Monday, January 31, 2011

Chapter Thirty: Instant Choices

***********************************************************
"My battle for my love will continue until I win my Angel back!!"



Mishiida Alexander







“Individuality is not a by-product of circumstances. Rather it is a reflection of the choices made under their influence.”







Chapter Thirty: Instant choices







It is really easy to shift blame of a distorted conscience or an immoral soul on to the circumstances that dictated the life history of a person. Even the choices made under such vexed circumstances are generally blamed on the restrictions put on the individual by the circumstances themselves. The truth is every circumstance provides a person enough choices, choices that can be broadly classified as good or bad. What kind of a human being anyone becomes depends entirely on the choices made out of those two broad demarcations. If a person protects their own interest every time life pops up a questioning scenario, that person will invariably become a mean manipulative coward. Great are those who make tough decisions even if at the cost of their own interests.







Alexander made such a decision when he risked his life for Mishiida. Private Curt Sommers made such a choice when he sacrificed self for the sake of two lives and his duty. Rick made such a choice when he gave up his job and risked everything he was left with to protect Mishiida. And now Mishiida and Corbett have made a similar choice for the ones they love.







However at this moment, as we stand witness to the charge of the mighty, we can’t help but fear the fate of all the human lives that are all but oblivious to the dark intentions of those who don’t belong to their world. One after the other, four assault parties of around two hundred crafts each proceed to destroy the dams across the globe. Their leader has a big smile on his face as he and his son look at each other, confident of their victory and standing near the window, watching the action live. We cannot stand their faces anymore and decide to head back to the earth with a hope that Jerome and Rick will come up with some plan.







As we descend, we notice the alien crafts line up in files of ten, each file covering a geographical region. Then two of those crafts head towards the earth. As they approach the earth a few missiles fired at them. Immediately\ the crafts waiting in the file above, shoot the missiles down. The attacking crafts continue on their journey unaffected.







We make a quick dash to the ground and make our way to a running Mishiida and Corbett. They both are repeatedly looking heavenwards to see the action unfold. They both must have realized, the enemy has decided to seal the issue. Corbett is struggling hard to keep pace with Mishiida but is still fighting. Mishiida shrieks and gestures with her hand to Corbett to move faster.







“I’m trying! I’m trying!” Corbett huffs as he replies.







We leave them on their way and head straight to the command centre where two pensive looking old men are watching the radar screens intently.







“So what do we do now Sir?” Ahmed asks.







“Better ask what are they going to do?” Charles replies.







“What do you reckon Rick?” Jerome asks Rick.







“I have as much an idea as much a virgin about sex,” Rick replies shaking his head.







“But where are they heading to?” Jerome asks.







“At their current speed, we’ll sure find out soon,” Rick replies.







“President Arnold Stallone calling Jerome, are you receiving?” President Arnold’s voice booms on the radio.







“Receiving Sir,” Jerome immediately answers.







“What’s happening now? Over,” President asks.







“I have no idea Sir, over,” Jerome replies.







“Is there any way to contact and talk to them? Over,” President Arnold asks.







“We do have an alien in our custody now Sir, thanks to our friend Mishiida, over,” Jerome replies.







“You know what to do then Colonel. Get me the results. Over and out,” President finishes the conversation.







“How are we going to do that?” Rick asks Jerome.







“I don’t know,” Jerome replies, “Perhaps you can call your Romeo and ask him to bring Mishiida in to talk to our captive?”







“Sir, they are heading towards our Blue Mountain Dams?” Charles interrupts the conversation.







“What?” Jerome and Rick exclaim in unison and look at the radar screen. To their horror Charles is right.







“All missile units, fire at will! Bring them down before they destroy our dams! I repeat fire at will,” Jerome immediately yells on the radio. In a matter of moments we notice scores of missiles on the radar screen, all heading in one direction, towards the alien crafts. Once again they are all destroyed even before they could get any closer.







“Damn it!” Jerome yells as he bangs his radio handset down on the table in front.







Rick picks up the radio handset and speaks on it, “All units in low lying areas, prepare to evacuate.”







“You better make an evacuation call on the public radio as well,” Jerome tells Rick.







“It will cause panic,” Rick replies and then answers his reservations himself, “But then, if I won’t they will all perish.”







“Most of them are going to perish anyway,” Jerome says to Rick, “The force of the water escaping those breached walls will wipe away anything in its way and into the ocean. We can only hope a few lucky ones’ will survive.”







“You are right! I’ll make the announcement,” and Rick walks to the radio equipment meant for public announcements. We divert our attention back to the radar screen.







As the crafts approach the Blue Mountains, more missiles are fired at them, this time from the hills. A craft that was closer to the hills is shot down while the other one escapes thanks to his friends up in the sky.







“What are they doing?” Rick yells out, “They are exposing the location of our Prime Minister.”







“What?” Jerome looks at the radar screen and bangs his hand on to his forehead.







“Alpha calling trident, why did you fire the missiles?” Rick calls the unit who fired those missiles.







“Trident speaking! Sir they were close to our location and we thought we had a chance, over,” the officer at the other end replies.







“You idiot, you just exposed the location of the Prime Minister and other important members of the community,” Rick yells at him, “Your only job is to protect those people in case of an eventuality.”







“Sir, it was a direct order from the Prime Minister herself, over,” the officer replied.







“You should have told her that she is important, the people she is with are important,” Rick says to him.







“Everyone is important Colonel Rick,” Prime Minister Ms Germanotta’s voice is heard from the other end, “I would rather die saving as many as I can then live with dead bodies of every single Aussie on my conscience, or for that matter, anyone who lives or breaths in Aussie air. He followed my orders and he did well. Over and out!”







“Sir, the craft is approaching one of the six Blue Mountain Dams now, and there are four more alien crafts heading down now,” Charles draws everybody’s attention to the radar screen.







“Damn!” Rick exclaims.







“Where are we going to evacuate?” Jerome asks.







“We won’t have to,” Rick replies, “We are on the raised ground. The water will rush out into the sea quickly and won’t reach our end.”







“Sir there’s another craft on the screen now,” Ahmed yells out, “It just appeared of nowhere.”







“Gamma calling all units,” Corbett’s voice booms on the radio, “I and Mishiida are taking off in this alien craft. Spot us on your screens and make sure not to shoot us down.”







“Bloody Romeo,” Jerome shrieks out and grabs a radio set, “What are you two doing?”







“Making history Sir! Over and out,” Corbett replies from the other end.







Jerome shakes his head.







“Sir, the dam’s gone!” Charles exclaims.







We decide it’s time to take a look outside. As we get out of the command centre, we notice Mishiida’s craft rising up and taking on the four incoming crafts. The cat and mouse chase begins. Mishiida shoots one down instantly and then flies her craft towards the mountains dodging the fire from the tailing crafts. Following them we notice the craft that had reached the dams had already destroyed three out of the six. The water escaping from behind those destroyed walls was heading down towards the coast, wiping out anything and everything that dared stand in its’ way.







A bunch of laser fire dashes past our heads, almost scaring us. We turn around and see that the crafts waiting above in the sky have also started firing at Mishiida’s craft. Just about then a sudden streak of light from another end catches our eye. We turn in its’ direction and notice a unit has fired a missile at the craft that was destroying the dams, just as that craft approached the fourth dam. Whoever was manning that unit was smart enough to utilize the opportunity generated by the distraction caused by Mishiida and Corbett. Immediately a bunch of more missiles is fired at the crafts line above. Busy in their hunt, the crafts are taken out within a matter of moments.







Mishiida meanwhile continues flying through the mountainous maze, dodging the fire of the toeing crafts. After one particular turn, as soon as her craft passes by a mountain, a missile is fired that takes out the craft toeing her the closest.







As soon as the occupants of the remaining two crafts realize they are in hittable range and that there is no one protecting them from above, they immediately turn around to escape. But it’s already too late. The moment they decide to flee the battle, Mishiida turns her craft around and finishes the job in two shots.







She immediately starts her accent towards the mother ship but two more teams of alien crafts appear from two opposite ends of the skyline. Mishiida heads directly towards the one approaching from the closer side and engages them. She takes out two in an instant and then once again the dog chase begins. Meanwhile the alien crafts that emerged from the other end stop just beyond the hittable range and lower down on a far off peak. We make a dash towards the spot and find them dropping off their men for a physical clean up of the mountains.







We decide to check what Rick and Jerome are going to do about it. On our way we witness the gushing water mercilessly clearing away its’ path, destroying everything that has already been destroyed. Women and children, young and old, we see them all running desperately for their lives in the streets, their boats already having been destroyed in the first assault. They run helter skelter. Some of them, thinking that wood will save them, are standing behind wooden doors they have just about pulled out of the rubble. We notice some of them who don’t have the doors, are fighting for the doors with those who have them. The waves that hit them however neither show mercy, nor give them any chance. Having seen enough, we leave the scene and head back to the forward command centre.







“They must be landing assault parties. Damn!” Jerome smashes his fist on the table as we arrive at the centre.







“Someone needs to go and save the Prime Minister and other elite of our society,” Rick quips.







“And someone needs to go and talk to them,” Jerome adds.







“Talk to them? You’re joking,” Rick is surprised and so are we, “We can’t even get to them leave alone have any conversation with them.”







“I know, but someone has to try,” Jerome replies, “And yes we can get to them. We still have that other craft we captured and the alien in our captivity.”







“Yes, we do have the craft and being located at higher grounds its’ still available, but how are you going to make the captive comply?” Rick asks Jerome.







“I don’t know but have you got any other idea?” Jerome asks Rick in return.







Rick becomes contemplative and finally yields to the situation, “You are right! We have no other choice.”







“I’ll go and try to seek his help,” Jerome says, “You take on the command from here on.”







“I can’t,” Rick replies, “Someone has to save the Prime Minister and the rest.”







“What? You cannot fight them in the open,” Jerome is shocked, “It’s a suicide!”







“I know,” Rick replies, “But hey, who’s the Romeo?”







“But,” Jerome wants to say something.







“Look, you go and try talk to the alien commander-in-chief, while I’ll go and try to save my Prime Minister,” Rick says to Jerome patting his shoulder, “We both are at as much risk, so there’s no point arguing. It’s time for the big boys to take on the game!”







Jerome is left speechless for a moment as Rick extends his hand for a handshake. Jerome takes Rick’s hand in his hands and then pulls him into a brotherly embrace, “Best of luck my friend. Hope to see you again.”







“You will,” Rick replies, “If not here then in heaven, where all the good chicks are!”







“You made heaven sound so boring, I don’t feel like dying anymore,” Jerome says and the two laugh together, possibly for the last time.







“Lets’ go men,” Rick says to Charles, Ken and Carl.







“Sir we only have one weapon,” Carl says.







“Yes, I know,” Rick replies, “That’s why you three are going to bait them and I am going to shoot them, one at a time.”







“It going to great fun,” Charles says.







“It sure will be,” Ken replies. And the four men march out of the command centre.







“Time for us to get moving as well,” Jerome says to Ahmed, “Where are the others?”







“They are positioned outside Sir,” Ahmed replies.







“Time to shake a leg to break a leg,” Jerome nods at Ahmed to get going. The two walk out of the command centre.







We decide it’s time to go and join Mishiida and Corbett, so make a dash to their craft.







“Great!” Corbett says as we notice him sitting on the chair next to Mishiida who is flying the craft, his hands firmly gripping the armrests, his body stretched as far back as it possibly could be, his hair standing erect. Doesn’t take long for us to imitate him, considering the way Mishiida is flying the craft.







We are heading straight towards the mother ship when suddenly a beep distracts our attention. We follow Mishiida’s gaze and spot a screen which shows more than hundreds of crafts heading towards Mishiida.







Mishiida’s face literally explodes with rage as she lets out a loud war cry. We are not sure whether to grab our seats or our ears but Corbett decides to keep clinging on to the seat as he looks helplessly at her.







Mishiida turns around and looks at Corbett.







“What now?” Corbett innocently asks.







Mishiida turns her face forward again, turns the craft around and directly towards the incoming opponents. She punches a button on the dash in front and immediately a screen pops out of the dash, right next to where we are. What looks like a very complex algorithm, can be seen running on it. Mishiida opens a hatch on the craft steering and pushes a button inside it. Immediately the steering moves away from her and ends up right in front of Corbett while the screen shifts its’ location to right in front of Mishiida. Mishiida grabs the screen with her hands. She looks at Corbett once again who looks back at her blankly, a pitiable look on his face. In the reflection on the windscreen we notice Mishiida protruding out her tongue out and then biting it with her lips. She then shakes her head in negative and makes a pitiable face. She uses her hand to gesture swearing of neck. We realize she is not sure what is going to happen, and when the pilot is not sure what is going to happen, it is generally a great time to contact your insurance agent. She then turns around and looks at the oncoming air traffic. Fierce blue streaks of light head straight towards our craft. We feel like letting out a scream. But Mishiida concentrates.










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

Sunday, January 23, 2011

Chapter Twenty Nine: Love in the line of fire

***********************************************************
"I love her more than my life!!"






Mishiida Alexander







“Cowards love their lives, brave love their principles.”







Chapter Twenty Nine: Love in the line of fire







Long life is of those who seldom take risks, and those who seldom take risks, rarely imprint history. And those who don’t matter for history are as good as never been alive. History is written by the efforts of men and women who dare to challenge and change what doesn’t confirm to the perfect picture they envisage. Men and women who stand upright and defend sprightly their principles, values and morals, history is written with their sweat and blood. History is no place for cowards.







Men like Corbett and Curt take decisions in the matter of milliseconds, decisions that change the outcome of a conflict, the conflicts that change the outcome of the battles, the battles that change the course of a war, and a war that adds to the history. Men like Rick and Jerome inspire, organize and lead such men.







As we witness the bloodiest battle mankind has ever seen, we are left in awe by instances of bravery that strike admiration and sympathy at the same time. The bravery of the two men who charged at their eminent death when their families were at risk, was one such instance.







As we stand next to Corbett who is perturbed at the thought of an alien having escaped to where Hayley and Alexander are taking shelter, Mishiida walks up to him and shakes him, as if asking, “What happened to Alexander?” She may not have understood what Corbett just said but she recognises Alexander’s name and Corbett’s concerned appearance.







“Relax! Let me think of something,” Corbett gestures to Mishiida to stay calm and picks up his radio headset. “Gamma calling Alpha!” he immediately calls Jerome.







“Alpha receiving, what’s it Corbett? Over,” It is Rick answers from the other end.







“Sir, I need permission to go to the army cantonment for the protection of Alexander and Hayley, over,” Corbett asks.







“Permission denied! NASA team and Mishiida are more important than Alexander and Hayley. Stay where you are. Over,” Rick replies from the other end.







“But sir, Mishiida is getting impatient, over,” Corbett tells Rick.







“Once again, permission denied. We have a man over there to take care of any eventuality. Stay put! Over and out,” Rick finishes the conversation.







“Great! Her life is in danger and here I am, allowed to do nothing,” Corbett is frustrated.







Mishiida puts her hands on her hips and stares in his eyes, looking for an answer.







“Don’t worry I’ll do something,” Corbett says to her and picks up his radio set again, “Gamma calling Doctor Hayley! Are you receiving?”







We decide it’s time to dash down to Hayley and Alexander.







“Gamma calling Doctor Hayley!” Corbett’s voice booms on the radio handset once again just as we reach Hayley and Alexander.







“That’s Corbett’s voice,” Dr Hayley realizes she is being called. She immediately rushes to the radio set lying next to the officer present there alongside them. “Corbett’s calling for me on radio,” Hayley tells the officer.







“Is he?” the officer wakes up from his trance.











“Gamma calling Dr Hayley, are you receiving?” Corbett asks again.







“How do you speak on these things?” Hayley picks up the radio handset and asks the officer.







“Here, hold this button down while speaking and release it to listen,” the officer quickly shows her the button.







“Hayley, if you are listening, there’s an alien heading your direction. Stay safe!” Corbett says on the radio.







“Hello! This is Hayley! What did you say? An alien heading are way,” Hayley finally replies on the radio.







“Roger! An alien heading your way! Stay safe! Close the entrance,” Corbett tells her.







“An alien heading our way!” the officer nearly jumps out of his seat, “I’ll grab a gun and immediately close the heavy gate.”







“That’s fine! We are safe, don’t worry!” Hayley says on the radio, “The officer is going to close the door!”







As Hayley is saying this to Corbett, the officer picks up an M16 and rushes towards the gate to press the button to shut it down. But it is too late. A laser fire blows the door and a lifeless body of the officer away. The officer’s hand involuntarily presses the trigger down and the gun empties its’ magazine all over the place. A shrieking Dr Hayley ducks for cover and the radio handset falls out of her hand.







“What’s happening out there? Hayley are you alright?” Corbett’s concerned voice booms from the other end.







As doctor Hayley gets back on her feet, Alexander stumbles out of his stretcher. Taking off the glucose drip and grabbing his paining wound, he makes a limping dash towards the box containing guns. Just as Alexander pulls a gun out of the box the alien slowly walks into the room, his weapon held aloft, as he screens the area.







Alexander gives out a loud yell and pulls the trigger. But the recoil of the M16 is too much for an unexperienced Alexander, two shots and the gun lobs out of his hand. He looses his balance and crashes on the floor. The alien charges at him giving a loud shriek as Hayley and us grab our ears.







“What the hell is happening there? Hayley, please talk to me!” Corbett is still asking from the other end and we hear another shriek, this time it is Mishiida. We realize she has lost her patience. “We are coming Hayley! We are coming!” Corbett screams out.







Meanwhile, we look at the alien who is standing on top of Alexander, his gun pointing at Alexander’s face but he isn’t shooting him. He pulls out the camera cum phone he is carrying and opens up Alexander’s saved picture. He compares the picture with his face and nods his head.







Hayley in the meantime grabs a chair and sneaks behind the alien. She gives a loud shriek and hits the alien hard in his back. The impact makes the chair falls out of her hands but the alien is unaffected. He turns around and looks at Hayley who gets scared. The alien takes of his helmet, looks on in Hayley’s eyes and gives a wicked smile. He walks up to a shaking Hayley, puts his weapon on the side of her head, and slides it down tantalizingly through her hair, down the side of her neck and to her bosom. He puckers his lips at her.







Alexander meanwhile gets back on his feet and tries to charge at him but the alien turns around and lands on punch on his head, knocking him out of consciousness.







“You jerk!” Hayley yells and tries to punch him but the alien grabs her from the back of her neck and pulls her towards him, putting his weapon right on her heart. He forces her face towards him and gives her a kiss. She spits on his face and he slaps her hard on her face in retaliation. She falls unconscious as well. The alien, free of his immediate worries, pulls out his fancy gadget again and makes a call to his leader.







The leader’s face appears in three dimensions and the alien explains to him the situation and shows him Alexander. His leader seems to have been impressed and gives him some instructions. The alien nods his head and his leader drops out of the conversation. The alien puts his helmet on, weapon and camera away, lifts Alexander and Hayley on his two shoulders and walks out of the underground hideout. He walks out of the compound and gets on to the main road. He starts walking out of the city. We follow him for a few minutes when a car comes to a screeching halt behind us. We turn around as Corbett jumps out of the car while Mishiida kicks the door off the car and hops out.







“Stop where you are and let the two go!” Corbett yells out loud as he pulls his weapon out and takes his perfected shooting stance. He doesn’t take the shot as Hayley and Alexander are both hanging over his shoulders covering his back. Mishiida meanwhile pulls out her weapon and is about to run towards the alien when the alien turns around, puts the two down with their feet on the ground but bodies resting by his shoulders. The alien notices advancing Mishiida and immediately pulls out his weapon and puts it to unconscious Alexander’s head. Mishiida stops in her stride immediately. She has her weapon in her hand which she points at the alien, who securely hides his head behind Alexander’s. The alien pulls at Alexander’s hair and Mishiida nearly pulls out her hand as if to say, “Stop!” The alien’s helmet covered head shakes as if he is smiling at having caught Mishiida’s weakness.







Corbett meanwhile tries to take advantage of the alien’s preoccupation with Mishiida but the alien pre-judges his move and immediately puts the weapon on to Hayley’s head. Corbett stops immediately. The alien looks at him and then, still supporting the two by his body and his weapon pointing at Alexander’s head, he takes off his helmet with one hand. He then tilts Hayley’s balance behind on his arm and starts kissing her on her lips, sucking at them, bitting them, his eyes still on Corbett and Mishiida.







“Don’t you dare touch her,” Corbett roars.







The alien immediately stops and laughs at him. He kisses her again and when Corbett tries to move forward, the alien puts the gun on her head.







“Damn it!” Corbett gets frustrated. And just as Corbett turns his face away in anger and disgust, about twenty missiles rise up behind him and advance like streaks of lights over our heads. Everybody looks skywards and follow the missiles. Just as the missiles cross over our heads, an equal number of laser shots destroy them mid-air.







We turn around and see around twenty alien crafts emerging out of the skies and almost all of them stop far up in the sky. Only one aircraft heads towards where we are standing. More missiles are fired, this time all aiming for the one craft that’s heading our way but the crafts that have lined themselves far above, shoot them down when they are barely out of their blocks. Mishiida takes aim at the craft but the alien shrieks out at her, pointing his weapon to Alexander’s head. Mishiida stops immediately.







The alien craft lands right next to the alien and as its door opens, Mishiida runs towards Corbett letting out a shriek and motioning him to run.







“What happened?” Corbett looks at her surprised but she grabs him from his collar and nearly drags him away. He stumbles on his feet but regains his balance quickly and runs behind Mishiida.







About six aliens jump out of the craft and start taking shots at Mishiida and Corbett, barely missing them, as the two vanish behind a pile. The other alien meanwhile picks up Alexander and Hayley on his shoulders and carries them inside the craft. The other aliens look at each other and then say something. Then they all nod their heads and get back in the craft. Perhaps they were discussing weather to chase Mishiida and Corbett or not. As soon as they return inside the craft, the craft door closes and the craft flies away and back towards the parent craft.







As the craft flies away Corbett runs out from behind the pile and gives out a loud frustrated shriek. Mishiida follows him into the open and looks hatefully at the crafts and gives out her shriek.







“Alpha calling Gamma, are you receiving?” Jerome’s voice is heard on the radio hanging by Corbett’s waist.







“Gamma receiving, over,” Corbett replies.







“What happened, what’s the situation, over?” Jerome asks.







“They have taken Alexander and Hayley hostages, over,” Corbett replies.







“That is bad but you don’t worry! We will figure out some way to get them back. You return to the side of NASA team immediately, over,” Jerome instructs him.







Mishiida walks up to Corbett, puts her hand on his shoulder and shows him the remote device of the captured crafts that she had recovered from the dead aliens. She then points to him and herself and gestures flying with her hand, as if saying, “Let’s go and get them!”







“Did you copy my last message? Over,” Jerome asks from the other end.







“We are going in!” Corbett replies on the radio as Mishiida fiddles with the remote, trying to remote control the craft. But the dejection on her face shows that she is not being able to operate them remotely.







“What? Have you lost your mind? Return to the command centre and see me immediately, over,” Jerome orders him.







“We are going in Colonel, over and out,” and Corbett finishes the conversation.







“Don’t do that! Don’t go anywhere,” Jerome yells over the radio, “Report to me immediately.”







But Corbett gives no answer as he and Mishiida walk away in the direction of the crafts they captured. The car they had come in had been destroyed by the laser fire from the aliens who just assaulted them.







“Answer me Corbett!” Jerome yells again, “Answer me you Romeo!”







But the two keep walking.







“Damn you Romeo!” Jerome says with frustration.







We decide it’s time to visit the alien craft and see what they are doing with our friends, Alexander and Hayley.







As we approach the parent craft we are astonished by its’ monstrosity. Shaped like a string ray, rhomboidal in spread and pyramidal in its rise and depth, it is bigger in its spread than the biggest city on the earth. It rises higher than it reaches deep. Our awe is bigger when we step inside it. It has an artificial sky of its’ own, which looks like the sky on the earth and it gives the feeling of the day inside. We look below and are surprised by the floor which gives the look of a sandy beach with rocks scattered around. Further down we notice high rise structures which we figure out, must be the residential quartes. There is enough space inside for the smaller crafts to fly freely as in normal sky. We fly in a bit deeper and across the high rise structures and we notice a big aircraft base behind it. There must be more than a thousand small crafts lined over there. The spread of the craft and the hugeness of the fleet leave us speechless. We turn around and notice a big building at the front end of the craft that seems to be connected to the front of the craft which gives us a feeling that it is the control tower of the craft. We decide to go and have a look.







As we are flying towards the building, the floor below splits open at a location and a bunch of crafts fly in. We decide to have a look at what is located in the floor which gives an inverse pyramid look from outside but a flat appearance from the inside. We fly through the floor and into the basement which, we find out, houses all the engines and machinery running the craft. We look around in wonder and then fly out of the basement and into the building at the front end of the craft. We rise through its’ various level where aliens are working on different screens and gadgets. We finally reach its’ top storey which is actually a big room. As we step inside we see huge glass windows, lined with a lot of screens just above them and huge control panels below them. There are men sitting on those controls, working. We see our earth’s horizon just out of it, which appears like the moon crescent with most part of it covered in darkness of night, and a thin but brightly lit greenish blue edge. As we reach the middle of the room, a sound from behind attracts our attention. We turn around and notice a balcony just above the entrance to the room where the general we saw in Mishiida’s video is sitting on a big throne in the middle of the balcony, and his son is sitting on smaller throne to its’ side. There are some other aliens who appear to be officers of the alien army. They too are sitting around on some smaller thrones. Each throne has a big transparent panel in front of it, showing various screens. The father and son are busy discussing something.







Just then the door to the lifts open and the alien who kidnapped Alexander and Hayley arrives with the two, pushing them into the room and in front of the balcony. The general and his son look on at the two prisoners and clap their hands, followed by everybody else in the room.







“Where are we?” Hayley asks Alexander.







“Definitely not at my wedding,” Alexander replies.







“How can you be so cool in such a situation?” Hayley asks.







“Because I don’t want to act a sissy in front of a gorgeous girl,” Alexander replies as Hayley giggles.







The general and the son both say something to the alien who captured our two friends. The applause it generates hints they are lauding his efforts. The general’s son then hops off the balcony and walks up to Alexander who looks away. He grabs Alexander’s face from his chin and turns it around. He then yells harsh in his face as we grab our ears.







“Have you got no mint on you?” Alexander says as he grabs his ears.







The general’s son gets enraged at Alexander’s nonchalance and punches him in his stomach. Alexander collapses on the ground in pain. The general’s son looks at him writhing in pain. He kneels down besides him and lifts his shirt to reveal his wound that Alexander is grabbing. He smiles at Alexander, gets up and walks to Hayley. He puts his hand on her face and caresses her hair. She spits at his face at which he grabs her and gives her a violent kiss. She struggles to free herself from his grip but fails. He finally pushes her away and says something to the alien who captured them. The alien nods his head and grabs Hayley from her hair and Alexander from his leg, and drags them away and out of the room. We are just about to follow them when the general gets up from his throne and says something to everyone. We stop to have a listen to it and see what he is up to now.







He orders the men manning the controls at the front who immediately start working on the controls in front of them. Soon various dam locations around the world are flashed on the screens above. The general points at the live pictures of the dams and says something. The aliens start working on something again. To our surprise, we soon see around two hundred crafts leaving the parent ship and flying past the windows of the craft and travelling towards the earth in different directions.








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

Tuesday, January 18, 2011

Chapter Twenty Eight: Two Moons

***********************************************************
"I want to see, has her heart got more hatred or my love got more truth!!"
"I want to see how much shameless those who stood against my love are!!"





Mishiida Alexander







“Just because you are walking alone doesn’t mean you are on the wrong path.”







Chapter Twenty Eight: Two Moons







Everyone has at some point of life, experienced a loneliness traversing a path less frequented, a loneliness that could lead to an uneasy feeling that something is not right. But the only truth about a path is, it is governed by its’ final destination. Some like it short, some like it quick. Everyone makes their own choice as to the means and routes leading to a particular destination, a destination that might not be unique. But just because the path doesn’t seem to be popular with nobody else, it doesn’t mean someone is on the wrong path or is doing something wrong. They just might have picked up a path not in favour amongst the others on account of personal reasons. Perhaps the path is a bit too slow for them, or maybe it’s too tough. Someone’s choice is a very subjective decision.







Rick and Jerome can both approach the same objective from different perspectives but that doesn’t mean either of them is wrong. Their choice is dependent upon their inherent nature, which inturn evolved as a result of their individual growing curves during their formative years. Their approach might be diagonally opposite to each other, but its’ successful execution will always lead to the same destination. Both of them could have individually dealt with the current situation in their own unique way, but they would have still managed to put up a resistance worthy of their much decorated selves.







As we follow the invaders marching along the deserted streets and roads, we cannot help keep the thought of the innocent people they have just so brutally massacred, out of our minds. The night is falling fast, covering everything around us in a thick blanket of darkness. The complete destruction of the entire human infrastructure has left the entire world powerless and dark. We look heaven wards as if to complain but the sight that beholds us, amazes and shocks us in equal measure and leaves us breathless. For the first time Mother Earth has two moons. One that has always been there since we all opened our eyes and another, slightly smaller in size and of irregular shape, and much closer to the earth. One is natural, the other one alienmade. We are awestruck by the phenomenon and shocked at its’ monstrosity.







As they break into a run, we decide to have a quick look at what Jerome and Rick are planing now. So we head back to their forward base where we find two very pensive seasoned warheads locked in a war of silence that both seem to be wining. Jerome’s team is sitting there along with Ken, Carl and Charles, three of Rick’s trusted men.







“So you think they are approaching the city on foot?” Jerome finally breaks the silence.







“Why else would they go to such an elaborate extent as to land so far outside the metropolis and then leave without any noticeable activity?” Rick replies in a question.







“But isn’t it what we wanted? Why are we so concerned about their coming on to us in person?” Jerome exclaims.







“Yes, but how are we going to drag them into our traps?” Rick asks him.







“Sir, if I may, why don’t we just fire a missile and kill them outside the city itself,” Ahmed interrupts the question hour.







“Because we don’t know their exact location and besides they can scatter and escape,” Rick explains.







“Looks like some of our men will have to interrupt them on ground and drag them into our trap,” Jerome suggests.







“What if our men fall even before they can drag them inside? These aliens can be really quick. Remember Mishiida’s expertise?” Rick reminds Jerome the limitation.







“Your reservations are justified my friend but then isn’t it ‘No pain, no Champaign’?” Jerome asks.







“It’s too risky even with whiskey,” Rick replies, “We cannot risk our men when we ourselves are not sure of the success of the endeavour.”







“Sir, we are ready to risk our lives,” Carl forwards his offer.







“Perhaps we should just wait for them to enter the city and track their every movement manually,” Rick suggests, “Then we can surprise attack them from out of some manhole openings, drawing their attention to our hiding spots. This will lead them into our trap.”







“Your idea does have merit,” Jerome nods in agreement, “But someone will have to track and find them first.”







“Corbett is the best man for this job,” Rick says, “But we need him to protect our NASA team as well as keep Mishiida in check.”







“Sir, why not us?” Charles asks.







“Because we are too far from the location,” Rick replies, “We need someone at the front end to sneak behind the aliens and relay their real time location to us.”







Jerome immediately picks up his radio handset and speaks, “Alpha calling all units, pay attention boys and girls! I need someone closest to the city’s western edge to sneak up behind the advancing alien patrol and relay their real time location to us.”







“Lieutenant Jean Spitzer ready to take order Sir,” immediately a voice echoes on the radio.







“What’s your current location officer?” Jerome asks







“Just outside the Metropolis and towards the location of the suspected alien disembarking Sir,” Jean Spitzer replies.







“How many men do you need to accompany you officer?” Jerome asks.







“None Sir, I need to be alone to avoid detection,” Spitzer replies.







“You got yourself the job officer! You radio identity is ‘Snoop Dogg’,” Jerome gives him the go ahead.







“Roger Sir, I’ll head to Springwood and sneak around their back,” Spitzer replies.







“You know your job officer! Alpha over and out,” Jerome ends the conversation.







We decide to head to Springwood and snoop on our “Snoop Dogg”. So we make a dash towards the destined place.







In the limited visibility of moonlight and after an agonising wait of an hour, we notice a man approaching Springwood from the rear end. He is almost out of breath, especially since he is carrying a gun and a lot of other things hanging around his body. He is the officer we were waiting for we guess. He rushes to a pile and climbs over it and pulls out his radio set. He turns its’ volume knob down and presses the transmit button to speak.







“Snoop Dogg calling Alpha! I have arrived at the location and am waiting for the enemy. I have turned my volume down to avoid any accidental sounds from alerting my enemies to my presence. So I won’t be able to hear any instructions. I will keep sending the details from my end though. Snoop Dogg over and out!” Lieutenant Jean Spitzer transmits the message in a hushed panting voice.







Together with him we wait for another agonising hour before we hear the footsteps of a group. The alien patrol finally arrives. They quickly scan around while running but don’t stop to inspect the place thoroughly. Perhaps they have made up their minds to target the army resistance only.







As the group runs past the pile on which we are giving company to Lieutenant Spitzer, Spitzer radios in again, “Snoop Dogg calling Alpha! Sixty aliens on exact count, all carrying weapons and advancing towards the city, dressed in back suits and wearing helmets, all around six feet and a half in height, starting to follow them now. Snoop Dogg over and out!”







Spitzer gets up and climbs down the pile and starts following the alien group about a couple of hundred metres behind. The pace at which the aliens are jogging is on the faster side for Spitzer as he starts to pant soon. Besides he’s already run a lot of kilometres to get to Springwood. We can feel his breath running dry and soon he throws his gun away. Then after some time, bit by bit, he pulls out and throws away everything he is carrying except the radio set. After some more time he starts taking his clothes off and throwing them away. This run is taking its’ complete toll on him while the aliens keep up their pace effortlessly.







“Water! Water!” Spitzer pants but keeps on following the invaders. He pulls out his radio set and speaks while running, “Snoop Dogg! They are coming! Metro limits! Out!”







As soon as the aliens reach the beginning of Metropolitan area, they stop, and so does Spitzer who immediately drags himself to the side and lies down to avoid detection.







The aliens meanwhile form a group around the person who appears to be leading them. He speaks something to them and they all nod their heads. The group breaks up into twelve teams of five each and spreads out in all directions.







Spitzer immediately pulls out his radio set and says, “Snoop Dogg in! Aliens! Groups of five! Different directions! Out!” And Spitzer faints due to exhaustion.







We immediately rush to the command centre where Jerome is giving instructions on his radio, “Remember, they are in groups of five. So if you meet one, expect four more! Drag them in and take them down! Alpha over and out!”







“Lets’ keep our fingers crossed now!” Rick says.







We leave the two old stalwarts and their teams in the command centre and rise up in the sky to have a look at the complete picture. We spot the twelve alien teams spreading out in the city. We decide to follow the one closest to our location.







The five aliens are running around the streets carefully looking for any hiding spot of humans. While two of them stand back to back, facing opposite directions and guarding, the three others turn everything upside down to spot humans. We watch them doing their search as one of them finally steps on a concrete slab that makes a hollow sound. The three aliens immediately divert their attention to the slab. One of them effortlessly lifts the slab and tosses it away to reveal a basement.







One of the alien immediately tries to jump in but is left hanging mid air as what looks like a spear hits him in his stomach. The spear fails to pierce his suit and his body, but the stick breaks and the alien falls below. But before he could hit the bottom a couple of loud yells rock the surroundings as two big bulky men rush out carrying the alien on their raised hands and toss him away. But before the two men can even turn around and have a look at anything else, two laser shots blow big holes into their bodies.







As the two lifeless bodies fall to the ground with a heavy thud, loud wails and shrieks of women and children fill up the air. The aliens look at each other and are about to rush into the basement to massacre everyone when a manhole lid is tossed away on the far side of the street. Before any of the aliens could realize what is happening a soldier’s head rises above the manhole. His M16 roars as he empties his magazine. The aliens however are not even scratched as their body suits protect them. One of the alien instantly fires a laser shot at the soldier but the soldier ducks well in time and escapes. The aliens stare at the hole while the women and children in the basement have quietened down due to all the noise of firing outside.







One of the alien slowly walks up towards the manhole when another manhole at the other end of the street is opened up and another soldier empties his gun at the aliens. This soldier too escapes the return fire of the aliens. This enrages the aliens who divide into two groups and charge at the two manhole openings, two at one and three at the other. We hear some more firing sounds and realize the other alien parties have been engaged as well. The alien group that we are following, they meanwhile jump into the two sewerage openings. We follow them inside hatefully, covering our noses and missing masks.







The aliens use one of the control devices they are carrying and a small but powerful light emerges out of the top of their helmets. The light is so powerful it literally lights up a new day inside the sewerage pipes. The rodent population inside is shocked and scared as the rodents run helter skelter. Some of them try to bite the intruders who however are not perturbed by their presence or activity. We meanwhile are thankful that we are just voyeurs and can’t be spotted.







We suddenly hear a loud firing noise, made worse by the confined space that we are in. The firing subsides and the three aliens we were standing next to look at each other and then rush towards the end the sound came from. We follow them as they rush to the spot only to find their two companions floating in the sewerage water lifeless. They immediately become cautious and one of them slowly and slowly moves further towards the floating dead bodies. He notices a wooden block at the other end. He motions his companions to stay still. Suddenly the block splits in the middle to reveal the barrel of an anti aircraft gun. The alien takes a quick shot but his laser fails to affect the thick wooden block. The anti aircraft gun roars again, a lifeless alien body falls into the water, right next to his dead team mates. The two other aliens look at each other and run away from the spot, heading towards the opening they had entered from. But before they can reach the opening a moving wooden block appears from the other end. Again the block splits in the middle and an antiaircraft gun pops its’ head out to take the heads of the aliens off. The alien team has been completely neutralized. We hear a voice calling on the radio, “One team taken out!” We smile and quickly make our way out of the smelling interiors.







Meanwhile the women and children from the basement have come out and are sitting by the side of their dead men, crying inconsolably. We rise up in the sky once again, this time with heavy hearts, to see if all the alien teams have been taken down. We notice a few alien teams still running through the streets of the metropolis. One of them we notice is heading towards where Corbett and Mishiida are located with NASA team.







We immediately rush to the side of Corbett and others.







“One alien team is heading towards NASA team’s location! We failed to intercept it!” a voice is heard on Corbett’s radio.







“I’ll take care of them,” Corbett picks up the radio and says.







He immediately gets up and pulls out the alien weapon. Mishiida notices this and gets up immediately.







“You stay here with them!” Corbett gestures to Mishiida to sit down. He points at his eyes and then at the team and says, “Watch out for them.” He repeats what he has said and Mishiida sits down. We are not sure if she has understood completely what Corbett meant but we follow Corbett who sneaks out of the basement.







Corbett carefully looks around before he climbs up a pile to have a better look. He notices the five aliens checking through one street. They spot one basement and heartlessly massacre everybody inside. Corbett stays unmoved. The aliens move over to another street and find another basement and another massacre follows. Corbett still stays unmoved. The aliens turn into another street and look for another basement. This time Corbett gets up and runs to a street and positions himself in the middle of the street, weapon held aloft firmly with both hands and pointing straight ahead, his eye fixed along the target sighting line, his legs stretched front and back, with front leg slightly bent and hind leg slightly knelt, his body weight balanced on both feet. He seems to have discovered their search pattern and is expecting the aliens around the corner he is aiming at.







True to his expectations the aliens rush into the street Corbett is waiting on. Before they can even balance themselves on their feet Corbett fires five shots, with each shot sliding him backwards and backwards. He takes out four aliens while one of them escapes.







“Great! Now it’s either me or him,” Corbett quips and gets up on his feet and rushes up a pile. He looks around but fails to spot the fleeing alien. He rushes to the other side of the pile and climbs up another pile on the other side but fails to spot the alien again. He rushes down the pile and is about to run atop another one when a brick comes thick and flying and hits him in his leg. Corbett falls face down on the ground and looses his weapon. He is hurt as well but overcoming his pain he gets up and tries to limp towards his weapon when the alien walks around and in front of him. Corbett stops and looks at the alien. The alien takes off his helmet and smiles wickedly. He raises his weapon to Corbett’s head but something behind Corbett catches his eyes and his face expression changes instantly. His hands start trembling as his helmet and weapon falls of his hands. Both Corbett and us, turn around to see what struck his eyes.







We see Mishiida standing behind us, her weapon free hands on her waist, her legs stretched out. She is glaring hard and straight into the alien’s eyes. The alien collapses on his knees and folds his hands. He says something which sounds like pleading. Mishiida walks up to him and says something. He nods and picks up his helmet and weapon and hands it over to Mishiida. Mishiida says something again and he pleads. Mishiida’s eyes constrict as her tone gets harsher. The alien pleads harder and gets up. He opens his belt buckle and turns around. It sounds like he is pressing some buttons and before we realize, his clothes fall of his body. He bends over and removes his boots from his feet and gets up, still standing face away.







Mishiida walks up behind him, turns the knob on the weapon towards what we know is the less destructive side, and shoots the alien in his head. The alien falls down on the ground motionless. Mishiida looks at Corbett, points at the alien lying on the ground and motions with her hand to lift him up. Corbett immediately pulls out his radio and says, “Gamma calling Alpha! We have captured an alien.” Corbett relays the information to Jerome who instructs him to wait until a team of men arrives and takes the alien into captivity. It doesn’t take long for the team to arrive. They handcuff and foot-cuff the alien with strong chains and take him away.







Mishiida takes the alien’s clothes and shoes and motions to Corbett that she needs to put them on.







“I’ll ask Doctor Dawg to help you with the clothes you are wearing,” Corbett understands her request and replies pointing in the direction of their hiding spot. Mishiida and Corbett then return to their hiding spot.







“Dr Dawg, could you please help Mishiida change her clothes,” Corbett asks Dr Dawg on returning.







“With pleasure,” Dr Dawg replies with a wicked smile, “Here come with me.”







Dr Dawg takes Mishiida into another room to help her change. After a fair while Mishiida finally emerges from the room, her face slightly red but her alien clothes on. Dr Dawg follows her out. Mishiida glares suspiciously at her but Dr Dawg smiles. Mishiida suddenly realizes something and rushes inside. She brings out the clothes she was wearing and walks up to Corbett. She points at the clothes and then points at her self nodding, as if saying, “I want to keep these too!”







“You can keep these,” Corbett nods his head and takes the clothes from Mishiida’s hands and folds them properly. “Have you got a bag over her?” Corbett asks the others.







“Yes we do,” Dr Rathe says and walks up to a drawer and pulls out a bag from it.







Corbett packs the clothes in the bag and hands it to Mishiida. Mishiida takes the bag from Corbett and bows thankfully.







Mishiida then opens the belt buckle and punches some buttons inside it. Her boots immediately grow long heels, just like the ones’ we noticed in her original attire. And she modifies her top into a noodle strap, short top. She picks up the helmet lying on the table and folds it into a waist band. She finally smiles at everybody else who is watching all this with awe, their lower jaws sweeping the table in front of them.







Suddenly a message beeps on Corbett’s radio.







“One alien has escaped into the army cantonment. I repeat, one alien has escaped into the army cantonment.”







“But that’s where Hayley and Alexander are,” Corbett gets worried instantly and gets up on his feet.







Mishiida hears Alexander’s name and sees Corbett worried. She gets up as well and walks up to Corbett. She shakes him impatiently as if asking, “What happened?”




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