[Mkguild] CoH story Old Enemies New Friends part 2 of 2

[christian okane]

Here is part 2. It continues the double story of Misha and his facing the
Rikti.

 

 

Chris

The Lurking Fox

 

 

New York City, NY, May 23 2002

 

 

   Misha crouched lower trying to get as much of his body as possible behind
the solid concrete of the window frame. He had always wanted to visit New
York but not like this. Not with a quarter of the city in flames. He checked
his M16 assault rifle again and carefully counted the number of magazines of
ammo he had left. Resting next to him was a rocket launcher. It was  nothing
fancy, really just a fiberglass tube with a simple sight attached. What
mattered was the powerful rocket inside the tube. It had a short range but a
powerful warhead. The real problem was they were only meant for one use.
Once a rocket was fired there was no reloading for a second shot. You just
threw away the empty tube and reached for another one. But Misha did not
have a second one. So he had to make sure the first shot did the job.

 

   He gave a brief glance at the building across the street. In a second
floor window hidden behind and protected by a carefully placed piles of
rubble was a Javelin antitank missile launcher. Scattered nearby were a
dozen other rangers. Some wielding machineguns or grenade launchers, others
just using ordinary assault rifles. The suddenly blast of a car horn brought
the man's attention to the street itself. He was in the ground floor of a
building that was located at the intersection of a large street and a small
alley. From his position he could look a good way down both streets. The
streets had names but he didn't know them. His GPS was not working and any
street signs had long ago been destroyed. Not that it mattered. What
mattered was the Rikti wanted this street and he and his platoon were here
to stop them.

 

   The small street was quiet but he saw something coming up the main road
towards him. The massive bulk of the Rikti vehicle moved slowly up the
street making no noise in spite of its large size. Its treads crushing the
concrete and asphalt easily as it moved. Its armor was covered with dirt and
debris and pock marked with gouges and black marks that told of countless
hits that failed to penetrate. None of this had any effect on the turret
that swung back and forth. It was surrounded by a ring of Rikti soldiers all
moving just as slowly as they looked all about, their energy rifles held at
the ready. They were like fish hiding in the shadow of a hungry shark that
was looking for prey in the depths of a coral reef as the turret continued
in its slow, deliberate hunting motions. None of them was in any hurry as
they stepped around the shattered bodies of the last group of Rikti to try
and take this block.

 

   It seemed the Rikti thought that the addition of the tank would make it
easier to take this street. Misha put down his M16 and picked up the rocket
launcher as a smile crossed his face. They were in for a rude shock.

 

 

******************

 

Paragon City Rhode Island, July 2007

 

 

   Stealth tumbled backwards  onto the pavement. The jolt leaving him dizzy
for a moment but that quickly passed. He looked up and saw that one whole
side of the station had collapsed, leaving the station resting at an odd
angle. Suddenly he felt an anger rising in him. He was not going to let
these monsters destroy his home. The feline pulled himself up into a crouch
and gathered all his strength. He shifted all the power he could spare to
the cybernetic muscles in his legs and jaw. Stealth exploded upward straight
at the Guardian with his teeth bared. This time his fangs cut through the
armor easily and sank into the soft flesh beneath. He clamped down harder
and harder ignoring the thrashing of his Rikti prey. He closed his eyes to
protect them from the desperate flailing fists. After a long moment like
that his prey's movements grew weaker and slower until the figure slumped
down and stopped moving. He didn't let go but instead kept a tight hold
until he was sure it was dead.

 

 

********************

 

2002

 

   "Come on!" Misha thought to himself. "Just a little closer." About a
quarter of the way down the street was the Rikti tank with its infantry
still clustered about. The group was moving with an almost glacial slowness
that the soldier found frustrating.

 

   Misha himself was laying rock still with only a small part of his face
showing above the frame of the window. Covered with the same soot, and dust
that covered the store made the man blended in and was almost invisible.
Even with infrared he would be hard to spot with all the small fires burning
nearby. Everyone's fields of fires and been carefully arraigned before hand.
Misha waited for the first part of the Rikti tank to reach the third
lamppost from the corner. A point that was barely 5 meters from where he was
hiding.

 

   In the three weeks since his landing Misha had long ago lost track of the
what day it was. The days and nights since had been filled with fighting.
For the past week they had been fighting alongside the soldiers of the 42nd
infantry division, the 69th infantry regiment. The famous Fighting Irish.
The regiment had done well and beaten off many Rikti attacks but it had
suffered badly. Most of the regiment lay dead in the city that had been
their homes.

 

   Finally the massive armored bulk reached the perfect spot and Misha took
careful aim at it. The small rocket inside did not have the power to
penetrate the force field and the armor on the front glacis plate. But no
armor was perfect and he shifted his aim away from the front of the vehicle
and to the flank. The monster tank was so close that aiming was not a
problem. He could pick where he wanted the shoot to hit. "Welcome to New
York!" he muttered. Gently he pressed down on the trigger.

 

 

******************

 

July 2007

 

 

  "They want play rough! We'll play rough! Initiate program Fenrir wolf,"
the nanites ordered.

 

   "Program booting up."

 

   " Are those power levels correct? Is that aggression level correct? That
cannot be correct! Please confirm that aggression setting!"

 

   "CRY HAVOC! And let slip the dogs of war!"

 

   "Good lord their quoting Shakespeare! That cannot be good!"

 

   "ARROOO!" the loud howl echoed through Misha's mind sending a shiver down
his spine.

 

   "Did I hear a wolf howl?" Stealth asked. "What did you little
troublemakers do?"

 

   "Do? Why we're winning this fight."

 

 

*********************

 

 

   "Boom!" The entire room lit up with the flash and instantly filled with
smoke and flames.

 

   Misha discarded the empty tube and dropped flat to the floor as a
firestorm of energy ripped into the concrete protecting him or passed over
his head. He tried to squeeze down lower as a thousand forms of death
slipped past him mere millimeters away. Over that he heard the sounds of
explosions and machine gun fire. That was the rest of his platoon.

 

    After a long moment he became aware of the silence. Gone was the gunfire
and the strange whizzing noise of the Rikti weapons. Quickly he crawled away
from the window and along the floor keeping as low as possible. When he was
at least twenty feet away from his old position the ranger stopped in front
of another window. Slowly he poked his head over the window frame.

 

   The first thing he saw in the street in front of him was the Rikti tank.
The massive armored monster was still in the same place as before but it did
not look as intimidating. The entire hull was enveloped in sheets of flames
and smoke. The turret with its plasma cannon was laying upside down  in the
street a dozen meters in front of the hull. It was not burning but a strange
blue-green smoke was pouring from it. The infantry that had been with the
tank were gone. All that he could see of them were corpses scattered around
the burning hull.

 

   "INCOMING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" the loud shout echoed through the building.
Clearly audible above the roar of the fighting.

 

   Misha reacted instantly and dropped flat to the floor. He crawled quickly
towards the nearest corner hoping the inherent strength of two walls meeting
would offer him more a little more protection.

 

   BOOM! He could hear the sounds of the Rikti bombs exploding nearby and
getting closer. Probably from one of the large flyers that seemed immune to
attack and floated over the city ay will.

 

BOOM! 

 

BOOM!

 

BOOM!

 

BOOM!

   The room rocked and dirt and concrete rained down on him. The noise
hammered his ears and mind as hard as it did his body. The floor buckle, the
walls starting caving in as the ceiling rained down on them. It felt like
the entire world came crashing down on him.

 

 

***************

 

 

July 2007

 

 

   The fighting was at its height. The Rikti kept attacking the small group
of heroes. Some of the Rikti charged at the heroes and fought them with
energy swords and pistols while others hung back and fired powerful energy
rifles. The fox fell back on his training, nocking and shooting arrows
constantly. At first he shot at those fighting in melee but soon he shifted
his aim to those using their rifles.

 

   Standing near a mailbox was a trio of Rikti conscripts who were shooting
into the group of superheroes. Misha took four arrows from his quiver and
with some difficulty nocked all of them. He had practiced this trick shot
several times but never had he tried to use it in combat. Until now.
Carefully he pulled the bow string back to its full strength and aimed at
the three Rikti. The bow snapped loudly when he released the string and he
was rewarded with seeing two of the Rikti drop to the sidewalk. The third
brought up his rifle and fired at the vulpine. Misha calmly nocked a single
arrow as a bolt of energy flashed past him. Close enough to singe the fur on
his arm. He took careful aim and dropped the one remaining Rikti with an
arrow into the head.

 

 

********************

 

 

2002

 

 

   The first thing Misha felt was pain. Then came the realization that he
had to be alive to feel pain. Slowly he opened his eyes. The neat and clean
room that he had been in was gone. All about him all he saw was rubble and
debris. He heard glass shattering and the snap and crackle of flames. Dust
and smoke filled the air making it hard to breath but slowly the dust
settled. Somewhere nearby he heard people screaming, someone yelling for a
medic and someone crying. Was that him? He looked down and saw a large piece
of metal sticking through his left leg. Oddly he felt no pain. Yet.

 

   A figure appeared out of the smoke and for a moment Misha looked around
for his rifle. But this person was friendly. Sergeant Hampton knelt down
next to him and smiled. The medic quickly set to work on Misha's leg cutting
away the material of Misha's uniform. Then he started to work on the wound.
"You're lucky Brightleaf you'll live and keep the leg."

 

 

***********

 

 

2007

 

   WHAM! Misha saw a bright flash and he was sent tumbling to the ground. He
hit the pavement hard and lay there for a moment trying to recover his wits.
Slowly he stood up and shook his head. The fox picked up his bow and looked
around for his attacker. The super saw a flash and instinctively ducked to
one side. A shot of energy blasted a hole into the pavement close to him.
Concrete splinters pinged off the composite armor protecting his legs.

 

   The super looked in the direction the blast had come from and spotted his
attacker. This Rikti was different from the others he had fought today. He
was taller and physically larger and unlike the common infantry whose armor
was green and brown his was shades of gray. This was a Chief Soldier. A high
ranking Rikti warrior.

 

   At high speed Misha snapped off two arrows at the charging alien but both
merely bounced off the armor. In that time his attacker had covered 10
meters. Misha quickly drew an explosive tipped arrow and launched it at the
Chief. The arrow exploded against the chest plate of the aliens armor. The
soldier staggered backward a step but then started moving forward again.

 

   In quick succession Misha loosed two more explosive arrows at the Chief
who was now getting pretty close. "Let's do this old school!" he snarled and
hastily slug his bow across his back.

 

  The old ranger lashed out with his leg and his steel shod paw connected
with the Rikti's wrist. The aliens blade went flying to the ground, sending
up a shower of sparks as it skittered across the pavement. It cut through
the leg of a mailbox easily before finally coming to rest against a lamp
post.

 

   Misha charged straight at the chief and slammed his body into the Rikti
sending them both to the ground with the super on top. "Why can't you get
the point?" he shouted at the alien beneath him. He grabbed the knife from
his belt and jabbed it into the creatures throat. The blade put a deep dent
into the armor but did not penetrate. He threw all his weight behind the
blade driving it through the armor all the way up to the hilt. "This is OUR
CITY! GO HOME!"

 

 

********************

 

 

   "The Rikti ingress has slowed by 73%."

 

   "They have nothing to match Fenrir!"

 

   "Firewall 124 has held. Restoring firewall 122 & 123."

 

   "Rewriting the encryption procedures. They will NOT get back in so easy
the next time!"

 

   "All Rikti programs are in full retreat!"

 

   "Retreat? This is a rout!" the nanites shouted cheerfully.

 

 

******************

 

 

   The fight slowly petered out. The portals disappeared as quickly as they
had appeared. The Rikti still living vanished as teleports reclaimed them.
Taking them back to the safety of their bases.

 

   No one moved for a moment waiting for the next wave to appear suddenly,
but none did.

 

   "Vanguard reports the Rikti transports are withdrawing and the War Walls
are back up. They estimate the Rikti casualties at over 600 dead and at
least three times that wounded."

 

   "That's it people!" Misha said as he stood up. "This fights over. See to
wounded." He looked up at a tall skyscraper whose top floors were burning.
"Let's get those fires out," he ordered pointed upward.

 

   A tall man who was entirely blue from head to toe shot upwards leaving a
trail of falling snow behind him. "CHILL OUT!" the man shouted and pointed
his finger at a burning window. A blast of ice and snow shot from his
fingers and there was a loud hissing and clouds of steam billowed
everywhere.. When the air cleared the flames were gone. The man didn't wait
but moved to another window and more flames.

 

   "All primary systems have been cleared. Communications channels 1 to 13
are now again secure."

 

   "And we'll make sure they stay that way. Downloading updates to all
systems."

 

   "He has cleared all systems of Rikti programs and is attacking into the
Rikti systems."

 

   "Keep copies of all the invading programs. We will study them in detail
later."

 

   "Shouldn't we call him back?"

 

   "Will he listen?"

 

   Misha hesitated a moment before he decided to lower his own personal
firewall. He trusted the nanites but it paid to be cautious. It was then
that it struck, hard. Something slammed into his own firewalls and
protections with a ferocity that made him physically stagger backwards.

 

    He let loose a string of curses. "MAYDAY! I'm under attack. It's ripping
through to my mind."

 

   "Triple, no quadruple the protection!" he ordered his own internal
computer. But the attacker ripped through like a wolf ripping apart a sheep.

 

   "Shut off all communication," Misha said and started shutting down the
internal receivers. But IT would not let that happen. Misha reached for a
knife ready to physically cut out the commo systems when the last protection
fell. He braced for an attack on his mind and his own internal computers but
nothing happened.

 

   He felt a presence, something lurking just outside his awareness. Like
how the nanites always seemed to be hovering in the background. Never really
there but never fully gone either. He felt a raw, seething, primal anger
that seemed to come from the depths of some tormented soul.

 

   "It's Fenrir. You are in no danger. You are both clearly identified as
friendly."

 

   "Does HE know that?" Stealth asked nervously. "Nice doggy! We're on the
same side."

 

   "That's not a dog! That's a wolf!" Misha added. "That's Fenrir wolf!"

 

   They felt the anger begin to subside and then slowly vanish. "Fenrir. I
like that name."

 

 

**************

 

 

   Stealth walked over to where his friend was standing and patted Misha on
the shoulders. "How are you?" he asked.

 

   The fox nodded and patted the feline on the back. "Fine. Just a few
bruises. How did you do in your first Rikti fight?"

 

   "Good," Stealth said calmly. "It was a tough fight!"

 

   Misha nodded slowly. "You did pretty good. All of you did. We could have
really used your help back in 02." Old memories came back to him and rubbed
his left leg where an old scar remained in spite of all the changes the
nanites had made to him. He looked down at the Rikti he had just killed. The
figure lay stretched out on the sidewalk with Misha's blade still embedded
in its neck. Only the smallest amount of blood trickled down from the wound.
It was red. Almost like the blood of an ordinary earth life form.

 

   He carefully knelt down next to the body and turned the head so it faced
his own. "Hello. I know someone out there is seeing this. Probably sitting
nice and safe in a hidden base somewhere. We know about the camera in the
helmets and that at least one commo channel is still open. Over six hundred
dead and what do you have to show for it? NOTHING. Not one single super was
killed. Wasn't so easy this time was it? Not fun trying to kill people who
are ready to fight. We have all sorts of new technology to kill you with. We
have you to thank for that. My body armor is based on a captured Rikti
armor. The new advanced assault rifles the army uses are copies of your own
energy rifles but with a few special modifications of our own. And our copy
of your teleport technology has saved so many human lives and it lets us
move people about at high speed, to deal with any threat. Be warned. The
tide in this war has changed against you. I killed him today. I'm coming for
you next! And I'm bringing, friends, lots of friends."

 

 



!DSPAM:4f420db3308521780998236!
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