<html xmlns:v="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:vml" xmlns:o="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" xmlns:w="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:word" xmlns:m="http://schemas.microsoft.com/office/2004/12/omml" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40"><head><meta http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; charset=us-ascii"><meta name=Generator content="Microsoft Word 12 (filtered medium)"><style></style></head><body lang=EN-US link=blue vlink=purple><div class=WordSection1><o:p> </o:p><o:p> </o:p> Here is part 2. It continues the double story of Misha and his facing the Rikti.<o:p></o:p><o:p> </o:p><o:p> </o:p>Chris<o:p></o:p>The Lurking Fox<o:p></o:p><o:p> </o:p><o:p> </o:p>New York City, NY, May 23 2002<o:p></o:p><o:p> </o:p><o:p> </o:p>   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.<o:p></o:p><o:p> </o:p>   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.<o:p></o:p><o:p> </o:p>   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.<o:p></o:p><o:p> </o:p>   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.<o:p></o:p><o:p> </o:p><o:p> </o:p>******************<o:p></o:p><o:p> </o:p>Paragon City Rhode Island, July 2007<o:p></o:p><o:p> </o:p><o:p> </o:p>   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.<o:p></o:p><o:p> </o:p><o:p> </o:p>********************<o:p></o:p><o:p> </o:p>2002<o:p></o:p><o:p> </o:p>   "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.<o:p></o:p><o:p> </o:p>   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.<o:p></o:p><o:p> </o:p>   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.<o:p></o:p><o:p> </o:p>   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.<o:p></o:p><o:p> </o:p><o:p> </o:p>******************<o:p></o:p><o:p> </o:p>July 2007<o:p></o:p><o:p> </o:p><o:p> </o:p>  "They want play rough! We'll play rough! Initiate program Fenrir wolf," the nanites ordered.<o:p></o:p><o:p> </o:p>   "Program booting up."<o:p></o:p><o:p> </o:p>   " Are those power levels correct? Is that aggression level correct? That cannot be correct! Please confirm that aggression setting!"<o:p></o:p><o:p> </o:p>   "CRY HAVOC! And let slip the dogs of war!"<o:p></o:p><o:p> </o:p>   "Good lord their quoting Shakespeare! That cannot be good!"<o:p></o:p><o:p> </o:p>   "ARROOO!" the loud howl echoed through Misha's mind sending a shiver down his spine.<o:p></o:p><o:p> </o:p>   "Did I hear a wolf howl?" Stealth asked. "What did you little troublemakers do?"<o:p></o:p><o:p> </o:p>   "Do? Why we're winning this fight."<o:p></o:p><o:p> </o:p><o:p> </o:p>*********************<o:p></o:p><o:p> </o:p><o:p> </o:p>   "Boom!" The entire room lit up with the flash and instantly filled with smoke and flames.<o:p></o:p><o:p> </o:p>   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.<o:p></o:p><o:p> </o:p>    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.<o:p></o:p><o:p> </o:p>   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.<o:p></o:p><o:p> </o:p>   "INCOMING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" the loud shout echoed through the building. Clearly audible above the roar of the fighting.<o:p></o:p><o:p> </o:p>   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.<o:p></o:p><o:p> </o:p>   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.<o:p></o:p><o:p> </o:p>BOOM! <o:p></o:p><o:p> </o:p>BOOM!<o:p></o:p><o:p> </o:p>BOOM!<o:p></o:p><o:p> </o:p>BOOM!<o:p></o:p> <o:p></o:p>   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.<o:p></o:p><o:p> </o:p><o:p> </o:p>***************<o:p></o:p><o:p> </o:p><o:p> </o:p>July 2007<o:p></o:p><o:p> </o:p><o:p> </o:p>   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.<o:p></o:p><o:p> </o:p>   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.<o:p></o:p><o:p> </o:p><o:p> </o:p>********************<o:p></o:p><o:p> </o:p><o:p> </o:p>2002<o:p></o:p><o:p> </o:p><o:p> </o:p>   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.<o:p></o:p><o:p> </o:p>   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."<o:p></o:p><o:p> </o:p><o:p> </o:p>***********<o:p></o:p><o:p> </o:p><o:p> </o:p>2007<o:p></o:p><o:p> </o:p>   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.<o:p></o:p><o:p> </o:p>   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.<o:p></o:p><o:p> </o:p>   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.<o:p></o:p><o:p> </o:p>   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.<o:p></o:p><o:p> </o:p>  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.<o:p></o:p><o:p> </o:p>   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!"<o:p></o:p><o:p> </o:p><o:p> </o:p>********************<o:p></o:p><o:p> </o:p><o:p> </o:p>   "The Rikti ingress has slowed by 73%."<o:p></o:p><o:p> </o:p>   "They have nothing to match Fenrir!"<o:p></o:p><o:p> </o:p>   "Firewall 124 has held. Restoring firewall 122 & 123."<o:p></o:p><o:p> </o:p>   "Rewriting the encryption procedures. They will NOT get back in so easy the next time!"<o:p></o:p><o:p> </o:p>   "All Rikti programs are in full retreat!"<o:p></o:p><o:p> </o:p>   "Retreat? This is a rout!" the nanites shouted cheerfully.<o:p></o:p><o:p> </o:p><o:p> </o:p>******************<o:p></o:p><o:p> </o:p><o:p> </o:p>   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.<o:p></o:p><o:p> </o:p>   No one moved for a moment waiting for the next wave to appear suddenly, but none did.<o:p></o:p><o:p> </o:p>   "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."<o:p></o:p><o:p> </o:p>   "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.<o:p></o:p><o:p> </o:p>   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.<o:p></o:p><o:p> </o:p>   "All primary systems have been cleared. Communications channels 1 to 13 are now again secure."<o:p></o:p><o:p> </o:p>   "And we'll make sure they stay that way. Downloading updates to all systems."<o:p></o:p><o:p> </o:p>   "He has cleared all systems of Rikti programs and is attacking into the Rikti systems."<o:p></o:p><o:p> </o:p>   "Keep copies of all the invading programs. We will study them in detail later."<o:p></o:p><o:p> </o:p>   "Shouldn't we call him back?"<o:p></o:p><o:p> </o:p>   "Will he listen?"<o:p></o:p><o:p> </o:p>   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.<o:p></o:p><o:p> </o:p>    He let loose a string of curses. "MAYDAY! I'm under attack. It's ripping through to my mind."<o:p></o:p><o:p> </o:p>   "Triple, no quadruple the protection!" he ordered his own internal computer. But the attacker ripped through like a wolf ripping apart a sheep.<o:p></o:p><o:p> </o:p>   "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.<o:p></o:p><o:p> </o:p>   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.<o:p></o:p><o:p> </o:p>   "It's Fenrir. You are in no danger. You are both clearly identified as friendly."<o:p></o:p><o:p> </o:p>   "Does HE know that?" Stealth asked nervously. "Nice doggy! We're on the same side."<o:p></o:p><o:p> </o:p>   "That's not a dog! That's a wolf!" Misha added. "That's Fenrir wolf!"<o:p></o:p><o:p> </o:p>   They felt the anger begin to subside and then slowly vanish. "Fenrir. I like that name."<o:p></o:p><o:p> </o:p><o:p> </o:p>**************<o:p></o:p><o:p> </o:p><o:p> </o:p>   Stealth walked over to where his friend was standing and patted Misha on the shoulders. "How are you?" he asked.<o:p></o:p><o:p> </o:p>   The fox nodded and patted the feline on the back. "Fine. Just a few bruises. How did you do in your first Rikti fight?"<o:p></o:p><o:p> </o:p>   "Good," Stealth said calmly. "It was a tough fight!"<o:p></o:p><o:p> </o:p>   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.<o:p></o:p><o:p> </o:p>   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."<o:p></o:p><o:p> </o:p><o:p> </o:p></div> !DSPAM:4f420db3308521780998236! </body></html>