqis who had come in with the Atlantians, the English soldiers were on the other side of the tanks, and so couldn't see him, or hear him. Even Dr. Stephens couldn't help, because a group of Atlantians had somehow managed to scale the 40 story building, even though it had virtually no handholds. Just him... Yet he knew he could do it. Their was no other option. He hurled both his katanas at one man. The first one was deflected, the second drove into his torso. He was pinned to the wall, but he was still alive. The second one looked over at his partner with shock and grief written clearly all over his face. He was distracted, and in the momentary lapse of defense, Tom brought out his Glock 20s and emptied the two clips on the one man. The result was predictable. He fell to the ground, a spreading rosette of dark, scarlet blood issuing from his chest. His eyes rolled back in his head, and falling forward, hit the ground with a sickening thud. The other man was still pinned to the wall, and Tom, taking pity on him, granted a quick death: a three finger strike to his throat, crushing his windpipe. The man would have felt no pain at all.


Dr. Stephens had taken care of the small group of Atlantians, and the Americans had driven out the remaining Iraqis. The Heli-plane had long since taken off, with some of the most precious cargo imaginable. It had been sent straight from New York, and had been carrying millions of dollars in cash, as well as a treasure load of Biological samples of various animals. These were more highly valued than gold, because with these came the ability to raise an army from scratch in less than a month. Tom was actually feeling kind of cocky. He had secretly put a tracer on the Heli-plane. Now, not only would they get the samples and money back, they would also know the location of their main enemy's main Head Quarters. He strutted out from behind the tanks, and only stopped when he saw Matt.

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