Chapter 249: War Planet, Capture the Boss First
While the ship was undergoing its interstellar crossing.
Inside the ship.
"So... how exactly do you plan to stop them?"
Gwen sighed, looking helplessly at the trio behind her. Klein, Ben, and Kevin had pulled out a small table and were entirely engrossed in a round of cards, slapping down hands of 'Fight the Landlord' as if the fate of the universe wasn't hanging in the balance.
Facing her question, Ben and Kevin both fell silent, exchanging awkward glances over their fan of cards. They genuinely had no idea how to halt a full-scale planetary war. If it were a simple brawl, they could smash their way through, but planetary politics was a different beast entirely.
"It's simple." Klein didn't even look up from his hand, casually tossing a pair of cards onto the table. He turned his head slightly toward Gwen. "We drag out their leaders. I don't care why they started this little squabble. We make them shake hands, force them to play nice, and the war problem solves itself."
Gwen raised her eyebrows, thoroughly unimpressed by his thuggish diplomacy. "And what if they refuse to 'obediently' comply?"
Klein finally looked up, a dry, dangerous smirk tugging at the corner of his mouth. "Then we replace them."
On the far side of the universe, a barren, pale yellow planet loomed in the dark void. In the outer orbit of this desolate world, a blurry black-and-green phantom distortion rippled through space. The ship, having completed its interstellar jump, materialized with a low hum.
"Oh, looks like that's the place," Kevin muttered, leaning over the co-pilot's console and peering out the reinforced viewport at the dusty yellow sphere below.
Gwen stepped up beside him, her eyes narrowing as she pointed at a strange, extending pattern on the planetary surface. "What do you think... that dashed line spanning across the planet is?"
It was absurdly enormous. Even from the high vantage point of outer space, the structure was clearly visible, cutting a jagged scar across the continents. Every individual segment of that line had to be the size of a mountain range.
"I don't know," Ben said, stroking his chin. A familiar, eager smile played on his lips. "But I think it's definitely necessary to go take a closer look."
Seeing that his cousin and Gwen were both hooked by the mystery of the colossal dashed line, Klein decided there was no rush to hunt down the warring factions immediately. Besides, a structure of that magnitude was undoubtedly created by the locals. Heading straight for it was the fastest way to find the people in charge.
"Ship, take us down," Klein ordered.
The Galvanic Mechamorph responded in a series of mechanical whirs and chirps, angling the vessel downward. The thrusters flared, and the ship dove straight toward the massive dashed line below.
As they breached the atmosphere and closed the distance, the true nature of the structure came into sharp focus. It was a colossal, kilometer-long spacecraft, hovering just above the ground and continuously deploying massive, mountain-sized barricades along the terrain.
The moment the ship entered the airspace above the structure, a row of heavy blue turrets swiveled upward, locking onto their energy signature. Without a single warning transmission, they unleashed a blinding barrage of plasma fire.
Explosions rocked the hull. Even with the inertial dampeners active, everyone inside the cabin was thrown against their seats by the violent shaking.
The ship immediately banked hard, executing an evasive barrel roll to escape the blue turrets' firing arc. The vessel darted to the opposite side of the barricade line, only to be instantly greeted by a torrential bombardment from a completely different set of red turrets.
Klein braced his hand against the wall, his eyes narrowing with deep annoyance. Alright, so this is how they wanted to play.
Ben and the others quickly caught on to the dynamic playing out below. The red and blue turrets belonged to entirely different armadas, entrenched on opposite sides of the massive wall.
"So they are the two sides fighting the war?" Gwen gripped the edge of her seat, her knuckles white as she studied the chaotic battlefield.
Klein pushed himself off the wall and stood up, cracking his neck. "Ben, I'll grab the red side. You grab the blue side. We drag their heads out."
Ben hesitated, looking a bit conflicted as he glanced at the Omnitrix on his wrist. "But... Cousin, shouldn't we try to sit down and talk to them first? Maybe negotiate?"
Klein stared at Ben with a deadpan expression, looking at him as if he had just suggested eating rocks for breakfast. "Do you honestly think a massive military force is going to have an equal conversation with a handful of outsiders who just dropped out of the sky?"
He pointed down at the flashing artillery fire. "If you just stroll down there and try to talk, you'll be thrown into a maximum-security prison cell long before you ever catch a glimpse of their leader."
"Uh, ha ha..." Ben scratched the back of his head awkwardly, chuckling to hide his embarrassment.
Klein was entirely right. Without showing off a little muscle to establish dominance, these trigger-happy aliens would never sit down and listen to reason.
Ben's expression shifted, the goofy hesitation replaced by a serious, focused edge. He reached for his Omnitrix dial.
"Ship, open the hatch," Klein commanded.
The moment the words left his mouth, the ship's rear boarding ramp hissed open. A turbulent, howling gale swept into the cabin, violently tugging at Klein's clothes.
"I'll deal with this side first!" Klein shouted over the roaring wind, and without another word, he threw himself out of the ship, plummeting toward the battlefield.
Mid-air, the wind whipped violently around him.
"Jetray!"
A blinding flash of eerie blue light illuminated the sky, and the sleek, crimson-and-yellow figure of the Aerophibian burst forth, gliding gracefully above the red army's entrenched forces.
Down below, the red soldiers panicked at the sudden aerial intrusion.
"What is that thing?!"
"No matter what he is, shoot him down!"
Under the frantic barking of a red-armored officer, every anti-air turret in the sector swiveled to lock onto Jetray. The sky lit up with a fierce, overlapping barrage of heavy artillery fire.
Unfortunately for them, the speed of these shells was laughably slow. Even restricted to atmospheric flight rather than his faster-than-light vacuum speeds, Jetray's maneuverability completely outclassed almost every living being on the planet.
Through Jetray's enhanced kinetic vision, the incoming artillery shells crawled through the air. If there was any real difference between these projectiles and garden snails, it was only that the shells were slightly larger.
"Hey, hey, hey... this is just rude," Jetray complained, his voice echoing with a slight aquatic warble as he casually barrel-rolled and looped through the dense web of plasma fire, not a single shot grazing his wings.
His eyes and tail suddenly flared with intense energy. He unleashed a rapid volley of piercing green neuroshock lasers, precisely detonating several heavy turrets in a chain reaction of fire and scrap metal, clearing a massive open space in the middle of the enemy camp.
Immediately after the explosions, he folded his wings and swooped down like a diving falcon. Just before hitting the ground, another flash of eerie blue light erupted.
Jetray vanished, instantly replaced by the sleek, armored form of XLR8.
"Over there!"
The soldiers shouted in a harsh, beyond understanding alien dialect, swinging their heavy energy rifles toward the smoking crater Jetray had just created.
But as the dust and smoke cleared, the firing squad froze. Their faces twisted in absolute disbelief.
The crater was completely empty. There was no sign of the flying red creature that had been there just a fraction of a second ago.
While the soldiers stood paralyzed in a state of rising panic, a faint black-and-blue afterimage blurred through their ranks.
Before a single soldier could even squeeze a trigger, a massive shockwave of kinetic force swept through the platoon. Dozens of heavily armed soldiers were sent flying into the air, collapsing to the ground like freshly cut wheat.
"It's him! It's that ghost thing!"
"All units, be on high alert!"
"Damn it! I can't track him! Is he using active camouflage?!"
Watching his elite soldiers devolve into a chaotic, flailing mess, the supreme commander of the red legion stepped out of his heavily armored command tent. He was a short, stout alien sporting two comically large white mustaches.
"Do not panic!" the red commander bellowed, his voice amplified across the camp. "He is merely bluffing with speed! Such an ability certainly will not last long. We will flush him out soon enough, so hold your ground and there is nothing to fear— Ah!!!"
The commander didn't even get to finish his rallying speech. A violent gust of wind exploded right beside him, accompanied by a flickering black-and-blue phantom.
By the time the elite royal guards reacted and lunged forward to assist, their supreme commander had completely vanished from his spot, leaving only a swirling cloud of yellow dust in his wake.
Miles away, in the middle of a desolate, wind-swept yellow dirt desert, XLR8 skidded to a halt, casually dropping the dizzy red commander onto the ground.
"Alright, now we can have a nice, quiet talk," XLR8 said, crossing his arms as his faceplate retracted.
The commander scrambled to his feet, still looking thoroughly bewildered and disoriented from the supersonic kidnapping. He puffed out his chest, trying to maintain his authority. "Who are you?! Return me to my command post this instant, or you will deeply regret crossing me!"
A sharp, echoing smack rang out across the desert.
The red commander, nursing a rapidly swelling red handprint on his cheek, instantly quieted down. He cleared his throat, his posture deflating. "My apologies. I was highly disrespectful just now."
"You seriously don't know who I am?" XLR8 tilted his head, genuinely a bit puzzled. He wasn't one to boast, but considering his track record, he was fairly infamous across this sector of the universe.
"Why should I know you?" the red commander muttered, rubbing his stinging cheek. He squinted, his eyes finally landing on the glowing hourglass symbol of the Another Omnitrix resting securely on XLR8's chest.
The commander's eyes widened in sudden, horrifying realization. He swallowed hard. "...Alright, I know you now."
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