Chapter 19 - The Chase
Diva lowers the ship’s altitude. Pressing a button she talks into the intercom.
“Get up here, Stingray!”
“Yes, ma’am.”
A few moments later Stingray enters the cockpit.
“You wanted to…?”
“I’m about to launch the ground drones. They’ll catch up to the Hero and his friends in just a few minutes.”
“But ma’am, they won’t do much to…”
Diva clenches a fist. “I know that!”
“Then why…?”
“To gauge their vehicle’s technological capabilities, you fool! That and they’ll soften them up for the kill!”
She points a thumb behind her.
“That means WHEN the Hero and his suicidal followers get done dealing with THEM, you and your two worthless sisters will have the somewhat easier task of finishing them off with the intel we’ll have! Do… you… think… you… can… handle… THAT?!”
“Yes, colonel. But Mio is still bandaging Hammer’s wounds.”
Diva rolls her eyes. “Well tell her to step on it! Either get Hammer patched up, or she can bleed all over her console for all I care! Now get out of here!”
Stingray nods as she hurries to carry out her instructions. Meanwhile, Rose calls out to Arc.
“Incoming ground contacts!”
Auriel frowns. “From the base?”
Ember gasps. “How?!”
“No idea. I sabotaged their power for exactly that reason.”
Rose looks over her screens as she continues scanning. “They appear to have been launched by the aircraft!”
Max calls out. “Your orders, sir?!”
“Stick to our original route. The shields should hold them back, but the Landmaster will probably be their main target.”
Xenos gasps. “We will?”
Ember sighs. “I would think General Mustang would want Princess Celestia back more than Arc’s destruction.”
Celestia screams. “Twilight!”
Ember looks down at her charge. “But that won’t happen.”
Arc looks in his rear view mirror past the Landmaster. Numerous vehicles fly over a hilly section of the road toward them.
“Are there any people in those vehicles, Rose?”
“None.”
Auriel turns to Rose. “Are you sure?”
“Yes. Scans show no life signs.”
“Be careful, sir!”
“You too. I’ll try to stop them from getting past me, but keep an eye on your sides at all times. Rose, if the situation changes let me know immediately.”
“Yes sir.”
He watches the vehicles close the distance quickly. Taking his hand off the accelerator Arc pulls to the side to allow the Landmaster to pass him. He quickly drops back to allow the new contacts a chance to catch up to him. Waiting patiently, Arc mutters to himself.
“Alright, Mustang… let’s do this!”
Meanwhile, Minerva calls out over the airwaves. “It looks as though the Hero is losing speed.”
“Do you suppose he’s having engine trouble, Minerva?”
“I don’t think so, Tom. He keeps looking behind him for some reason.”
“Do you see any reason for him to…?”
Minerva gasps. “There’s something catching up to him!”
“We see the movement here, Minerva. What are those things?!”
“No clue, Tom. But they don’t appear to be anything you’d see on a normal drive through the countryside, nor any known military vehicle.”
“Are you saying this might be some kind of new weapon?”
“Your guess is as good as mine on that, Tom.”
Meanwhile, several of the vehicles lunge forward from the rest. They move to go around Arc’s motorcycle. Minerva frowns.
“That’s strange. They seem to be ignoring him.”
“Maybe they’re his.”
“I don’t think…”
She gasps as a blast from Arc’s Hand Cannon connects with the closest vehicle. Extending a magic blade, Arc turns to close the gap between himself and the other one. Puncturing the vehicle’s side it begins to lose speed. Giving it a push with a Telekinesis Spell, it flies back toward the pack of drones. As one they move to avoid it as it slides across the road, showering the pavement with sparks. Tom calls out.
“I guess that answers that question.”
Minerva nods. “Agreed. That can only mean these vehicles are from the military base he attacked.”
Meanwhile, Rose calls out to Arc.
“Are you alright?!”
“I’m fine. But we’re not out of this yet.”
Max looks in his rearview mirror. “Here comes the second wave!”
Arc turns to see several more of the unmanned vehicles gaining on them. “I’ll send them to the scrap heap!”
As they move to pass him on one side, Arc reaches out with his magic. Pulling down a large overhead branch he lowers it just enough for the drones to smash into it before skirting their debris. The rest of the vehicles again dodge the remains of their smashed companions. Minerva gasps.
“I think their target is the Hero’s other vehicle!”
“That doesn’t make any sense, Minerva. After all, he’s the one who hit the military base.”
“Maybe he took something. For all we know it could be something our government doesn’t want disclosed.”
“Scorched earth?”
Minerva looks on as several more drones speed forward in an attempt to get past the motorcycle. “Perhaps. After all, destroyed assets are certainly preferable to missing ones.”
Cherry gasps. “That’s almost half their numbers!”
Xenos grins. “Good. Maybe we’ll make it through this mess yet.”
Rose frowns. “Care! The rest of the vehicles are preparing for a last-ditch offensive!”
“I see them!”
Pressing a button on his panel, Arc sprays a thick liquid behind him. As the vehicles drive over it, the substance covers their tires causing them to slow down considerably. Auriel calls out.
“That won’t hold them for long!”
Max nods. “Right! Sunburst said that stuff would degrade in just a few minutes!”
Arc grins. “Plenty of time.”
As he crests a hill, Arc screeches to a stop. Turning around, he pulls a baseball-sized sphere from his ring. Throwing it at the disabled machines it hits the substance on the road and activates. A powerful electrical discharge can be seen cascading all over the remaining vehicles. Grinning, Arc guns his motor and turns to follow the Landmaster.
“That takes care of that. Anything else on your screen, Rose?”
“Just the aircraft that must’ve dropped them.”
Xenos looks nervously to Rose. “You think they have more of those?”
“If they do, they’re not launching them.”
Viktor grins. “Probably because they know the commander would just make quick work of them.”
Max sighs. “I doubt it. There’s no reason for them to hold back.”
Auriel nods. “Agreed. That felt more like a probing attack.”
Ember looks to Rose. “A what?”
“A half-hearted offensive to figure out what we’re capable of.”
Arc grunts. “No arguments there.”
Tom calls out to Minerva. “It would appear our town’s Hero will be getting away after all.”
“If nothing changes, yes.”
“Is there anything else nearby, Minerva?”
She looks around. “Nothing, Tom. The Hero may have… wait!”
“Do you see something?”
“An unidentified aircraft is coming into view now!”
“We see that. What can you tell us about it?”
“It’s nothing like anything previously reported.”
“Another secret weapon maybe?”
“It would appear so, Tom. The military really is pulling out all the stops to bring the Hero and his allies down.”
Rose gasps. “New contact detected!”
Arc looks in his rear view mirror. “I don’t see it, Rose.”
“Another smaller jet has been launched by the aircraft in pursuit of us!”
Meanwhile, Mio sits in the cockpit of the jet as it flies toward Arc and his friends. She grimaces.
“Are we really going to do this?”
Diva’s voice comes over the radio. “No, just you are!”
Hammer gasps. “Be careful over there, Mio! That guy’s quite a handful!”
Stingray looks to the intercom as she works. “Hurry though! We still need to get Hammer back to base for some real medical attention!”
“I’m fine!”
“You’re bleeding through!”
Diva groans. “Less talking, more action, Mio! Target that freak on the bike first!”
“Yes ma’am.”
Griping the throttle, she pushes it and accelerates to attack speed. Aiming for Arc and his motorcycle, Mio takes a deep breath and moves her finger toward the trigger.
“S-sorry… Hero.”
A missile flies toward Arc from Mio’s craft. Rose gasps.
“LOOK OUT!!!”
Arc frowns. “Where…?!”
It collides with the motorcycle, obliterating it. Arc flies over the handlebars and does a 180 as he instinctively squeezes his eyes shut and waits for the impending impact to the back of his armor on the pavement. However nothing happens. Eventually Cherry calls out to him.
“Arc!”
Slowly opening his eyes, Arc sees the night sky overhead. The air is silent and clear.
“What happened?!”
“Something flew out of that airship and hit your machine!”
“Am I… dead?”
“No. But you should turn your head.”
Arc does so. Looking left and right he sees the pavement a few feet below.
“What the… I’m floating?!”
“Kinda. I can see the Landmaster ahead of us.”
Arc sighs happily. “So they got away?”
“You should look for yourself.”
Doing so, Arc spots the vehicle some distance down the road. It is unmoving and the engine appears to be off. He frowns.
“MAX! Why’d you stop?! Get going!”
Silence ensues.
“Max?”
Cherry sighs. “Arc, what’s going on?!”
“I… don’t really know.”
A familiar voice rings out nearby.
“Oh, it’s quite simple really.”
Arc turns his head to see Wiseman walking toward him from the side of the road. With a wave of his gloved hand Arc falls to the ground.
“What’s going on this time, Wiseman!”
“Nothing much. But it appears you’re in the middle of a mission.”
“Yes! And you’re delaying me!”
Wiseman shrugs. “To be honest with you, I haven’t done anything this time.”
Arc grumbles. “Situation normal there.”
“Perhaps you would do better to address the one responsible for this little detour.”
“Great. Who?”
“That would be me.”
Arc turns around to see Kronos’ form hovering before him.
“You again?!”
“Yes.”
Arc grits his teeth. “Your timing couldn’t be worse! I’m trying to…!”
“Return Princess Celestia to Equestria. I already know.”
“Then why…?!”
“You needed some help a few moments ago.”
Arc rolls his eyes. “I’m ALWAYS in need of help it seems!”
Wiseman nods. “That is true.”
Arc looks around. “Yeah?! Well, if you two aren’t going to do anything, did you happen to see where my dad’s bike went?”
Wiseman sighs. “You don’t remember, eh?”
“Remember what?”
Kronos moves to one side. Behind them is the Crusader. Or more accurately, pieces of it suspended in the air. Arc gasps.
“What the…?!”
Kronos continues. “A missile from an aircraft behind you made contact with your… bike, destroying it.”
Arc facepalms. “Great. My dad’s not going to believe this.”
Wiseman chuckles. “If he comes back, that is.”
“Yeah. Uh… how exactly am I okay?”
Kronos calls out. “Half a second after impact, time effectively stopped.”
Wiseman nods. “I was able to convince Kronos to do that. After all, the world can’t have you dying here.”
“The… world?”
Kronos chuckles. “There is much left for you to do, Arc.”
“I know. Taking the princess home is proving to be more trouble than I originally thought.”
Wiseman frowns. “Kronos was referring to what comes after that.”
“Retirement?”
Kronos groans. “Does it?”
Arc narrows his eyes. “You tell me, oh great and powerful manipulator of time and space.”
“As I’ve already said, I don’t actually know what the future holds.”
Arc frowns. “I do.”
Wiseman tilts his head to one side. “Oh?”
“Get up, make breakfast with my family, walk them to the orphanage, do my jobs around Ponyville, return to the orphanage to help cook supper, walk Derpy and Dinky home, go to bed, and repeat.”
Kronos sighs. “You think you have it all figured out, don’t you?”
Arc shrugs. “Pretty much.”
Wiseman gestures with a hand. “What about this world, Arc?”
“What about it?”
“There are many powers at work whom would undo all that you have done.”
“If you’re talking about Mustang, I don’t see him doing much more without Celestia in his clutches. After all… you don’t need to be afraid of an empty gun, no matter how big it is.”
Kronos groans. “His ability to produce may be removed, yes. But what about that which he’s already made?”
“I suppose I can turn over the information I’ve gathered to Marshal Raynor. He can pass it on to someone to do… something about him.”
Wiseman folds his arms over his chest. “All neat and tidy, eh?”
“Exactly. Equestria goes back to normal. Earth goes back to normal. I go back to…”
Wiseman speaks to Arc harshly. “Back to what?! Your old life at the apple orchard?!”
“Maybe, yeah. What’s it to you?”
Wiseman shakes his head. “You have the power to do so much more! Would you really let your abilities and cunning go to waste?!”
“Yes.”
Kronos sighs. “Oh? Might I ask why?”
“Some things are worth more than power and prestige.”
Wiseman nods. “Dinky?”
“And my own happiness.”
Kronos chuckles. “A wife and family.”
“Exactly! Equestria and Earth will be fine. So why shouldn’t I get what I want for a change?!”
Wiseman sighs and approaches him. “Arc, as you get older you will learn that there are always problems to be solved by those with the brains and resources to do so.”
“Well, I don’t see either of you doing much for the community!”
Kronos scoffs. “We do more than you can possibly know.”
“Oh? Please… elaborate.”
“Safeguarding you, for starters.”
“How?”
Wiseman gestures to the pieces of the Crusader. “Do you really think you would have survived that?”
“Um…”
Kronos turns and looks down the road. “Judging from the trajectory of your… flight, I estimate that you organs would have experienced extreme trauma upon hitting the ground.”
Wiseman nods. “Indeed.”
“And what would you suggest I do?”
Wiseman shrugs. “Have another shot at it?”
Arc narrows his eyes. “That makes even less sense than your usual ramblings!”
Kronos sighs. “He’s right, you know.”
“Great. Both of you now?”
Kronos turns back to Arc. “I can give you another chance at your mission if you’d like.”
“Thanks, but I’m not too interested in being indebted to either of you.”
Wiseman turns to the glowing orb. “Kronos, what are the chances Arc’s friends have of making it to the rendezvous point as it stands?”
“Nearly zero. The one whom shot at him will next take out the Landmaster with their second missile.”
Arc rolls his eyes. “How? The ORB system can take anything that’s thrown at it.”
Kronos turns to a rocky outcropping ahead. “True. But their missile will target the road next to the vehicle. The blast will most certainly knock it over that cliff. I don’t think I have to tell you what would of happened to the occupants.”
Arc frowns. “How sure are you of this?”
“Very.”
Arc sighs as he weighs his options before turning to Kronos.
“What do I need to do?”
“Close your eyes.”
Arc does so. Powerful magical energies swirl all around him. A few moments later all is silent. As he opens his eyes Arc looks all around. He finds himself sitting on the Crusader with the Landmaster ahead of him. As before, nothing moves.
“Wiseman? Kronos?”
Wiseman’s voice rings out. “We are still here.”
Looking to his right Arc spots Wiseman. Turning to the left he sees Kronos. The sphere is significantly dimmer than normal as it speaks to him.
“I have taken you back… to around ten seconds before the missile fired. You… you will have one last chance to make this work.”
“Uh… you okay?”
Wiseman nods soberly. “Turning back the proverbial clock really takes a toll on the Keeper of Time here.”
Kronos gasps. “Yes. But… it will be worth… the effort in the end.”
Wiseman nods. “Look behind you, Arc.”
Arc does so as Wiseman points. He spots the aircraft he missed seeing before.
“When time starts again… you’ll have a few seconds to prevent déjà-vu. Use this chance wisely.”
“Thanks… I think.”
The pair fade away as the world around them begins to slowly move again. Cherry calls out to him.
“Be careful, Arc!”
Arc grips the handlebars and looks straight ahead as the bike slowly begins to move down the road. “Don’t worry. I have a plan.”
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hmmm....
Ah, the old Applied Geography trick. Can be absolutely spectacular when pulled off right, especially when the other guy absolutly knows your weapon cant damage him.
10953534
This chapter along with the chase was written based on memories of a game my wife played many years ago called Final Fantasy 7 for the original PlayStation. The old footage can be found here...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uj2c4UAX5Eg
Poor clueless Arc, just because you pull the magazine doesn't mean there's not a round still in the chamber... First rule of gun safety: Always treat a weapon with the respect due a loaded one. Also works in various other aspects in life, including relationships.
10965548
That line was actually for the wife. It's taken from a game the wife and I played years ago called Soviet Strike for the PlayStation 1.
Hey look, the first time in this whole story Wiseman has actually done anything significant to help, without being a cryptic prick. Guess we'll have to wait another 200 chapters for the next time.