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| Lpnet3-100 Day of the Mystikon Chapter 1: The Martian Landlords Chapter 2: The Post Neutronic Era Chapter 3: The NYC and the EMDA Chapter 4: Stranded at Toyland Chapter 5: A Gem for a Raygun Chapter 6: An Isotope for an Engine Chapter 7: A Sublime Portent Chapter 8: A Hard Rain Chapter 9: Against the Wind Chapter 10. The Monster Tank Chapter 11: The Secret Agent Chapter 12: The NDX Unit Chapter 13: Fort Granite Chapter 14: Contact with the Natives |
Day
of the Mystikon
12. The NDX Unit As Ron snuck about the house, in the ‘camouflage’ mode, and probed the distant objective, the house on a hill 100 meters away, a native aircraft swept over the trees to the right. He zeroed in on it with the visor. It was a green helicopter, probably military. It flew over the house on the hill, and then continued on. But it wasn’t alone. One minute later, he detected sounds behind him, northward along the vacant road. He zeroed in with the visor and saw 2 land-vehicles on the move, headed his way; a brown and green ‘camouflaged’ land-rover and a truck. Ron decided to stay where he was, rather than risk getting caught in the middle of a crossfire. He remained in the camouflage mode, and stood behind the bushes near the wall of the house, in the shade. The land-rover and truck drove into the area, then slowed to a stop, about 20 meters from the driveway that led up the gradual slope to the mysterious house. 2 men stepped out of the rear doors of the rover and began making their way up the hill, through the trees, toward the house. They were armed and outfitted for guerilla warfare. Twenty meters up there was a burst of energy and they were knocked backwards. Ron watched closely and listened in. It appeared as if they had run into some kind of force-field. One man returned to the rover and reported to someone in the front seat, probably the commander. The other man stood on the hill and looked all about, keeping a close guard upon the situation. The commander stepped out and went up the hill as the 2 men kept careful guard upon the area. He stopped before the area in which the others had encountered the force. He picked up a fallen branch from the ground beneath a tree and tossed it up the hill. It struck the ‘force-field’ and disintegrated into dust. He continued to examine the area, looking for a mechanism, perhaps. There was something behind the trunk of a tree. Ron could not see it from his angle, but the commander obviously did. The commander went to the trunk of the tree, tested the field with another branch, located it, and continued to stare in fascination at the trunk from a few feet away. He looked about, ahead to the house and then back downhill to his men. He called the closest one and the man went to him. He pointed out the object of interest behind the trunk and spoke quietly to the man. The man nodded and went back downhill to the rover. The commander followed seconds later, and they regrouped by the rover on the road. One of the men brought out a large gun, a bazooka. It wasn’t difficult to guess that they were planning. Ron watched as they set the bazooka, on a tripod on the flat tar of the road and aimed it up the hill at the tree. The commander went back into the rover and the 2 vehicles backed away from the area a good 20 meters. One minute later, as one of the men braced the base of the tripod, it was fired. A small missile shot up the slope and hit the tree. The two men carried the gun quickly back to the rover as the tree trunk exploded. A second later, the tree began to fall, down towards the road. As everyone watched from a safe distance, the tree fell down the hill and across the road. The top of it landed in the front yard of the house that Ron was hiding by. A few minutes later, as it settled, the commander spied the remnants of the trunk. A small fire had occurred and he ordered his men to put it out. After the fire was out, it was obvious that the device hidden by the trunk was undamaged. Ron zeroed in on it and recognized the technology. It appeared to be Martian. It was a meter-high pole with a sphere at the top, somewhat like a very large antenna. The commander went up the hill again, looked at it closely, and threw a stone at it. The stone bounced back and broke into fragments. He shook his head, flung wide his hands, and then walked back downhill to the road. As he returned to the rover, they were fired on from the southeast, and the truck was hit. There was an explosion, just as one man jumped from the passenger seat and another from the rear. Ron looked to the southeast and saw the monster tank about sixty meters away, approaching from a side road. It fired again and the truck was completely demolished, fiery flack and wreckage was tossed all about. The men climbed in the rover quickly, turned it about, and started back the way they had came, away from the area. The tank fired at it twice and missed, as it darted onto a side street and headed east, behind the cover of trees and houses. One man, with a leg injury, had been left behind. He limped across the street and behind the cover of the house that Ron was at. Ron eyed the tank as it rolled their way, and snuck around the house, just as the tank began to plow its way over the fallen tree. He made a quick decision, turned off the camouflage screen, raised the visor, and approached the limping soldier as he fell to the ground in the cover of the house. “Listen, soldier,” he said urgently, “I’m a friend. If you want to escape the tank, come with me.” The soldier squinted with pain and indecision. “Who are you?” he said with a gasp. “A friend. Now hurry,” Ron urged. “Before the tank spots us.” The tank could be heard plowing over the tree, crushing its branches, on the other side of the house. Ron gave the wounded soldier a hand, helped him up, and led him, with one arm over his shoulder, to the transverser. Seconds later, they sat in the safety of the transverser, under the cloak of the invisible mode, and waited for the tank to pass. |
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