[Mkguild] Return to the Island part 10

[cokane8116 at aol.com]

    Moonshine took the lead; moving down thesteps carefully. In spite of the exaggerated drunken stagger each step wascarefully placed and each move well thought out.    At the bottom of the steps they were greetedby Steel Horn standing directly in the doorway. He had a massive battleaxe inhand.    Orca charged straight at Steel Horn. Hittinghim full force with a punch that would have shattered steel. The metal bovinerocked back a little and there was a noticeable but shallow dent in his chestplate.    Steel Horn swung his massive battle axeaiming to take her head off in one swipe.    She brought her left arm up to block theweapon and the blade simply bounced off. “Not going to be that that easy!”    The heroes poured out of the stairway andinto the hold itself. Cargo containers filled the vast compartment. But allthat either side was interested in was the special cargo.    Stealth found himself in one corner of thecargo hold. Fighting was going on all over but for the moment he was alone. Almost.He didn’t see or hear anyone but his sensitive nose told him there was a womannearby.  A stranger. The more he tried tolocate this person the less he found.    The feline tried to control his frustrationand relax. He stood motionless allowing his feline sense of smell and hearingto come to the fore front. He sniffed for her scent and listened for thesoftest sound of her approach. He held his blades at the ready.    There was a faint whisper of movement behindhim. Without thinking he twisted and dodged to one side as her deadly katanasliced the air, missing his face by millimeters.    Stealth lashed out with his own blades andfelt one meet resistance for a moment.    Without stopping the feline pressed closerto the woman as the two sliced and slashed at each other.    Man o War and Stone Fish split and came atMoonshine from two separate directions. Forcing the hero to try and counterattacks from two different directions.    Up above Silvermane was standing on arefrigerated cargo container filled with frozen beef. Trickshot was standing onthe container to his right.    Silvermane carefully nocked an arrow andlaunched it at Stone Fish.    The missile caught the villain dead squarein the chest and he stumbled backward.     Moonshine leapt forward and hit Man o Warwith his jug and the man dropped to the deck.    Stonefish lashed out at Moonshine and hisspines left deep wounds across the hero’s face.    “Thanks for the shave!”    Stealth felt cold water splash against hislegs. Looking down he saw a stream of water slowly making its way across thedeck. “We’ve got a good-sized leak down here.”    “Not surprising considering all the holeswe’ve been blasting in the hull,” Bob joked.    “The rate of sinkage seems fairly slow,”the nanites responded. “But we recommend not putting any new holes below thewaterline.”    “And try not to hit anything flammableplease.”    “Tell the Sea Wolves that.” Trickshot hadbeen waiting for the right moment. Carefully gauging the events for the rightmoment. She had already loaded a magazine with a dozen, black tipped, armorpiercing bullets.    Bang, bang, bang.    She put three rounds into the chest plate ofthe minotaur.    The metal figure seemed to shiver a littlebut kept right on going. Swinging his massive axe he charged at Orca forcingthe woman back.    Silvermane nocked an arrow whose head was awhite colored cylinder instead of a sharp arrow point. He loosed the projectileand it struck the metal minotaur in the left leg. Ice, inches thick eruptedfrom the projectile and quickly covered the legs and moved up the body with theinevitability of a glacier but the speed of an arrow in flight. The minotaurwas covered in ice and stuck. But it wouldn’t last long. But it was longenough.    “Anyone in this group transmitting in theY band?” The nanites asked suddenly.    “No,” Moonshine answered. “Why?”    “Someone is using it and it’s not to transmitthe Red Green Show!”    “We’re having issues decoding it,” the nanitesadmitted.    “To hell with the subtleties. RAMMINGSPEED!”    “We told you not to let them watch Ben Hur!Be advised we are starting jamming. Your own communications might be effected.”    “Do you REALLY need that much power? You’lljam every radio and television between here and Bangor!”    “Go big or go home!”    “The Red Green Show is on!”    “It’s a repeat!”   Steel Horn stopped suddenly and dropped themassive axe he was carrying. It hit the floor with a loud clang. His right armcame up but then started flailing about wildly.    “Oh! Now this is interesting.” Thenanites commented. “He’s not a robot but a drone operated from somewhereelse.”    “Oh! This could be fun!”    Without wasting a moment Orca turned toStonefish and grabbed the man’s arm. She squeezed and the razor-sharp spinesshattered along with the bone underneath them.    He letout a scream of pain.    Moonshine hammered Stonefish with a flurryof rapid punches.    “They are trying to reestablishcommunication.”    “Trash him before they can do it.”    “Beware he is sure to have backup programingin case of signal loss.”    “Trying to track the signal.”    “We need physical contact!”    “The signal is coming from the Rogue Isles.”    “How come that’s not a surprise?”    Stealth dodged another blow from Sea Viperand pressed both hands against the metal minotaur’s back.    “Insertion successful! Overriding outsidecommands and shutting down external antennas.”    The feline turned back to Sea Viper andlunged at her with both blades spinning tight circles.    The woman tried to block them both butcouldn’t. She stepped backward trying to keep from getting hurt.    “NO YOU DON’T! Disabling theself-destruction command.”    “We’re in full control!”    “You guys are NEVER in full control ofanything,” Stealthjoked.    “YEAH! We’re in the driver’s seat!”    “How you do you steer this thing?”    “What does this button do?”    The massive metal minotaur did a short,little jig; showing remarkable agility.    “It’s party time! Everybody polka!”    Polka music started wafting through the airadding a surreal element to the fighting going on.    “Nice machine!”    “But where are the cup holders?”    Orca spun around and punched Sea Viper inthe face.    The woman went flying into the wall and hitwith a resounding thump.    She slid to the deck and lay there; verystill.    “Where is his weapon?”    “Why bother?” Stealth responded. “He’sstrong enough to punch thru steel!”    “Oh! Engaging in good old-fashionedfisticuffs!”    Steel Horn brought up both arms with hishands balled into fists. Imitating the stance of a 19th centuryboxer.    “Do you know how to fight?”    “Ah . . . Not really. We’re just the pitcrew that comes out to change the tires and put in the gas.”    SteelHorn took a swing at Man of War and missed badly. Instead he put a good-sizeddent into the steel plate of the hull.    “Oh! This is harder than it looks!”    “How are we supposed to hit them if theywon’t hold still?”    On deck Misha and Strela were fightingMaelstrom and Killer Storm.    The vulpines were standing on the roof ofthe bridge while the villains were off the port side. Over the water to givetheir powers full play.    The archers were showering the villains witharrows and the villain’s were showering them with water. Bone chillingly coldwater and ice to go with the high winds and fist sized hail.    For the heroes it was a terrible fight. Thearrows didn’t seem to slow either of them down. Misha could feel the icestarting to harden solid on his legs.    The wind was howling and they were beingpelted with hail and ice in addition to the high winds. They were hard pressedto keep standing. Most of their arrows were blown away but enough made itthrough to keep Maelstrom and Killer Storm at a respectful distance. Alreadythe nanites were warning him about severe frostbite in his legs. Telling him toget warm before there was serious damage.    “The cargo is secure,” Silvermane said overthe radio.    “Great!” Strela commented. “Leave somepeople to guard it and get up here before these two freeze us to the deck!”    “Orca and Moonshine you stay there. The restget up there,” Bob ordered. “So we can finish that bitch Maelstrom.”    Silvermane came out of a hatch and showedjust enough of himself to shoot an arrow at Killer Storm.    The arrow exploded and a cloud of green,choking gas quickly spread out engulfing both villains.    “What about Steel Horn?” Trickshot asked.    “Ah . . . .” Came the response. “Itmight take us a while to get there. We haven’t figured out steps yet.”    “Stay and guard the box,” Silvermane orderedas he climbed onto the deck. “Get in some practice.”    Bob was next out of the hatch and sent alarge bolt of electricity at Maelstrom. The electricity dancing along her armsand legs and causing her to stumble back.    Maelstrom coughed and waved her hand todisperse the gas. “I’m tired of dealing with you cretins,” She snarled. “So letme introduce you to my little pet. LUSCA!”    There was a deep rumbling noise and thewater all around the ship bubbled and frothed as the ship was tossed about bymassive waves. A massive cylinder erupted from the water. It was twenty feetwide and towered over two hundred feet tall.    “It’s a tentacle!” Strela shouted as a halfdozen more, just as large erupted nearby.    “Scatter! Back off!” Silvermane ordered.  ************ 
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