The Lords of Sol

The Sol system was quiet for once. Nothing in the entire solar system mattered. Nothing but this draw.

Ace of clubs. Blinky glanced up at Hugh, bluffing out a slight sign of discouragement in his eyes. Hugh jumped on it, raising the stakes to six girls. He was a good player. He wasn't good enough though.

I came this far, I should at least see it through.
Bravery is an admirable quality, but unfortunately you just lost a half dozen ladies for it. Four queens. A bit symbolic, eh?
Yup, serves me right, playing through when all I have is this.

Blinky flopped down his royal. Hugh's entire body seemed to stop for a second in recognition of what had just happened.

Ah, relax old man, I'm still going to let them do the calendar. I might have won, but that doesn't mean I don't appreciate fine literature.
I should have known you had something, you're not the kind to gamble when you don't think you'll win.
Quite the contrary Hef, that's the only time I gamble. It's usually why I do.

Blinky left Hugh with a pat on the back and an order for another whiskey to his table. He'ld have to acquaint himself with Ms. August first, she definately had potential. He did always have a thing for redheads. Blinky tapped the button on the elevator and ascended to his loft. He was in San Fransisco for the weekend, with a view of the city at a sunset like this that most people would never be blessed with seeing.

Blinky kicked back in his recliner with a glass of Scotch and watched a perfect day draw closer to an end, as Ms. August came into the room wearing only the bowl in her hand.

At a later point in time, Blinky would kick himself for what he thought just then, but he thought it nonetheless.

Ah, peaceful. This might be a busy system, but I think things are finally going to calm down.

 

Grossenschwaum sat in his irradiated lounger, which sat in his shielded library.
That Katherine is a bitch...
Ah, the Taming of the Shrew. It's good for a chuckle, and in some instances can be very true to life. Well, true to life in that there's a super-bitch of a woman whom you want to marry simply to get an inheritance, and you eventually get her to calm down and realize that you're the best she'll ever get.
Found anything to pique your interests, Mr. Reagan?
You don't happen to have anything on Star Wars, do you?
The defense system is in section M, the movie is also in section M. You know, you're very lucky that I decided to step in when I did. Most of the world knows you're dead.
Well, that's just how it goes, I guess. When would you like the new PR policy on your desk?
The intercom crackled.
Eh, how about in an hour? Anyway, this is important. I'll get back to you.
Sir! They're back!
Damnit! How many?
It looks like...twenty, this time!
Suicidal Zealots. They were smaller in number today than they had been in days past, but they could still do considerable damage to The Kratzbalger, if they were allowed to explode.
Grossenschwaum walked outside to meet them.
Did Charles send you? I can't imagine anyone else with your type of resources knowing where I live.
(You are an affront to God! Death to the Lizard!)
Oh, come on! You know I can't speak Arabic! Just get out of here. Go!
Grossenschwaum used a small wave of atomic power to blow the zealots far away from his home base.
Sir! There's something strange happening in the skies over the United States!
That's not my territory. What is it, though?
It seems like a large mass of electricity...It's a huge ball-lightning! It's large enough to incinerate Texas!
This couldn't end well.
What?! How fast is it moving, and from where did it come?
It's moving very slowly, about five miles per hour. We can't figure out what made it, but we know that it came from space, and there's no way this is a natural occurance!
Load into Das Sturmgeist, and set a course to intercept! Activate electro-magnets, set them to a positive polarity! I want to repel that thing back into space.

 

Xiao admired her new ring. The twinned snakes weighted heavily on her hand, but the glittering rubies held more than a small amount of latent magical power. The loss of her telepathic power had left her with a hole in her life that she was determined to fill, and magic was so far doing a very nice job.

Besides, this ring could throw a high-powered fireball halfway across Australia.

Miss Xiao, we've detected a strange energy signature over America.

Ah, no rest for the wicked. I'm on my way.

As far as we can tell, it's similar to ball lightning, but on a massive, massive scale. It could probably send the entire state of Texas up in flames.

No great loss, then. Xiao chuckled briefly. Joke, my dear boy, joke. Do we have a point of origin?

No. It just appeared without warning. Frankly, we're all stumped.

God-DAMMIT. Prepare my personal jet. I'm going to fetch a bit of... backup. Heh.

Xiao rode the elevator into the very depths of her base, down where no henchman was permitted because of the strange energies she'd managed to harness in the months since the strange Maximus problem and the time loop that had obliterated almost all memory of events. In fact, she suspected that she might be the only person with any recall of the incident.

Access code Xiao-7249, she said when the computer prompted her. It was also voice-printed and she'd recently even managed to add a mind-scan. Nobody was getting in here without her permission.

Good morning, Miss Xiao. What would you like this morning?

I'd like to see Sima Yi, thank you. Open Chamber 16.

Ah, the erstwhile Xiao Caity. Please, come in.

Xiao chuckled. At least he was feeling sarcastic today.

Tell me, Sima Yi, how would you like to visit America?

 

The stolen truck rounded a corner with two cop cars in hot pursuit, sirens blaring and lights flashing.

Stupid Pigs! Eat lead!.... Maximus raised a Tommy gun and fired a few bursts of gun fire at the patrol car. Its engine caught fire and skidded to a halt, with the cops abandoning the inferno.
Boss, what the hell's that in the sky?, asked his Dwarven cohort who was driving the truck full of stolen Japanese stereo's, his beard poking out through the ski-mask. Looking up, Maximus noticed the strange phenomenon as well. Not to worry, Thumbs, we've got more important things to worry about! He kept firing from the passener side of the truck, blowing out the front tires of the second cop car and causing it to crash into a post-office box, with letters flying everywhere. Now, when I get back to the hideout, I can figure out what to do about this mess, he thought to himself.

Maximus, one of the semi-notorious crime lords of Los Angeles, was leader of the Fallen Amazon's, a tough biker gang who'd bolstered their reputation by relying on technologies passed down from dwarven Father to Son. He'd decided to use them rather than contemplate the whole Stone and Shape wash.

He'd had the strangest dream of world conquest and space wars the night before, but that'd ended abruptly when a car wreck outside had woke him up. Now he was back in the streets boosting cars and stealing stuff to sell to shady merchants that operated on the fringe of the law. This latest boost would keep the troops fed and happy for another month.

They pulled into a disused warehouse and two mean looking women pulled the roll-down doors shut. He threw the Tommy-gun down on a bench after checking the safety and removing the clip. He entered the old mining elevator that would take him down 50 stories to an underground cavern complex his dwarven friends were helping him carve out of pure granite. Soon he'd get to the bottom of this.

 

Sir! We've arrived! The offending energy is a mile away and closing!
Alright then. Turn on the electro magnets! Maximum power!
The ball lightning, which wasn't going fast to begin with, started to slow down. It soon came to a stop, and drifted slowly back into space.
Then, the lightning seemed to shudder, and exploded violently in the sky.
What the hell just happened? Why have our cameras shut down?
Sir, ball lightning is very unstable as is, and when it was bombarded with a positive electromagnetic field, it started to break down. The reason our cameras aren't working is from the explosion. We estimate that the rest of the United States is suffering similar problems.
So it sent out an EMP wave? Open the windows.
There we go...what is that?!
A ship slowly appeared from the ball lightning's previous location.
Wh. d.d ..u des.... m. ....ld?
Sir! The ship is trying to communicate with us! Would you like me to deploy the auxilliary communications relay?
Yes, just do it!
I'll ask you again...Why did you destroy my shield?
Your shield? Well, I'm sorry, but at your previous course, you would have crashed into the country you see below us. Well, not so much crashed, as you would have suffered a slight decrease in speed...
That was the point, sort of. I was going to raze a portion of this country, then finish it off with my remaining weapons. This whole planet is a mockery of sentient life. The humans...they shouldn't exist.
Sure, humans can be stupid, but as far as I can tell, causing genocide is just a tad more dumb.
Typical. Whatever, just get out of my way and let me finish what I've started. Thanks for shutting down their electrical systems, by the way. Now they won't know I'm coming.
The menace began to lower his(her?) ship to the ground...

 

Blinky's line flickered before it autorebooted. He was too distracted to notice. He did notice when Arleen started squawking in his ear. Blinky looked down at the red head beneath him, who was still catching her breath. At least she got off.

Blinky growled and rolled off her, looking for a pair of pants and retriving his pistol from under the bed.

Baby... is something wrong?

A hint of self-doubt glanced Ms. August's words. Blinky shook his head.

I wish I could stay sweetheart, you have no idea. But, tapping his earpiece, unfortunately, duty calls.

Blinky got up and opened his laptop. The computer was one of the best protected piece of electronic equipment on the planet, resistant to dropping, water damage, heat, and shielded against electric pulses. That had come in handy tonight. Arleen's face hurt his eyes after being in bed with that bombshell. Blinky poured himself a scotch while she updated him. He had already noticed the clocks were off, as was the light in the fridge.

What happened, California short-circuit?
California? The whole damn country Blinky, from sea to shining fucking sea.
That's... strange. Who would that benefit... except another invasion. I still owe boss BIG after fixing last time's mess, this is rather irritating. What's the recon?
There was a massive electrical disturbance headed for Texas. I didn't notify you because Kratzbalger had already said Grossenschwaum was handling it.
Somehow I doubt it ends there.
Well, the disturbance was apparently the some type of shield for a ship, the ship is trying to land, it looks like it's going to set down in Arizona or New Mexico.
Alright, this had better be good. Tell the Lizard I'm on my way.

Blinky closed the laptop and drained the rest of his scotch.

Baby, the power's out, you know what's wrong?
Not yet, I'm about to find out. Hang out here, and be careful, you never know who'ld try to take advantage of the situation. I think there's some food in the fridge too, help yourself.

Blinky gave her a quick kiss, grapped a blunt for the road, and hopped in the cloaked H9 that was hovering almost silently outside his window.

Pilot, home in on the signal coming from over Arizona and move to intercept. Be careful, they appear to have some advanced electrical technology.

With that, the H9 speed off into the night to fight this strange new foe.

 

Everything turned pitch black in Maximus' Hall, until the emergency lighting kicked on. The depth of his Hall, and the recently added shielding had protected everything underground, but had still knocked out the mains power from up above. He looked down at the burger he was just about to eat, and put it down forelornly.
What in Alberich's name has just happened?!, he bellowed.
It looks like we've lost mains power for some reason. Do you think they found our connection into the substation?, inquired his assistant Amidala. She was referring to a cable that was connected to a local substation, where they siphoned off free electricity. They'd dug for a week to connect that line, and it would be sorely missed if that was the case.
Dunno, but I'll find out. In the meantime, get power back up with the steam-generator.
He got into the steam-powered elevator and ascended to the surface.

Once there, he found Bruno Stonesplitter hard at work on one of the motorcycles. He was the techy of the group, and could probably fix anything mechanical, steam-powered, or electrical. Its no use Max, the electrics are all fried on this. I can jump start em, and they'll run fine on the micro-steam powered engines after that, but I'll need to replace the starter solenoids to fix em properly. Luckily, dwarven tech relied more on steam and mechanics then electronics, but still....

Alright, do what you can, then we'll hit up the Hounda dealership and liberate what we need. What the hell happened up here, the power company get bombed or somehing?
No, worse. Seems an EMP blast has knocked out power and electronics for as far as the eye can see. From what I cant tell, but it probably came from whatever's in the sky..., at which he pointed toward the descending spaceship off to the Northeast, By the way, those stereo's you brought in ... they didn't make it.
What?! Damn and blast, that money is already spent! Organize the Amazons, we're going out for Chinese....
Thumbs, a small but stocky dwarf went over the the side of the warehouse and started pulling a chain up and down. Below, an alarm bell started to sound, Bong! Bong! Bong!

Soon, over a hundred leather-clad women in typical steam-punk regalla assembled on their bikes, bristling with guns and knives concealed amongst their armor. Maximus climbed onto his bike, gun-metal black with a variety of guns and missiles mounted within its chassis, his trusty Tommy Gun on his back. Lets roll, Amazons! We've got loot to plunder!... His Biker Armada headed off to China-Town to loot and pillage the unsuspecting territory of the Tongs. In the distance, he could see South Central was already ablaze with looting and general anarchy in the streets. He'd better hurry if he wanted to capitalize on this new turn of events.

If he couldn't stike out at the big fat craft, he'd do the next best thing - Pillage!

 

Blinky clicked the com shut with his San Diego guy. San Diego was already tearing itself apart because of the loss of power. Blinky didn't really have time to care. It sucked, but the potential invasion of Earth was more important.

The only thing he had to be certain of, was that the police and swat teams would try to stay out of Maximus' way. They didn't have the equipment to stop him anyway, but he didn't want to risk losing a potential ally. And besides, he was still a Lord. The best they could do, or really expect to, was to mop up the damage they happen to inflict, and maybe Maximus would even take out a few of the gang members around there. At least they were warned.

Blinky's chopper set down in the desert, 300 yards from where the ship was currently setting down. Blinky hopped out and waved the copter away to a more secure position. He drew his pistol, a laser-sighted Desert Eagle, with a few enhancements here and there. He cautiously approached the ship to about 500 feet, and waited for any kind of a sign.

It came in he form of a yellowish-blue beam that dissipated into the a form that looked remarkably like a human with a tentacle for a head. The pinkish-red creature turned to Blinky, and the two just stared at each other in silence.

 

Wolfsbane awoke, his eyes furiously trying to get used to the new light settings (previously pitch black), and yawned. People outside was screaming, and the only light wich seemed to be on in the stables he currently resided in seemed to be the candle he'd put there just before he'd fallen asleep.
He got up unsteadily on his cloves (what's the name for cows' feet?), and slowly got dressed. He then grabbed his spam-filled suitcase and fumbled his way towards the barn door.
He opened the door, and there was light. And noice. And chaos.

Wolfsbane shut the door again, and opened his suitcase. He searched the many lumps of spam muttering to himself, until he finally found what he was looking for. His mobile-phone.
He quickly dialed a number and waited for somebody to answer.
The first signal rang...
The second signal rang...
The third signal rang...
Wolfsbane was almost about to give up when somebody answered, at last.
There was no "Hello?", though; only a scilent, quick tapping.

Wolfsbane had learned his spiders to morse-code.

Hi there mate[?color], he said, It seems I might get home later than we thought. Something's happened here in the States, as you might've noticed, and I think I've got to investigate it. It might take a few more days than planned, so just chill out and take care of the farm for me, would you?

The spider tapped a reply, and Wolfsbane munched a spam for breakfast.

Oh, he added, And no booze, ok? I'm gonna be angry if I find you drunk or hangoverish when I get back, ok? Good.

The spider tapped a reassuring "Of course not", and then tapped good bye and hang up. Wolfsbane finished his breakfast lump of spam and steadied himself for the new adventurish whatever that now lied before him.
He opened the barn door, and stepped outside.

 

(Hooves, dear boy, hooves. *wink*)

Xiao swore profusely, but luckily she managed to swap over to her backup manual instruments before anything drastic happened to her engines, but the swap left the jet skidding across the sky for almost a minute before control was regained.

I think I'll take a boat next time, Sima Yi quipped, looking uncomfortable in a t-shirt and jeans salvaged from Xiao's ex-boyfriend's wardrobe - he'd certainly never had the balls to come back for them! Besides, with Xiao in her black pants and rust-red shirt and jacket, they looked fairly normal.

Shut up, I'm trying to land while flying practically blind! she growled, sweat beading on her forehead as she wrestled with the manual controls, finally managing to skid-land about three hundred metres from the ship, the bear and the tentacle-head.

I don't think this thing will be flying again, Xiao grumbled as she popped the hatch and stepped out onto the churned ground.

Your grasp of the obvious rivals that of Cao Pi.

SHUT UP! Gawd, to think I could have brought Zhuge Liang...

The dictionary definition of Egomaniac? You're smarter than that.

Zhou Yu?

Narcissistic freak.

Huh. Lu Xun?

Pretty boy.

Lu Meng.

You don't even want to know.

Awwwww, fuck it. Hi Blinky. Hi tentacle man. This is Sima Yi - yes THAT Sima Yi.

 

The Fallen Amazons rolled into Los Angeles' China Town district, home of the Tongs gang. They were a bunch of illegal Chinese immigrants and reject gangsters (why else would they be here and not in China?) who'd been infringing on his turf for a while now. Today was payback.

Over 100 women, and a smattering of dwarves, drove down the center of the street, two by two for over a mile, with Maximus at the lead. Those with any sense ran indoors and locked the doors, others just stood and stared. First stop was Tommy Tom's restaurant, which was a front for an underground gambling joint. Gambling was Maximus' stock and trade, and Tommy didn't pay any tribute for the lost business. His gang dismounted and started looting the neighborhood, breaking into jewelry and clothing stores and taking what they wanted. Everything on this street was owned by Tommy Tom, and was mostly a money laundering front for his heroin trade. Maximus hated the hard drugs in his streets, and didn't mind punishing those who profited from it.

He entered through the front doors of the restaurant, despite the 'closed' sign.
Sir, we no open!, a small chinese waitress protested. He ignored her and went to the back of the store, kicked in a heavy wooden door, and marched in. Four shady looking gangsters stood up and pulled out nun-chukas and knives. Thats what he liked about the Tongs, they fought fair, no cowardly guns. Avoiding his 9mm's, he pulled an alunimum bat wrapped in barbed-wire from over his shoulder and started fighting. Two minutes later, he walked past the unconscious and bleeding Tongs and went up to the wall, removed a picture, and revealed a small safe. Placing a small amount of plastique on the front, he stood around the corner and blasted the door off. After emptying the contents into a pillowcase, he calmly walked out smoking a fat cuban cigar. After lighting it, he lit a molotov cocktail and tossed it over his shoulder into the restaurant. Payment due, sucka!

In the streets, the rest of the Tongs were in pitched hand-to-hand combat with the Amazons. Punks, didn't their mom ever teach them not to hit girls? Tucking the bag into his belt, he pulled the bat out again and set out to correct their bad manners.

He could hear the police sirens in the distance and knew the fun would need to come to and end soon. He wondered what he was going to do about the spaceship he'd seen, and if it had anything to do with the lights going out.

 

Das Sturmgeist landed near the alien ship. Grossenschwaum disembarked from his mobile base and stood aside Blinky, Xiao, and...Sima Yi?
Hmmm...interesting choice of headgear, Mr. I-use-ball-lightning-as-a-shield. You're going to need to explain why it is you hate the humans so much, and why you have to destory this planet to get rid of them.
Grossenschwaum didn't really expect an answer from the tentacle-headed humanoid; at least, not one he would entirely understand.
Not only that, but the mere presence of Sima Yi was simply mind-boggling. I mean, what the hell?
Why? You live on this planet, surely you've seen how much damage has been done. Honestly, this whole place is rapidly becoming unlivable. The whole point of being self-conscious is to be responsible in your actions. The humans are running off of instinct. If they were set loose on any other planet with a pre-existing sentient life, they'd be in zoos.
An interesting point...
Fascinating...But you still didn't answer my question. Ok, humans are acting stupid and insulting sentient life. Why does the rest of the planet need to pay? And, Xiao...How did you find Sima Yi?

 

Blinky half-turned to Grossenschwaum, Xiao and Sima Yi. It was nice to have a few people of the other Lords here in case things turned ugly. Where Xiao had found Sima Yi was another question, he hadn't seen him in a LONG time.

Blinky turned his attention back to the creature, reading for a fight if it came to one.

I hate to break it to you... whoever the fuck you are, but you're going to have to come up with a better plan than destroying this world and eradicating humans. I happen to be quite fondly attached to a sparse few of them.

The tentacle-head turned towards Blinky and glared at him. A strange tingling sensation came upon Blinky, and it almost seemed as if the creature was trying to read his mind. Blinky put a stop to that almost immediately. He wasn't about to let some weird-headed monster be privvy to his private thoughts.

Blinky fired one round, at the creature, purposely aiming a half-inch left of it's head. The creature barely responded, but the tingling sensation stopped.

Nice trick, but you'll have to excuse me for interrupting. So what's it going to be, because I'ld really hate for this to turn uglier than it has too. The bottom line is, though, you won't be driving anything on this planet to extinction anytime soon.
You're an interesting creature My reports mentioned you would likely attempt to intervene. Your name is... Blinky, is it not?
Uh... yea. So, back to the...

Blinky was cut off by another light, and a robot materializing in front of him. The machine took a step towards him and raised one of its large cudgel-shaped arms, trying to smash Blinky into the ground. He rolled to the side and fired twice, his bullets ricocheting off the construct's metal plating. The machine spun around, landing a solid blow that sent Blinky flying back about twenty feet, his gun scattering out of his hand.

Blinky laid on his back for a second, then took the blunt out of his mouth. It was almost done anyway. He rubbed it out on the desert ground. Now he was annoyed.

 

Xiao grinned toothily - very toothily, considering that she appeared to have a couple of fangs these days - at Gross and winked.

If something is to be gained, something of equal or greater value must be sacrificed. I lost a great power, only to gain a new one... And he seems to be part of the package.

She lucked out when playing god, Sima Yi elaborated, earning himself a half-hearted glare and a quick elbow to the stomach.

They watched the interplay between the tentacle-man and Blinky with interest, eyes glittering with off curiousity and no small amount of cunning.

And then the robot hit Blinky, and the rage triggered Xiao's new power.

A dark blue light coalesced in her right hand, settling into a shape that was familiar to anyone who knew their Chinese history. A strategist's fan, feather tinted a stormcloud gray to match her eyes.

Oh, you've been practicing. Very nice, but go easy on the shimmering next time.

Oh, SHUT UP!

With a twist of her wrist a fist-sized ball of lightning formed amongst the feathers of the fanand rocketed towards the robot.

 

Maximus gunned the engine of his steam-powered motorcycle, and rallied the Amazons back to their bikes. Playtime with the Tongs was over, as the sounds of sirens were coming closer. As the gang mounted up and prepared to leave, an odd thought struck Maximus. If an EMP or similar device had knocked out power and electronics all over the city, how was some cop car still operating, and why did the siren sound funny?

His question was answered as a large robot piloted by a ... squid(?) rounded the corner and smashed into the side of a wall. It wobbled and then turned toward the Tongs who were still out in the street. The tentacle-headed thing eyed (supposedly) everyone and then it raised one of the arms and fired a laser at one of the Tongs, and disintegrated him! The gangsters started running for cover, being armed with only melee weapons. The machine kept firing at the Tongs, killing a score of them in moments.

This isn't right, thought Maximus, sure, the Tongs were rivals but they were honorable and deserved better than dying at the hands of Octopus-head!
Amazons, lets turn that thing into calamari! He pulled his trusty Tommy-gun from the side of his bike and began firing, with bullets richochetting all over, the others had the same results. He raised his fist for them to stop, but just then a blast of a Gausian laser tore into the side of the bot, sending it reeling onto its side with a thunderous crash, a gaping hole now in its side. He looked down the line to see Knuckles, a foul-mannered dwarf with a ratty beard weilding a Gausian mini-vulcan machine gun, which he must of brought with him from the shielded armory.
Hit him again!
Just as the bot was righting itself and preparing to counter attack, *BLAM!* three successive blasts ripped through the bot and caused it to explode, shattering the clear canopy that had protected the squid-thing. Maximus approached, drawing his 9mm loaded with armor-piercing rounds with explosive tips, and climbed on top of the wreckage to look down at the alien struggling to free itself. The creature stopped and looked up at him.
What the Hells your problem fish-face? Why did you attack us?
His answer was a sudden painful headache, but more like a magnifying glass burning into his brain. A foriegn voice inside his head saying only,
DIE .... DIE...
Maximus raised the 9mm in his left hand and squeezed the trigger three times, splattering green blood everywhere. The pain ceased as the thing died.
You first.

 

Green blood splattered everywhere, covering Wolfsbane in greenish, disgusting, slime. Before him lay a former octopus-thingy, and in front of that thing stood Maximus with a drawn gun.
Wolfsbane reached into his leather-jackets pockets and pulled out a handcarchief. He wiped his face and carefully eyed the dead thing on the ground, before turning to Maximus.

Um, he said, while pointing at the splattered beast in the wreckage, What is that? And what the fuck is going on? Here one goes to sleep in a rather, if only for the moment, sleepy little neighbourhood, and then one wakes up to green whatnot and chaos? Please, Maximus, explain to me.

He eyed the thing again. It seemed to him that it was moving. Probably nothing, but best to be sure. Wolfsbane kicked it hard in the remains of its' body, and was pleased to discover it not moving any more.

 

Maximus looked at Wolfsbane, somewhat surprised to see him, I'm not sure what the hells going on, but I intend to find out. It seems all the electronics are knocked out for as far as the eye can see, and because of that I cant find out how widespread this whole thing is.

The big question is, what in Alberich's name is that thing?, he pointed to the green gore at their feet.

I'm heading toward Arizona where I think a spaceship landed, and probably where this thing came from. Best I can figure, it has something to do with the lights going out as well, so I intend on having some words with our new visitors....

With no traffic to slow us down, we should be there in four hours. If you want to ride with us, jump on the back of Callisto's bike.
-We roll in five!

The bikers started mounting up and getting ready to leave. Across the street, Tommy Tom stood on the corner looking at Maximus. A moment passed before the rival leader put his hands together like he was praying and bowed slowly, obviously saying thanks for stopping the robot from destroying his entire gang. Maximus chewed on his cigar a bit, and then nodded politely in response.

 

Blinky sat up in time to see Xiao's blast blow the robot back a few feet, reeling from the impact. Standing up he balled a bright ice-blue ball of cold in his hand and shot out his own blast, freezing both of the robots legs. The machine wasn't in a position to balance, and it's legs cracked trying to support its weight, sending the top half crashing into the dirt.

The tentacle creature looked amused.

Interesting creatures all of you. You've even neutralized the scout I sent into your city. It's little matter, I have things to attend to.

The creature vanished and his ship began to move again, heading south. Blinky brushed himself off and looked at Xiao and Gross.

I guess that means vacation's over, huh?

Blinky accentuated the question by freezing the still-twitching top half of the robot with another ray of freezing energy.

 

From the shadows of a nearby alley, a dishevelled man in tatter clothing edged forwards. He checked around cautiously for any remaining gang members. He had a filth encrusted, worn face like any of the vast legion of homeless wretches who still existed in this brave new world. The last of the Amazons were disappearing in the direction of Arizona.
Hasty, hasty. How typical of those foolish Lords. Although Maximus was more foolish than most, he was simply an exaggerated version of the others. A pitiful lust for power and control. No doubt they would try to defend the planet from this latest threat but not out of any kindness. No. They would do it to maintain their powerbase. After all, if the earth is destroyed who is going to make breakfast for them?
With bitter thoughts circulating in his mind the tramp made his way over to the felled robot.
As he approached the "driver's cab" he heard a faint whisper, gently stirring in his mind.
Help...mmme....power...I offfffer...you...reward...save...mmmmme
The alien (if that's what it even was) lay motionless, apart from a slight quivering of its large pupil.
Still alive, as I suspected. No doubt multiply redundant systems capable of great regeneration. Given time of course. Time you aren't going to have, I'm afraid.
At that the filth encrusted man produced a syringe from his overcoat and injected it into the creature's neck.
Nnnnooo...help...mmmme....I...help....yooooouuu...Lords...defeat...help...you...
Nooooooo
After a brief moment of twitching it ceased all movement and the voice in his head faded.
Such a shame, I would have loved a live specimen but the risk is too great.
Producing an odd little cubic device, the man began to run it over the wreck of the machine. He then, matter-of-factly, decapitated the alien with a vibro-blade, tucked the head into a bag and scuttled back into the darkness of the alley.

 

Xiao watched the ship vanish helplessly. Once upon a time she would have hollared for Baby and the sentient ship would have come running, but since her burn-out Baby had simply ignored her.

Mother-fuckin' goddamned alien piece o' shit!!! she yelled, a brief whirl of air twisting dust around her ankles as a counterpart to her curses. Fuck you too! I'll tear you a new one, ya great big dingo's donger! I'll... I'll... I'll stop acting like a stereotypical Aussie for one moment and think. That's what I'll do.

I wish I could take credit for that. That was a Red-Cliffs-Level freak out. Not even Cao Cao let rip like that.

A sudden, cruel, almost Machiavellian grin spread across Xiao's face. Ah. An idea is spawned.

Oh no. NO. You're not.

Pffft. Puh-lease. He'd be trying to subvert me within three seconds. But... tell me, which generals do you think are most trustworthy? I've had a very wicked idea indeed.

She turned to Blinky, still grinning. Blinky, my good friend, any chance of helping me and my friend here to the nearest city with an airstrip? I have some rather amusing plans in mind.