Chrono Trigger Invasions Chapter 9
By Jerm
Cid connected the last wire, and closed the control panel in the front of the new epoch. He peeked out of the vehicle, "All done."
"You did it? You actually built another epoch?" Marle asked amazedly.
"I think so," Cid said, suddenly doubting, then he brightened up again, "It should work."
He ducked back in while the other were preparing themselves for transport. Cid looked at the dial on the 'fixed' time machine that was now connected with the epochs controls. He switched the dial to the left, so that it pointed at Zeal.
"This is where you wanted to go, isn't it," he asked an imaginary Nabat, "Sorry I had to decieve you and all. I hope your new life will allow you to forgive me."
Crono jumped in and began to pull Marle in.
Suddenly, the door to teh basement was flung open. Several armed men came rushing inside, positioning themselves for a shootout. After they were all inside, another figure walked in, seeming almost to limp.
Carlisle's face was scarred beyond any repair. It was burnt a disgusting shade of red, with small spots of brown and black dotting it. His arms and hands, which he kept away from contacting anyting, were bandaged. He leered evilly at the group.
Then he saw Marshall, "I'm going to have the time of my life getting my revenge on you."
Marshall smiled back, despite the situation, "Some of you people take suntanning way too seriously."
Carlisle started to sputter angrily and he stumbled toward Marshall, who started to laugh. Carlisle grabbed a guards arm, no matter how much it hurt, and yelled, "Shoot that man!"
The soldier shook his head, "Can't sir. He hasn't given a reason."
"Look at me you idiot!" Carlisle was angry, "I'M reason enough! Shoot him!!"
The soldier turned to two of the nine other soldiers, "I want you two to carry that bastard back to his room. He needs to rest."
"What?!" Carlisle stumbled back, "You can't do that! I'm in charge!"
"The hell you are, scarface," the soldier said angrily, "You decided to come along for the ride because you wanted to see these people arrested. General Harmon gave me direct authority in this situation, and you just stepped out of line."
"Scarface!?" Carlisle was going into a fit, "I'll--"
"Take him away, you two," the soldier said, then added, "Don't worry about not being too careful, I'm sure he's tough enough to withstand it if you bump into the walls a few times."
The guard roughly grabbed Carlisle and dragged him off, while he was screaming at the commander. The soldier smiled and turned back to the group, "I'll have to ask you to step out of that. . . . plane and put your hands up. As much as it may seem like we were on the same side, I have been ordered to apprehend you and bring you back. I DO follow my orders."
"What are the charges?" Crono asked, trying to stall.
"Tresspassing, vandalism, and theft of government property," the commander said, "Those are steep charges, so I came here expecting resistance. My men have their guns on you with the same pretense. Don't do anything funny, they are marksmen shots with these guns."
"Very well," Crono sighed, "We were so close."
* * * * *
"What's going on!" Brooks, the head of the space program, yelled as the connection was lost.
"We've lost connection, sir. I think it may be something about these meteorites, not even high power telescopes can see them when the magnification becomes too high."
"How far are those things? How much time do we have to stop them?" Brooks demanded, hitting the desk under him.
"They are only several hundred miles away, sir. And sir? We don't have any time left. It's over."
"How can it be over? What about our armed satellites? They can stop a meteorite!"
"I'm aware of that, sir, but we have. . .ninety-six of those meteorites coming at us. If I were you, I'd be getting to low ground quickly."
"This is insane! Where did they come from?" Brooks seemed to almost be crying.
No one answered him. Chaos had erupted in the small room and people were running out of the room in a mob. Brooks had no choise but to follow, as he started to leave, he gave a last look at the monitor.
The closest picture of the meteorite they had recieved. It looked too symmetrical to be a meteorite.
Brooks turned and ran out of the room.
* * * * *
When the stars had first appeared in the skies, the people were told that it was INDEED a meteor shower. They were also told that the meteors were small and would burn up in the atmosphere. The people could go outside and watch the show if they wanted to.
And a lot of people did. As the red stars approached, people set up picnics in the park, went out to a clear area, or simply sat on their porch. Waiting on a glorious show of nature.
The stars grew larger and larger as they approached. People oohed and ahhed when the first of them burst into flame after entering the atmosphere.
However, it did not burn up. The flames surrounded the hard shell as the round space object plummeted, caught in the planet's atmosphere. Then it was arcing through the sky, flying over one of the crowds of people who had gather in a park. The sonic boom from its passage blew over the crowd, making most cover their ears. The wind struck at them, catching them off guard and throwing them to the ground.
The meteors weren't burning up.
The people looked in panic-stricken silence as the first of the meteors struck the ground outside the city of Truce. There was a loud crash and dirt and trees were suddenly airborn. The shockwave was so powerful, it was visible to the stunned people. The nearest buildings of Truce collapsed away from the landing zone, others soon fell as the shockwave reached them. The ring of destruction was spreading outward.
People finally started screaming as they saw the circular disturbance racing across the ground toward them. Panic erupted and people started fleeing.
Then it struck and the people were lost.
* * * * *
"Don't make me count to ten," the commander said impatiently.
"Sorry, but my foot's really caught," Cid said, trying to stall.
"Someone help him," the commander said, the said in a strained voice, "Please."
One of the soldiers suddenly cocked his head to the side, listening for something. He had a vexed look on his face as he asked, "Sir, do you hear anything?"
Then they heard the high pitched whining noise, becoming louder and louder. Suddenly, there was a loud eruption of noise and the ground shook madly. Above them, the ceiling started to crack.
"EARTHQUAKE!" one of the soldiers yelled.
"Everyone out of here, now!" the commander yelled, "You four follow me!"
"No," Crono said suddenly.
"I said--"
"You won't shoot us, sir!" Crono continued, "We aren't a threat to you. The earthquake is. I'd get out of here if I were you."
The commander looked pained for a moment, trying to think of a solution. Part of the ceiling fell away, forcing him to realize he didn't have time, "Fine, it looks like I couldn't find you all after all. I'll have to ask my commander for another chance at the building later."
Before anybody could thank him, he turned and ran out of the basement. When he was gone, Cid yelled, "Hurry and get in here! We've got to get out of here!"
The group piled into the quickly made flying machine and the lid closed.
* * * * *
More meteorites were following suit, falling from the sky and striking the ground. One struck dead on onto the thousand year old castle where a long forgotten knight was buried. The landmark was blown to bits from the impact, sending mortar flying just ahead of the shockwave. The City of Chorre was buried under the force. The building were blown over like they were made of cardboard in a hurricane.
The surprised people in the street screamed as the were buried under a landslide of debris and stone.
One of the meteors struck the top of a building in Truce. The building broke apart and the meteor continued, finally crashing several miles outside of town. The shattered fragment of the skyscraper fell onto the building beside it, crushing the top few stories of it before the momentum was broke.
* * * * *
"What's going on?" Marle asked when the whole building shook again.
"I have no idea, but it seems to be working for us." Cid said starting up the engines.
The epoch slowly turned until it was facing the ramp that led to the large wooden door that was the fire exit for the basement. It was just wide enough to allow passage for such a large vehicle.
* * * * *
The first meteor that struck sat in a crater that sunk half a mile into the ground. Smoke drifted from it and dirt clumps were still dropping on it from above. The spiny ridges along it was something that no one for at least four miles out would be alive to see.
Then the thing shifted, twisting in its hole. It was alive. The thing shrieked, the yell sounding like a pained gurgling noise. The monster's spikes suddenly poked outward, aiming for the sky. Then they launched, arching into the air high above Truce.
They hovered for a moment as gravity took hold. Then they showered onto the half destroyed city of Truce.
* * * * *
"I've heard that noise before," Cid mused after he heard the unholy scream of the Lavos being.
"Me too," Marle said, "and I don't like it one bit."
"Yeah, something's wrong. Really wrong," Marshall added, "Let's get going quickly. Something tells me the building is about to see its last days."
"That sounded just like Lavos," Crono said suddenly, "What's going on?"
"Let's find out," cid said, hitting the acceleration.
The epoch moved forward, picking up speed. Then it was racing toward the wide door. There was no way they could open the door, they would break through.
"Brace yourselves," Cid said as he pushed himself deep into his seat.
The epoch struck the garage door, breaking it in half in a vertical split down the middle. The two piece spun outward, and were thrown away.
The epoch caught air for a moment as it got off of the upward ramp and into the parking lot of RoboTech. The machine bounced as it struck the pavement, sliding sideways as the wheels tried to find traction.
The group were all thrown about as Cid tried to right the vehicle. He hit the brakes and the epoch's tires squealed as the machine spun around in a one eighty. It finally stopped it a cloud of black foul smelling smoke.
Above them, the RoboTech building was destroyed. Above the tenth story, it had broken off and tipped over, falling onto the building next to it. All around them, other buildings had shared similar fates.
"Oh man," Cid muttered.
Crono looked up for an instant, then wished he hadn't. Above him were the implements of Lavos's 'Rain of Destruction'. They were fall right toward the city. Farther above were dozens of the stars, now much closer and entering the atmosphere.
"This is insane!" Marshall yelled
"We've got to get out of this time, now!" Crono yelled, pointing at the sky.
The others followed his finger and spotted the carnage in the sky. Cid hit something on the control panel, "You don't need to tell me twice."
The epoch suddenly rose up into the air. The motion was unsteady, the machine wasn't finetuned to hover. It shuddered as they rose.
Then the rain struck. Bolts of energy struck the ground all over the city. Their mini-shockwaves caused the buildings they missed to shudder. The survivors who were desperately trying to get out of the city, were running everywhere; some died from the explosions of the deadly weapons.
Another Lavos streaked across the sky above the group. The sonic boom caused the epoch to lurch forward and start to drop. Cid jabbed another button and pulled a switch. The rear engines ignited once more and the epoch's nose rose back up and it started to race forward.
"Prepare for another time," he said to the others, hitting a combination of switches.
Far in front of them, a building tipped over, crashing noisily on the ground. Cid said something harshly and dove the epoch down and to the right. They were heading for a small opening between the building and the street.
"Cid you're crazy," Marle said, gripping her seat.
"It's better than slamming into the building," Cid replied, pulling up suddenly.
The epoch shot under the building, several feet from the street below and the build above. Debris lay ahead of them, barely seeable in the shadow of the building. Cid veered left and right, trying to dodge it all.
Then they were out. Cid pulled up and the epoch rose up into the air once more. He hit a final button and the air around them started to glow white.
All around them, the rain continued. One bolt came extremely close, causing the epoch to shake. Then they were clear, entering the blue world in between time.
* * * * *
In a matter of hours, the future was destroyed. The planet was a blistered and lifeless rock. The invaders had done their job.
Revenge on the ones who had killed one of their kind. Earth had been their first defeat. It would have to be an example.
The monsters buried themselves into the ground, the job finished.
.