Countdown Episode 3: Ranger’s Calling part 2 by Greg Smith All Road Rover names, characters, and situations (c) Warner Brothers and rightful owners. Buran, Petrovski, Shalimov, Vissarion, Cynthia, Pushkin, Slash, Ranger, Scarlet and anything at all related to Red Thunder (c) Greg Smith Red Thunder cano-sapien training base, Middle Island, Ontario, Canada, June 13, 2:15 PM Ranger has been placed in a detention area with many other cano-sapiens and a few humans. They are all restrained in separate cages. The cages have both laser bars and another set of bars made out of a strange kind of metal. Two guards come in the room armed with a strange looking guns which have green tanks attached to them Guard: Prisoner number 403, Room 202. One of the guards presses a button, deactivating the laser bars on 403’s cell and the metal bars slide into the floor. The other one fires his weapon at the cano-sapien prisoner, he is immobilzed in a case of fast-hardening, sticky goo. Prisoner 403: Please, please don’t take me to Room 202! Anything but that! Anything! Guard (calmly): Room 202. The guards drag the immobilized prisoner out of the room as he screams in horror. After they have gone, Ranger talks to the prisoner in the cell next to him. Ranger: What was that all about? Prisoner: Room 202 is where they take you for manufacture. Ranger: But what does that mean? They’re always threatening to send you to manufacture. Prisoner: It’s the place where you go and no one ever sees you again. Ranger: What do you think happens when they take you there? Prisoner: Well, a lot of people in here think they use your body to manufacture some kind of weapon. Ranger: That’s horrifying! Prisoner: That’s why everyone is so afraid of Room 202. Ranger: Why are you in here? Prisoner: After they captured me from off the streets and sent me through the Transdogmafier, they found out it didn’t give me any super powers. I also wasn’t as strong as the others they took. So instead of indoctrinating me like they did to the others, they sent me here. At least I may have been spared a long life of mindless combat. What about you, why did they bring you in? Ranger: I started to remember my real life from before they took me. Prisoner: Oh. Ranger: Where’s Scarlet? Prisoner: Who? Ranger: Scarlet, a red Irish setter. Did they bring her here? Prisoner: Oh, her. They took her to Room 202 just a few minutes before you came in. Ranger: Oh no! I’ve got to find some way to save her. Prisoner: But how? I don’t think these bars are going anywhere. And even if you could get out of this room, the guards would be all over you in a very short time. Ranger: But I have to. She’s my friend. Prisoner: Really? I thought Red Thunder didn’t allow unauthorized romantic relationships. Ranger: We’re not romantic or anything, we’re just friends. Really good friends, though. Prisoner: I’m very sorry for your friend, but there’s no way. Ranger: We’ll see about that. Prisoner: You can try if you want to. I won’t stop you. Ranger: What about all the non-human officers? They seem to know all about what’s going on, but weren’t they captured just like us? Prisoner: I don’t think so. I think they were selected from situations that would make them extremely loyal to Red Thunder’s cause. Just then, an alarm sounds off. Computer Voice: Intruder alert! Intruder alert! Hostile units detected. All units prepare for combat. Corridor inside base entrance. The Rovers are moving down the corridor when the alarm goes off. Colleen: Sounds like we’re going to have some company real soon. Hunter: Bummer! Base control room The commander is looking at the viewscreen which shows a security camera view of the Rovers walking down the corridor. Tech: Commander, we’ve lost unit one and units four and seven have suffered heavy casualties! The base entrance has been breached! Commander: Begin emergency security procedures, now! Tech: Yes, sir. Corridor The security cameras slide into the ceiling. Hunter: Cool! we won’t have to worry about the cameras! Just then, dual chaingun turrets slide down where the cameras were. Hunter: I would not have predicted this! The turrets try to fire at Hunter but he runs out of the way really fast. The guns keep trying to lock in on him but they are not fast enough. All the Rovers run through a door into a side room. The door closes as a flurry of bullets hit it. The rovers are now in a locker room. Blitz: Whew! That was close! Just then, a small door in wall slides open and a turret pops out. Hunter: Yet another unexpected twist. Bummer! They all run to hide under and behind the benches as the turret opens fire. Blitz shrieks. Exile freezes it before it can get a good lock. He goes up to the gun and hits it. It shatters into pieces along with the ice it is encased in. Exile: It’s my Siberian deep freeze! Works every time! Blitz: What are we going to do now? we can’t get past those nasty guns out there! Hunter: Rovers, I have a plan. If we can get to the places where the cameras are controlled from, we might be able to disrupt the signals so that the camera freezes and constantly transmits the same picture. We can get out through that ventilation duct. The uniforms should keep them less suspicious of us. Hunter points to the entrance to a ventilation duct near the ceiling. Blitz: And how are we going to get up there? Hunter: I’m glad you asked. A few seconds later. The Rovers are all standing on each other’s shoulders. They are now in Red Thunder standard armor. Shag is on the bottom, with Exile on top of him, then Blitz, Hunter, and Colleen on the top. Colleen removes the screen from the vent, drops it, and climbs in. Hunter follows but none of the others can now reach it. Hunter sticks his head back out of the vent. Hunter: Sit tight guys. We’ll be back for you when we’ve taken out the security system. Blitz: But they saw us come in here. What are we going to do when they come in after us. Hunter points at Muzzle. Hunter: You know what to do. Exile: But Comrade Hunter, that’s barbaric! Shag: Rheah! Hunter: I know, but we have don’t have any other choice. Hunter and Colleen continue down the vent and come to a junction of vents. In the bottom of this junction is another screen. Two guards can be seen below. They are guarding a door labelled: SECTOR 7 SECURITY CONTROL in Russian. Guard 1: What do you think’s going on? Guard 2: I don’t know. Maybe its just another drill. Guard 1: We haven’t had a drill in a long time. Guard 2: Yeah. My memory’s acting up on me again. Guard 1: You should probably go see the doctor about that. A lot of canoes that were really abused before coming here have memory problems like that. The medical staff can usually help ... Hunter (whispering): Colleen , do you have your gas bones ready? Colleen (whispering): Ready. But what about the cameras in the hall? Hunter: I can use the new RR signal jammer that the Professor Hubert made to temporarily jam the signals that they are transmitting. If only I had access to their wiring. Colleen notices a panel in the wall of the vent next to her. She pulls it open to find three wires labelled Camera 7S1, Camera 7S2, and Camera 7S3. Colleen: As you were saying ... Hunter: Cool, it’s a maintenance tunnel too. Hunter takes out a small device the size of a pen with a model of a dog’s head on it. He puts the pen next to the wiring and a small electrical spark goes between them. Control Room Tech: Comrade Commander, three cameras in Sector 7 have been disabled. Three of the camera view screens show only static. Commander: What!? Where are the Rovers? Another Tech: They were last spotted entering the Sector 12 locker room close to the entrance. Camera feed was lost shortly afterwards. Commander: Get a security team there now! and try to contact Sector 7 security. Tech 2: Yes, comrade, sir. The Ventilation duct above the security station. Colleen and Hunter put on Rover gas masks. They don’t have all the bulkiness of other gas masks because they are higher tech. They are also fitted for canine faces. Colleen knocks the screen out and drops two gas bones to the floor. Guard 1: What the ... The bones go off, spreading a large cloud of gas, causing the guards to fall down, unconscious. Hunter and Colleen jump down through the hole onto the floor. They try to enter the security room. There is a screen and a small microphone. Computer Voice: Password required. Hunter: Open Sesame? Computer Voice: Password incorrect. Have a nice day. Hunter: We need to find that password. Colleen: I’ve got an idea, Huntie. She searches in the second guard’s ( the forgetful one) pocket and finds a piece of paper. Colleen: There we are. The password is (she starts to read it) Blimey! Hunter talks into the microphone. Hunter: Blimey. Computer Voice: Password incorrect. Have a nice day. Colleen: No, no, no. That’s not it. Look at the bloomin’ thing! She shows it to Hunter. It is written in the Cyrillic alphabet that Russian uses. Hunter: Bummer! We need to get in there before they get those cameras up again or activate more turrets. Colleen: Maybe you should call Exile. Hunter: Good idea. Hunter takes out a special RR comlink. It scrambles the message so it just sounds like radio static to anything but another RR comlink which can decode it. Hunter: Exile, come in. Exile: I’m here, comrade. Here and prepared to go undulate. Hunter: Uh, I think you mean ready to roll. Exile: Whateverski. What you need comrade? Hunter: Well, we found a password to this door written down but we don’t know how to say it. Exile: Trouble it is no, comrade. Just spell it for me and I’ll tell you how to say it. Hunter: Umm, I don’t think that will work very well either. Exile: Just try, comrade. Hunter: Well there’s this “b” only it has a little thing on the top. Then an “o” Then there’s a tiny “b”, a “w” that is square on the bottom, another “o”, and a backwards capital “N” with a little thing over the top. Does that help? Exile: Well, let me see, so it’s a “b” with a thing ... Hunter: Hurry up, we don’t have much time left before they get the cameras back online! Exile: I’m trying comrade, stop Russian me! Bolshoi! Computer Voice: Password accepted. Have a nice day. Hunter: Thanks Exile! You did it! We’re on our way. Exile: And I haven’t even figured out what he was trying to get me to spell yet! The door slides open, revealing security personnel inside. Guard 3: I just can’t seem to find out what’s wrong with those cameras and communications. Its like someone ripped the wires out! Guard 4: It must be another computer glitch. We should ... He turns toward the door and sees the Rovers. Guard 4: Hey! You’re not authorized in this location! Hunter takes his tennis ball launcher and aims it at them. Guard 4: What’s wrong with you? Are you out of your mind!? Hunter fires the launcher which releases gas and knocks them out. They pull the two guards in the corridor inside just as the doors close and the cameras come back online. A voice comes over the speakers from one of the consoles. Voice: Control to Security 7, come in Security 7. Hunter: Security 7 here. Voice: What’s going on up there? Hunter: Well, umm, we’ve been, uhh, having a few electrical difficulties. Voice: I don’t recognize your voice. What’s your serial number? Hunter: Uhh, seven? Voice: I’m sending a team to help. Hunter: Oh no, that’s not necessary at all, we’ve got everything under control down here. Hunter turns a switch on a console which deactivates the cameras and turrets. He then sabotages the controls so they can’t be changed. Colleen: Huntie, Look there. She points to a console on the other side of the room. It is labelled: Library Computer Datalink. Hunter: Do you think you can get anything out of it? Colleen: Let’s see. She takes out her compact laptop and unfolds it. She takes a cable and attaches it to a port on her laptop, and to a port on the console. With a few keystrokes she is downloading information at a very high speed. She has downloaded a large portion of data from the console. All of a sudden the power goes out to the consoles. She folds the computer back up and puts it away. They go to the door but it refuses to open. Computer Voice: Door sealed by order of Central Control. Have a nice day. Colleen: How will we get out of this one, luv? Hunter remembers that they are still wearing Red Thunder armor. Hunter: I have an idea. Control Room. All of the camera monitor screens now have a plain blue screen. Tech: Sir, we’ve lost camera feed! Commander: Damn those Rovers! Have a squad hurry to Security 7 immediately! Tech: Yes, sir. Comm. Personnel: Comrade Commander, Shadow 223 is approaching from the east, requesting permission to deliver the package. Commander: Inform them that we have a bit of a situation down here and tell them to stand by. Tech: Yes, sir. Red Thunder locker room. Exile’s comlink beeps. Exile: Da, Exile here. Hunter (over comlink): Exile, we’ve deactivated the security system. I think you can get out of there safely now. Exile: Da, comrade. Exile puts his comlink away just as the noise of running soldiers on the metal floor can be heard on the other side of the door. Blitz: Oh no! What are we going to do now?! Exile: Only one thing is left. Blitz: It’s horrible. We can’t do it. Exile: It is our only choice, comrade. Muzzle hops over to Shag and Exile and they take position facing the door that is about to open. The door opens and a squad of Red Thunder cano-sapiens rushes in. Soldier: Surrender, Rovers! You have no hope of getting out of here! Blitz: Shall I say it? Exile: Go ahead. Shag: Ra rah. Shag and Exile pull the straps off Muzzle. Blitz: Muzzle em! Muzzle leaps with a foaming mouth from his straight jacket at the soldiers. Their faces show pure terror. Next we cannot see what happens, we only see Exile, Shag, and Blitz We hear the sounds of gruesome destruction and see a random object fly back every once in a while. Exile: Ugh! This is worse than Stalin’s gulags! Blitz watches something Muzzle does, then turns away in disgust. Blitz: Ach! How unbearable to watch! Shag covers his eyes. Shag: Rah, ra ra! Detention Area With the deactivation of the security system, the laser bars have deactivated and the metal ones have slid back. All the prisoners have run out of their cells. Ranger: What’s going on?! Prisoner: I don’t know. Ranger: Let’s get out of here! Ranger and the other prisoners run out into the corridor. The main lights are off in the corridor. It is mostly dark, except for a few auxiliary lights and a flashing red emergency light. An alarm sounds every time the red light flashes. A squad of Red Thunder troops rushes down the corridor and stops. They aim their weapons at the prisoners. Squad Leader: Stand where you are! Make any movements and we’ll open fire! The prisoners all stop in their tracks and put their hands up. One of them, an obviously disturbed individual, breaks out into a fit of hysteria. The soldiers all open fire, killing most of the prisoners. Ranger jumps out of the way and runs down the corridor. The soldiers, in hot pursuit, shoot any prisoner they come across in the corridor. Ranger reaches the elevator at the end of the corridor the door opens and shuts. He frantically pushes the buttons, but they do nothing. The squad reaches the door and the door opens, revealing an empty elevator car. Squad Leader: Wait a minute here! This isn’t right. He just came in here! Soldier: Yeah. I saw it. Squad Leader: We should report to the nearest station. Ranger is on top of the elevator car and can hear them talking inside. He can’t quite make out what they are saying though. The elevator begins to move up. It stops at one of the doors and the squad members get out. Ranger is still in the elevator shaft. He tries to open the top door to get back in the elevator car, but it has been sealed tight. He looks up. On the next story up, there is another door. He uses his super jump (which makes a “whoosh” sound) to get up to it. He notices an override button next to the door, and pushes it. The door opens and he walks out. Security Station 7 The door opens and a squad of Red Thunder troopers storms in. Squad Leader: Alight you scum, surrender or die! Colleen looks at the Leader with an expression of joy on her face. Colleen: Oh, I’m so abso-bloomin-lutely glad you came, they knocked out our comrades with gas bombs. Hunter: Yeah, and they sabotaged the cameras and escaped through the ventilation shafts. Squad Leader: Hey wait a minute. Let me see your IDs. Hunter and Colleen fumble around in the pockets of their suits and find ID cards. They show them to the Squad Leader. Squad Leader: Hmm. Carry on with your duties, comrades Juarez and Krueger. He hands them back their cards and takes his squad out of the station. Colleen: That was close! Hunter: Yeah. Too close. Hunter takes out his comlink and turns it on. Hunter: Exile, how are things going up there. Exile: Oh, baddest guys are all taken care of real nice by Comrade Muzzle. Hunter: I see. Now that the security system is down, we should meet back up. Colleen, take a look at the schematic of the base we downloaded and find a spot in between where we can meet. Colleen takes out and unfolds her laptop. She activates the screen, showing a base schematic. She points to a location and shows it to Hunter. Colleen: Here’ll do nicely, luv. Hunter: Good. Exile, you guys meet us at Sector 9B. Exile: Dokie okie. Control room Comm Personnel: Shadow 223 is signalling again, sir. Commander: Put them on screen. Comm Personnel: Yes sir. The Image of the Shadow pilot, a beagle cano-sapien, appears on the main screen. Pilot: Commander, we need to land soon or we won’t have enough fuel to make it back to HQ. Commander: I’m afraid we have a bit of a crisis on our hands right now. Pilot: If you don’t mind my asking, what’s going on down there? Commander: Don’t ask questions, do as you’re told! Pilot: Yes, sir. Commander: Norcom 1 out. The image of the pilot disappears and is replaced on the screen by a security map of the base, which shows little detail now that the security system has been deactivated. Officer: Commander, we’ve just heard some disturbing news. There has been a riot in the detention area. Most of the prisoners have been killed. There is one, however, that has managed to elude the security detachment. Commander: What’s his number? The officer looks at his PDA for a moment and responds. Officer: V-44890. Commander: Aha! That foolish mutt from yesterday. Can we track him with his guardian chip? Officer: Without our working sensors and other security equipment, no. The Shadow’s sensors might be able to track him down though. Commander: Hmm. Perhaps we should begin the operation now. Officer: But commander, we have our orders from HQ. We are not to begin as of yet. Commander: Dare you question my decisions, comrade?! Officer: No sir! Commander: Good. Communications, contact Shadow 223 and have them land. Tell their security forces to be ready. I want a heavily armed escort to the Shadow. Signal the order to abandon the base. Operations, Activate the auto-destruct sequence. Comm, Tech: Yes sir. Computer voice: Auto destruct code and voice print required. Commander: Code two, five, seven, nine. Trotsky, Marx, Trotsky. Computer voice: Auto destruct code and voice print approved. This facility will self-destruct in fifteen minutes. Have a nice day. Sector 9B The Rovers have just reassembled. Hunter: Okay Rovers, this doesn’t look good. What we have to do is ... The base alarm sounds off. Computer Voice: Attention, all personnel. This facility will self destruct in fourteen minutes and thirty-seven seconds. Please proceed in an orderly fashion to the nearest evacuation point and await extraction. If ordered to do otherwise, please follow the orders of your superior. Thank you and have a nice day. Red lights begin to flash. Hunter: ... Uhh, get out of here! The Rovers all begin to run toward the base entrance. As they come across a junction in the corridors, Ranger cuts across their paths. He runs into Shag, causing them both to fall over. The others stop and turn back. Hunter: Whoa! Ranger: Aagh! Shag: Rahrah! They both get up. Hunter: Who are you? Ranger: My name is Ranger, I’m an escaped prisoner here. Hunter: Why? Can you tell us what’s going on here? Ranger: Well, there’s a... Exile: This is allski much fascinating, but should we be really trying to get out of here!? Computer Voice: Warning. This facility will self destruct in twelve minutes and thirteen seconds. Have a nice day. Hunter: Good observation. Run!! Ranger and the Rovers start running. Ranger:(panting) Wait! Have you seen Room 202? Blitz: Nein. Colleen: What’s in Room 202? Ranger: Its some kind of manufacturing department. That’s where they took a friend of mine. I’ve got to rescue her! Blitz: But how? We don’t have time. We need to get out of here. Ranger: I can’t just leave her here. Hunter: If they need her, they’ll probably evacuate her from the base with the rest of the soldiers. Ranger: I don’t know. You don’t know what kind of people you’re dealing with here. They come to the entrance that they came in through. As they exit the facility, they notice several soldiers have exited the base through other points and are assembling on the Island. The ground in many places pulls back and helipads with what appear to be former Soviet Hind helicopters rise from the holes. A heavily armored squad comes out of one of the other entry points, escorting the base commander. One of his aides is carrying a box with holes in the side. Blitz: Oh no! What will we do now!? Hunter: We’re still wearing their uniforms, guys. Shag, give me your handcuffs. Shag reaches in his fur, pulls out a pair of handcuffs, and gives them to Hunter. Hunter handcuffs Ranger who pretends to be a prisoner. Hunter: Muzzle, you’d better hop back to our boats and wait. Muzzle hops off discreetly. Commander: Seal off the base entrances. Some Red Thunder personnel punch in codes to the keypads on the doors. The doors shut, and three more thick steel doors shut over them. Commander: That should keep most of the destruction contained, and take care of the Rovers. The Shadow transport appears over the base as its VTOL engines light up and it descends. Hunter pulls out the photographs given to him earlier by Rawlings. He looks at the blurry one of the black triangular aircraft and notices the similarities. Hunter: Cool special effects! Exile: This explains muchski. The Shadow lands and its rear loading door opens, a squad of security personnel comes out of the aircraft, escorting the pilot of the craft. Commander: Welcome to Norcom 1, Major. Well, at least what was Norcom 1. Pilot: Thank you, sir. Men, bring out the package. Soldier: Yes, sir. The soldier goes into the aircraft, where he and his comrades roll out a strange device. It is a clear container about 2 meters high with explosive devices attached to it. It has what looks like a timer on it and is full of a green liquid. Pilot: What are your orders, sir? Commander: Drop it off on the top of the memorial (points to the granite tower in the distance, which is across the US/Canada border of the lake). Take me and my guards there as well. Pilot: Yes, sir. Colleen: (whispering) I don’t know what that thing is, but it looks bad. Exile: (whispering) We must stop whateverski evil plans they have. Hunter: Agreed. Commander: Comrade, what is your evaluation of the efficiency of the evacuation of Norcom 1. Pilot: According to a scan of the guardian chips, in the allotted time, we have been able to evacuate most of the personnel, leaving only five operatives out of 432 trapped inside. An excellent rating for a speed evacuation. Commander: Thank you, Comrade. Voice from inside Shadow: Sir, we’ve detected a slight discrepancy with our bio scanners. Pilot turns around. Pilot: What?! Voice: The bio scanner shows all personnel present and accounted for. Commander: What?! That’s not right! Hmm, compare your readings so that we can see if there is anyone here without guardian chips. Pilot: Yes sir. (Turns to face the inside of the aircraft) Do it. Voice: Yes, sir. The commander and pilot enter the aircraft and the soldiers wheel the device back in. Hunter: Uhh, I think its time we made a discreet exit. They get ready to try to go off to their boats when the commander suddenly jumps back out of the shadow. Commander: (pointing at the Rovers) There they are! Get them! Now! Exile fires a laser beam from his eyes at Ranger’s handcuffs, breaking them. They all run toward the boats while Hunter faces the Red Thunder soldiers. Hunter: Bwah hah! You can’t catch me! He runs really fast in another direction, leaving a trail of fire behind him. The soldiers pursue him instead of the others. Hunter leads them to the other side of the island, and then runs back to the boat leaving them far behind. The ground begins to shake momentarily, causing a rumbling noise and making the pursuing soldiers disoriented. The Rovers have gotten into the Hydro Rover and the Hover Rover and are headed back toward Put-in-Bay. The Shadow transport can be seen taking off and is headed for the momument at Put-in-Bay. Colleen: Blimey! They’re going toward that tall building. Hunter: Whatever they’re up to, we’ve got to stop them. Back on Middle Island. Pieces of what appears to be the shore begin to raise, revealing hidden boat catapults. The catapults shoot speedboats out which land on the water and begin pursuit. Also, three Hinds take off and pursue the Rovers as well. Colleen turns around and looks behind her. Colleen: Uhh, Huntie. Hunter: Yeah? Colleen: It looks like we’re in a bit of a sticky wicket. Hunter turns around and notices the three Hinds approaching. Shag, Exile, Blitz, Muzzle, and Ranger in the Hover Rover have noticed the Hinds as well. Exile: Ohski noski! Hinds! Blitz gets on his knees and starts crying. Blitz: Wahh! Oh no! Please no! Wah ha haaa! Not even a tooshie to bite before I die! Aahh wah haaa! Exile: Don’t be a weird boy! The Hinds launch missiles at the Rover vehicles. Blitz shrieks. Exile presses a button on the controls and launcher deploys from the back of the vehicle which shoots out pieces of metal. Hunter activates a similar device in the Hydro Rover. The missiles get confused and follow the metal pieces, hitting the water instead of their targets. Ranger: Sweet! Hydro Rover Hunter: Ha! Is that the best they can do!? The Hinds open fire with lasers from where their chainguns should be. The Rovers maneuver their vehicles to avoid being hit. Hover Rover Exile: Looks like they made some modificaskies. Ranger: Uhh ... Yeah, whatever. Shadow 223 The Shadow has just engaged VTOL engines over the Monument’s observation deck and opened it’s rear loading door, which forms a ramp to the deck. Red Thunder troops storm out to the amazement of several tourists. The commander then steps out of the Shadow and is followed by techs wheeling the bomblike device and the aide with the box with the holes in it. The soldiers quickly huddle all the tourists into a corner of the observation deck. Commander: Destroy the elevator and mine the stairs! Some soldiers go into the central chamber and fire at the mechanisms of the elevator shaft, rendering it inoperable. The also throw grenades into the emergency stairway which land several landings down, but do not explode. Commander: Set the device up here (pointing to an area in the doorway to the central chamber). It should both destroy the tower from here and spread the agent over a wide radius of both countries. Soldier: Yes sir. The Shadow flies off and cloaks. Back in the water. The Rover vehicles are still trying to outmaneuver the hinds. Exile: Shag, useski anti-aircraft laser thing. Shag: Rahrah. Shag takes the anti-aircraft laser-bazooka out from his fur and tries to point it at the Hinds. It is, however, pointed backwards, at Blitz’s head. Blitz shrieks and ducks just before Shag fires the weapon. Ranger takes the laser from Shag. Ranger: No!! You turn it this way! Ranger turns it the weapon the correct way and fires a few shots at the Hinds. He hits one in the tail rotor and it spins as it falls and hits the water. Hydro Rover The pursuing Hind fires another laser blast which barely misses the Hydro Rover. Colleen: Cutting it a little close there! The hind sweeps in low for a strafing run with its lasers. Exile turns around in the Hover Rover and fires his freeze beams at the rotors. The rotors freeze, causing the craft to fall and crash into the water. The other Hind veers off, apparently giving up the pusuit. Colleen: Well, at least we won’t have to worry about that anymore. There is the sound of bullets whizzing overhead. They turn around to see black speedboats pusuing them. The speedboats have chainguns mounted on each side of them and have two crew members seated side by side. The Rovers return fire with their laser pistols. One of the crew members in the forward boat stands up. He is holding what appears to be an RPG (Rocket Propelled Grenade) launcher. He fires the RPG launcher at the Hydro Rover. Hunter makes a quick maneuver and the RPG misses the Hydro Rover and hits one of the border buoys. The boats continue on, coming closer to Put-in-Bay. As they enter the harbor, they speed around many of the boats docked there or maneuvering in the harbor, exchanging fire with no hits on either side. The Red Thunder soldier stands up with his RPG launcher again. He fires it, but instead of hitting the Rovers, it hits a nearby ferry boat which explodes. Blitz: Ack! That was ugly! The Hydro Rover leads one of the speedboats on a difficult maneuver around some boats and docks. The speedboat driver can’t match the maneuvers and collides with one of the docks resulting in a big explosion. On the Hover Rover, Shag takes out his rocket launcher. He aims it at one of the speedboats but it is pointed the wrong way. He fires, causing a dock up ahead to collapse, making a sort of a ramp. The Hover rover can glide and goes over part of the obstruction as it turns, but the speedboat hits it and is knocked into the air. The speedboat hits the undestroyed portion of the dock and slides along it to the shore, making a screeching sound and sparks before it blows up. The Rovers dock their vehicles and come ashore. Many people have run in fear or are hiding. Many people along the waterfront are running in fear. Hunter points to the top of the nearby tall monument. Hunter: That’s where they went. We’ve go to go there and stop them from whatever it is they are planning to do. The Rovers run toward the tower and come to the large plaza at its base, passing the sign which says “Perry’s Victory and International Peace Memorial.” They look up at the square observation deck at the top. Hunter: Lets Roll! They enter the tower through the door at its base. They try the elevator. Ranger: Dammit! Its jammed! Colleen: Lets try the emergency stairs. She points to the flights of emergency stairs that go up and down beside the elevator shaft. They get on the stairs and start going up. They have nearly reached the top when Ranger stops them. Ranger: Stop! They all stop. Exile: Why for we stopski? Ranger: See that device on the stairsteps above us? That’s a motion sensor grenade. If we get anywhere near it, it will blow us to pieces. Hunter: How can we get by it. Ranger: I’m a super jumper, I think I can jump over where it is without it blowing up. Hunter: Try it. Ranger continues up the stairs until he gets to the length of stairs with the grenade on it. He jumps over the flight of stairs, landing on the landing just above the grenade, and continues on up. When he reaches the top, he notices the device in the doorway of the central chamber. He runs toward it, only to find himself stopped by a guard. Guard: Halt! Ranger grabs the guard’s arms and, in the struggle, forces the gun from them. He knocks the guard out with a severe blow to the head, takes the guard’s gun and a sticky goo grenade that the guard was carrying. He goes around the strange device to the side facing the observation deck. He notices a keypad with some buttons and a screen showing a countdown. The countdown has four minutes left before it expires. Ranger starts messing with the keypad, trying to defuse the device. Commander: I’d step away from that if I were you! Ranger turns around to see the commander and points his gun at him. The commander is standing at the edge of the observation deck and is holding the box with holes in it over the edge. Commander: There’s something in here you want Ranger. Something you care about very much. he turns the box until the front faces Ranger. The front is a cage, the bars of which Ranger can see Scarlet through in canine form. Scarlet looks through the cage door and whimpers. Commander: If you make any move I don’t like, I’ll just let go. Ranger: You put her down, right now! Commander: Ohh, you wouldn’t want me to do that. The commander grins evilly. Ranger: Why are you doing this!? Commander: Oh, I think you would know, just as any soldier for the revolution would, that we must strike a great blow to our enemies. Ranger: What the h@%# are you talking about!? The countdown is still going. Now three minutes until it terminates. Commander: Why, the device behind you is the key to everything we have been doing here. It is the culmination of years of research and work. We planned to do this slowly and to evacuate all of our personnel, but the arrival of your new friends has forced us to act more quickly. We will not be able to evacuate anyone, not even me. We will all be dead in a few short minutes. Ranger: But why!? Commander: I am prepared to make the supreme sacrifice for the cause of the revolution. After all of your training, I would think you would understand the necessity of such things. Ranger: What is this thing?! Commander: That? That, quite simply, is a bomb. It is a very special bomb. It is only fitting, that this building, which symbolizes the peace between the decadent, disgusting nations of Canada and the United States, will be the instrument of their destruction. When the bomb explodes, it will send a cloud of death such as the world has never seen over significant portions of both countries. Then, the world will recognize the power of Red Thunder, and the world’s most powerful nation will be at our knees! Ranger: This is crazy! These people have done nothing to deserve this! Commander: They are the enemy! You have been taught this and you know it. Ranger: No, I don’t know it. All I know is that you plan to kill millions. Commander: You can’t stop me, so why even bother. Ranger: You put her down ... NOW!! Commander: If you insist. He lets go, allowing Scarlet to fall. Ranger: NOOOO! Colleen files up with a jetpack, carrying Scarlet’s box. Colleen: Now that was not a very nice thing to do! The other Rovers shoot up on jetpacks too. They point their weapons at him. Hunter: You’re through! Commander: I don’t think so. You’re through. In fact, we all are through. In but a moment’s time, we will all be dead. Hunter: Ranger, What is that thing? Ranger: Its a bomb. I’m told its powerful enough to destroy significant portions of the US and Canada. The commander motions to a corner of the observation deck, where a few Red Thunder soldiers are holding a group of tourists hostage. Commander: If you try to do anything to stop the countdown, you will have to watch them die! Ranger quickly throws the sticky goo grenade he got from the guard into the middle of the hostages. The grenade explodes and the hostages and soldiers are all immobilized by the sticky goo. With all his options exhausted, the commander drops his gun. and puts his hands up. Commander: You’ve still lost. There’s no way you can stop the countdown. Ranger pulls a panel off part of the device, revealing some complex machinery and wires. Commander: If you cut the wrong wire, you’ll only set off the bomb! Ranger stares at the wires, there are so many of them. He can’t decide which one is the correct one. The timer is still counting down now with less than a minute to go. He reaches in and takes hold of the wire he thinks is the right one. Ranger: Does anyone have a knife? Exile tosses a knife onto the observation deck which Ranger retrieves. Ranger goes over and takes the wire again. He puts the knife on the wire and closes his eyes. He cuts. Nothing happens. Ranger: Wha? Ranger looks at the timer and sees that it is stopped. It is stopped at 11 seconds. The Rovers land on the observation deck. Colleen: That was too bloomin close! Hunter: For Real! The last of the remaining hinds swoops in and points its guns at the rovers. Hunter: Yet another unexpected twist, bummer! The Hind looks as if it is about to fire, until a rocket slams into it, blowing it to pieces. The Apache helicopter which fired the shot swoops by, along with other members of its squadron. Hunter: Now, you’re going to prison! Commander: Do you think I would lower myself to become your war trophy? I will not allow you to gloat over me in my shame before the world! I would rather die! He jumps over the edge of the observation deck, landing dead in the plaza below. Turbo Jet Rover, sub mode. Headed for Sandusky, Ohio. The Rovers are in the seats. Scarlet is out of her box and is next to Ranger, but still in canine form. Hunter: You did some good work back there. I think I can speak for all the Rovers when I say how much we appreciate your help. Ranger: Thanks, but I was only doing what I had to do. The master’s image appears on the screen. Master: Rovers, we have another serious crisis on our hands. Hunter: We’re out of milk bones? Master: No, worse. A military force is invading the Sudan. Blitz: The Sudan!? What could they possibly want there. Master: We’re not certain, but their weapons and insignia match the samples you have shown me from Middle Island. Exile: Did you asksi Russian government about this? Master: The Russian government denies any involvement or knowledge in what happened here. This is most likely a rogue military organization. Ranger: What about me and Scarlet? Master: You were instrumental in stopping this disaster. You can become an honorary Road Rover. Colleen: What about the examination. Master: Conduct that at our medical facility in Sandusky while the Turbo Jet Rover is being repaired. Red Thunder HQ, Vissarion’s command chamber. The door opens and Petrovski steps in. Petrovski: You sent for me sir? Vissarion: Do you know what’s going on, you idiot! Petrovski: The invasion of Sudan is going well. We have landed troops and taken Port Sudan, and dropped units into Khartoum with Shadow Transports. They never saw us coming! Vissarion: You fool! Don’t you even know what the point of the invasion was?! Petrovski: Of course, to divert world attention away from the main plan. Vissarion: And that plan is now destroyed! The Road Rovers showed up and the commander of Norcom 1 panicked. He attempted to start the operation early. He was stopped, and now we have only made matters worse for ourselves. At least he had the sense to end his miserable life! Now that fool Shalimov is bringing even more attention to ourselves with his little invasion. Petrovski: What do you want me to do? Vissarion: Send a stern message to Shalimov reprimanding him for now. Petrovski: Yes Sir! Petrovski leaves. An image of Red Thunder Soldiers taking over the streets of Khartoum appears on one of Vissarion’s screens. Vissarion: You think you may have won, Rovers. But I have a backup plan! (evil laugh!) The End, for now.