#12351
"Dear god I hope this works." Furious Squirrel yanked back on a lever next to the piloting wheel of his battle dirigible and then hit the gas.
A blue barrier formed around the airship like an oval bubble and a powerful blast of white energy burst from the aft section. The airship shot into the sky, straight up. He was heading for space.
One day before:
Sirens screamed and citizens scattered in fear. BADGE operatives set down in shuttles and hurried people into them. Most of the BADGE workers were large robotic defense drones used for training and crowd control. Today they had a pleasing tone and a gentle motion as they guided the terrified citizens into the shuttles.
Furious Squirrel ran along and helped with the evac. "Yes, that shuttle. No, don't worry about your dog, you can take him... sorry, her. Just hurry."
The ATLAS program had issued a dire warning as once again meteors were speeding toward the planet.
Unlike many other heroes, Furious didn't have the capability to go into space to fight this. So, he did his best to help by getting the citizens to safety.
"Furious, come in." Arx voice came through his comm.
Furious stepped aside from the lines of people and answered, "Furious here."
"We are detecting a single surge of meteors entering the area. The heroes are about to be overwhelmed. I need you to get in touch with any rogue heroes you can to ask for their help."
Furious walked around as he thought, "I only know a few rogues who don't work directly with BADGE, but none of them have the ability to get into space. And, most of them wouldn't be able to do much if they did."
"This is bad." Arx looked off to the side and then turned back, "Where are you currently?"
"I'm in Tokyo, why?"
"We have a report that Dr. Isawa at the Japanese Institute of Laser Technology has developed a laser that might be of use in this battle. Could you go and see if it is available."
Furious looked around at the fleeing people. "A single laser? How could that help?"
"It is supposed to be extraordinarily powerful. Our reports show that Dr. Isawa designed this for the potential of a Mass Extinction Level catastrophe from space. These meteors qualify."
"Okay. I'll check it out. send the coordinates to my comm."
Furious got the info and rushed off to his landed dirigible. He had a crowd of citizens filling the cargo bay so he got it airborne and escorted them to the nearby safety bunker. Once they had disembarked, he sped away to the JILT.
Getting to the door, he quickly showed them his BADGE badge and they let him in. A Japanese woman met him with a bow and then asked. "Is it true that BADGE wants to test my laser today on this event?"
"Yes. Is it ready?"
She nodded, "The laser is ready, but there is a problem." She walked him back into the largest laboratory he had ever seen. Inside was a massive weapon. "The laser is too big for any shuttle or ship to get into space." Furious took a long look at it and then asked, "How long is it?"
"twenty eight meters."
"Okay. I have an idea. But Im not sure how well it will work."
"What?" She asked.
"I have a ship that is large enough to strap this on. And, just recently I had it upgraded with an airshield for high atmospheric flight. It should also keep the ship safe in space for a short while. But, Ive never tested it."
Dr. Isawa pointed at a computer monitor. "We are hours away from an Extinction Level event. I think it is a good time to try."
Furious gave this a moment longer in thought and then said, "Do it."
Dr. Isawa quickly got her crew working and they moved the laser, using big equipment, outside and Furious piloted his ship to a place where they could attach it. Two dozen men and women worked at top speed to get it welded down and wired into his system. She checked his air shield and propulsion and gave him a thumbs up.
With the huge weapon attacked to the belly of his ship, Furious mustered up courage and set off for the first space flight he had ever tried.
Speeding toward the sky, he set his course for the heart of the incoming Meteor storm. He thought about his friends and family and then realized, Family was the key to getting the impossible done, taking a vehicle into space that was never meant to go there.
"Dear god I hope this works." Furious Squirrel yanked back on a lever next to the piloting wheel of his battle dirigible and then hit the gas.
A blue barrier formed around the airship like an oval bubble and a powerful blast of white energy burst from the aft section. The airship shot into the sky, straight up.
The energy barrier strained under the pressures of the upper atmosphere, it turned from blue to hot orange and yellow. Then, as if he were breaking through a window, he entered space itself. For a moment it was peaceful, serene, and strange. He used his magnetic locks on his boot to keep himself on the ground as gravity was not working any longer.
Little flickers of light in the distance caught his attention and he pressed forward. His ship shot through space at the best speeds he could muster. It was strange not flying on air. And, without the energy field, his balloon would explode and he would die.
"Furious, is that you?" Arx's voice came over his ships comm.
Furious grabbed a pipe from the ceiling and yanked it down, he spoke into it. "I'm coming in hot. I have the laser strapped to my belly and a full power tank. We have one blast, but it will be massive if Dr. Isawa is correct."
"When?"
"Two Minutes. Might want to tell the others to give me room. Don't want to take out any heroes today."
"Gotcah." Arx changed and his comm came through to everyone at once. "All heroes, make a path for Furious Squirrel and his dirigible. I repeat, make a clear path."
He got closer and closer, one hand on the wheel the other on the control button. he had one shot and it had better work.
"Use the force, Furious." He said to himself as he saw the point in space where these strange meteors were coming from. With a firm press of the button and a lot of prayer, the laser cannon shot a straight, huge beam into the heart of the storm. As it passed through the storm, little blips of light happened where meteors were burnt up by the laser. Then, larger explosions happened when it passed right through the bigger, far deadly stones. Finally, a single, massive explosion came when it met the biggest mother meteor at the heart of this storm. The shockwave of its explosion decimated other meteors.
The power cell spent, Furious quickly turned the wheel to get away before a billion shards of meteors hit him.
"We gotcha!" Several Heroes came over his comm.
Looking out from the pilot house, ten heroes flew up near him and helped guide him back toward the planet.
The computer at the ATLAS station on the spacestation, alerted everyone, "Meteor crisis averted. Earth safe. Damage control teams activate."
Cheers came from all the heroes, no more so than from Furious himself. The crisis had been averted.
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