It descended through the atmosphere. Its saucer-like body and clean metal surface entered the highest level of Earth’s airspace. Its disk-like body that consisted of smaller, and a few larger, rings stacked on top of each other, giving the appearance of a telescoping body both above and below the main disk, slowly rotated as it moved downward through the clouds. As the clouds cleared, the entire fleet of the Coalts armada sat and waited for its mothership to arrive.
MEANWHILE
The alarms were blaring. Troops and personnel were preparing themselves for the inevitable. As soldiers manned their battle stations, scientists and other non-military personnel did what was necessary to secure themselves and their work.
“Well, here we go,” said Jason, looking at everyone scrambling to mobilize. “What’s the plan, big boss?” He turned to Mack.
Sam and Corrine both turned their heads towards him, as though waiting for instructions.
“What? Why are you looking at me?” He was unprepared for anyone expecting him to lead the charge. Much less his own siblings.
“Because,” Jason said rhetorically.
“Whoa, wait! If this is because I’m older, technically that's Corrine.” Mack said back with a touch of apprehension in his voice.
“Technically, you’ve been doing this longer,” Corrine replied.
“Technically without Dye being here it’s been Jason and Sam,” said Mack.
Personnel all around them continued on to their required positions. Troops armed themselves with weaponry and proceeded to the elevator.
“But since you insist, Sam and Corrine, handle things up there. At least on the surface you’ll have an advantage. Jason and I will handle things down here if it comes down to it.”
“What about Dad?” asked Corrine.
“Uncle Bobby said he’s secured. Besides, the Coalts won’t be looking for him. As long as he stays where he’s at he should be fine.” Mack wasn’t sure if that was the best response to reassure his siblings. Hoping their dad would be safe, despite being in a safe room, was a huge gamble and even he didn’t like that alternative. “Until then, no Coalt get’s their blue-furred claws on that sword.”
“Ei Ei Captain!” said Jason.
Sam and Corrine broke away from Jason and Mack as the two of them headed towards a room containing the Kolabrus. Sam and Corrine entered the elevator with the next set of troops and as the doors closed they saw Mack and Jason cut a corner.
Sam and Corrine reached the outside and as the troops got in position to fight, the two Xenton flew out of the hangar to see the army that had tripled in size. The many cigar-shaped ships had gathered over the base, blocking out the moonlight and all the stars. It was as though a flat, black night sky sat above them as neither the ships nor the sky was discernible.
Corrine and Sam hovered just outside and noticed that they were completely surrounded. On the outside of the forcefield, there was an ocean of Coalts and mechs just waiting to attack the moment the shields were down.
“They’re everywhere,” said Corrine. “I don’t know how many we’ll be able to actually fight off.”
Sam didn’t respond. In fact, it was as though he didn’t hear his sister at all. His eyes were glued to the far horizon in front of him. The sight of a massive ship steadily approaching was all he could see. Corrine caught the sight and immediately a dauntful shroud consumed her.
“Oh shit,” she uttered.
Jason and Mack made it back to the lab containing the artifact. Soldiers had constructed a barricade in front of the doors.
“Nice!” said Jason. “Though you think that’s going to work?”
The General heard the question as he emerged from the lab. “This is just a failsafe in case the Alpha Cannon fails.”
The Alpha Cannon was going to fail. Jason and Mack knew that. This barricade wouldn’t last not even for a second if the Coalts were allowed inside of the base. They’d wipe through this defense in a matter of moments, minutes if they were lucky.
All that aside, despite being Xenton, this was their uncle. Even though it was too late to try and come up with a plan to counter whatever tactic the Coalts had in disarming the cannon, they had to do something. Zeta, Stro and Avion weren’t even there. They weren’t preparing for the upcoming battle. In fact, there was no way to reach them in case things got bad, and there was a good chance things were going to get bad.
“There’s something you should know,” said Mack.
“Make it quick, our target is quickly approaching,” The General said with a blank stone face.
“That cannon is only good for one shot. After that the Coalts will be able to disable it and storm the base.” Mack replied.
“I know,” The General smirked as though he just played a checkmate move.
Jason scoffed, slapping Mack’s broad, armored chest as though there was nothing to worry about. “Of course he knew. He’s not a General for nothing.”
“In times of war you must be weary of your allies. Especially those from unfamiliar parts.”
“So you knew this whole time?” Mack sounded surprised but at the same relieved.
“Call it a sixth sense. I never trusted those two for a moment. I had Dr. Stockton look over the schematics and she found several flaws that would render the cannon vulnerable to all sorts of attacks.” The General’s face did not show an ounce of emotion. He was calculated and ready to test his new weapon on the oncoming threat. “So we made a few modifications.”
“So will it end the king?” asked Mack.
“Sir, the target is within range.” said a troop from within the containment lab.
“There’s only one way to find out.” The General turned and entered the lab. Jason and Mack hopped the barricade and entered just behind. The General looked up at the screen displaying the many ships within view. Steadily approaching was a massive ship, slowly rotating as it did so.
“Captain, initiate Alpha Cannon Protocol!”
“Right Away Sir!” the soldier input a security code and suddenly there was a rumble.
Sam and Corrine looked back towards the hangar and like a piece of paper beginning to fold, the roof of the building was pulled back, through all of this, the device keeping the forcefield up was revealed. A small, pod-like device sitting on a tripod shooting a constant beam of energy into the sky and letting fall over the base, protecting it
Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
A large hatch opened up in the ground and rising from the wide hole was a large railing system that nearly touched the top of the shield.
“That must be the Alpha Cannon,” said Sam.
“No kidding…” Corrine said in awe.
The metal along the weapon began to transform. Opening up and extending four sleek metal rails that were the barrel of the cannon. When that was finished forming, the rest of the machine extended into the ground to fully stabilize itself. The massive weapon took aim at the mothership which was now so close that it could dwarf the Sky Sanctuary easily.
“Captain, Begin Charge!”
“Charging Alpha Cannon. Thirty seconds before fully charged.”
“What about the shields?” Mack asked curiously.
“We’ll wait until they disable our shields. Once down, we’ll fire, taking out the mothership and the king.”
“And….if that doesn’t work?” Mack added, not sure if he should be skeptical or optimistic.
“Then this is where soldiers are born!” The General said with the idea of all out war looming over him.
Indicators began blaring. Flashing distress signals started going off.
“Sir, the mothership is preparing to fire,” said the Captain.
“Acknowledged! Wait until the shields are down to return fire.” the General replied.
“Yes sir!”
Outside, the mothership began extending its weapons. Huge barrels and arms of various styles of artillery protruded through the ship. They all took aim and without warning they fired. Beams of green lasers and jets of ammo slammed into the shield and loud explosions echoed inside of the fortified dome.
“Shields are at eighty-five percent and steadily dropping, Sir.”
“Acknowledged. Hold steady!”
A loud round was shot from the ship causing the shields to shake and the base to rattle.
“Fifty-five percent, Sir! That last shot was a big one.”
“I heard.”
Jason and Mack watched the assault going on outside from the screen. The bombing of attacks from the mothership was not letting up.
“Thirty-percent!”
Another large round was let off and visible signs that the shields were weakening began showing. The light from the forcefields started to dim as the dome started to flicker.
“Five percent, Sir!”
“Steady!”
“One percent…!
Corrine and Sam saw the shields drop. The rain of assault from the mothership fell over them and the troops until they exploded in mid-air, hitting an unseen force. Corrine used her gravity to shield the troops below, but the onslaught of waiting Coalts immediately attacked, sparking gunfire from the soldiers below. Mechs opened fire and forced Corrine to use her gravity to avoid the massive impact. She was now maintaining two forces and the strain on her increased tenfold.
“SAM!” she cried under stress.
“On it!” Said Sam as he quickly flew down and engaged the vicious army.
Corrine looked up at the sound of an electrical hum beginning to come to life.
“FIRE!” Commanded the General.
The Alpha Cannon shot off a giant orb of sparking, purple energy. In an instant, the attack blew right through the mothership causing a loud, and enormous, explosion to shake the desert. The aftermath rushed out in all directions blowing waves of gravel, sand, and even debris of the ship. The chain reaction from the impact caused blasts of various sizes and magnitudes to erupt and engulf the craft, as it came crashing down and imploding into the desert terrain.
Corrine swooped down and with a loud and powerful thud, she forced out her gravity and enclosed all of the soldiers, and Coalts, because she couldn’t distinguish either. Her gravitational field grew and as the wave arrived it was repelled by the force. The Coalts and mechs on the other end of the field were engulfed in the pressurized force of the blast as they were thrown in all directions as it traveled.
She felt the force of the wave pass around her instantly and as quickly as it arrived it was gone. She retracted her gravity and felt the weight of her body bring her to her knees. The loud sounds of gunfire splattered all around her as the merciless army continued to tear through the military defenses. As a Coalt approached, she pushed it away with her gravity but it wasn’t long until she was caught off guard from behind.
Then from her left.
Then from her right.
A group of Coalts fell from above with claws and fangs outstretched as they piled on top of her.
“ARGH!” she said as she quickly expanded her gravity and launched the alien wolves off her.
“This is crazy!” she said. “They’re endless!”
A lightning bolt zapped a Coalt heading for Corrine. She followed the tail of the bolt to see Sam high above. His hands were sparking.
“Okay, let’s give this a try!” he threw his hands out and like a thunderstorm, thousands of lightning bolts fell and struck all the Coalts in their immediate vicinity. Their bodies convulsed as painful howls and growls took over. Their smoking carcasses fell over and for a second, all of the loud gunfire stopped.
“DIRECT HIT, SIR!” said the Captain.
The General smirked with confidence. “Good! Re-route all power to recharge!”
“Yes, Sir!”
Jason and Mack sat idly by and waited in suspense to see if the invasion was over before it even began. From the screens, the dust that was blown around as the result of the aftermath wave obscured their vision. Sam and Corrine on the outside, along with the soldiers who defended the base, couldn’t see a thing out in the desert.
The smoke was beginning to clear. From the wreckage, a large, hulking silhouette of a beast stood up. Sam and Corrine looked out into the desert, resting their sights on the immensely sized something.
Back inside the base, the Captain, General, Jason and Mack all saw the shadow of the beast through the smoke.
“Captain! FIRE!” commanded the General.
The Alpha Cannon fired another round but unlike before, it wasn’t as powerful. Nevertheless, it was a direct hit and a pillar of debris and dust shot up, but the beast charged the base, showing that it wasn’t affected.
“Captain! Re-route all available power to rapid fire mode!”
“Rerouting power!” The Captain replied as he entered commands on his keyboard. “Ready!”
“Fire!” the General shouted as though he was right there on the battlefield.
The Alpha Cannon roared to life again and began firing a barrage of electrified rounds at the oncoming beast. Mounds of desert rock, dirt, and debris of the crashed ship raised into the air, stopping the monster in its tracks as it tried to defend against the onslaught.
“Don’t let up, Captain!” cried the General.
“What’s going on? According to Stro, that first shot should’ve wrecked that thing.”
The General turned to the Xenton. His face looked at though he was annoyed but upon further inspection, Jason realized it was regret. “Dr. Stockton realized the cannon had a less than desirable recharge time. Though powerful, it would be useless between attacks. So we modified it to have a quicker recharge time but at the expense of subsequent attacks.”
“Meaning…” Jason said.
“It’ll be weaker each time it fires,” Mack added, looking at the rapid fire being shot out into the desert.
“Oh — well I see how that could be a problem,” Jason said with sarcasm.
Through all the cannon fire and loud, thunderous explosions, there was a blaring, rippling roar. It wasn’t one of agony or frustration due to the nonstop cannon fire. It was one of command and dominance.
The many ships that hovered above began to open and emerging from them were the falling bodies of many Coalts. Corrine, Sam and the soldiers all looked up only to see a falling tidal wave of merciless, blue haired, alien beasts descending above them.
“EVERYONE! BACK INSIDE THE HANGAR!” cried Sam. The soldiers left their posts and headed straight for the opening to the hangar. While they fled for cover, Sam covered the soldiers by zapping as many Coalts as he could but there were too many to neutralize. They fell upon the firing cannon and like a swarm of ants they tore the weapon down, causing it to stop its barrage. They dismantled and destroyed it within seconds.
The soldiers and Corrine finally made it inside the hangar and with only one opening they had an advantage. That is until the Coalts began falling through the ceiling, filling the hangar with their vast numbers.
“All right…” said Corrine, “Not a good place to be.”
The soldiers raised their weapons and took aim. The many Coalts surrounded them, growling and snarling at them, ready to attack. Just as they did, a golden bubble of energy fell from above and surrounded them. The beasts went to attack but they were met with their claws and teeth sinking into a forcefield.
Corrine looked up to see Zeta, his body engulfed in a red glow, his eyes gleaming with the light. His staff was erected protecting the soldiers and Corrine. Stro flew in through one of the openings in the roof and using his sword hacked and slashed his way through the endless hoard. His body was engulfed in a veil of blue light. His eyes glowing with the same energy.
Sam did what he could from above but with the ever growing masses it was near impossible to do so. With the cannon dismantled, out in the desert, rapidly approaching was a massive creature.
“King Cerberus is almost here,” said a voice from behind Sam. When he turned he saw a powered up Avion hovering there. “We have to hold him off.”
“I feel like that will be easier said than done,” Sam replied.
The massive brute trampled through the desert, gradually approaching the perimeter fence. Avion and Sam exchanged looks, and then the two of them flew off to meet the approaching king.