Mighty Ducks-The Second Line

D.U.C.K.S.

"Hurry up!!" a Duck yelled. "Fall back!!"

Dozens of Ducks in white and teal uniforms ran for their lives, firing their puck cannons behind them. One Duck was still facing the direction from where the Ducks were running, firing pucks all about the area. He screamed as he pumped pucks out from his weapon. The lead Duck came up and grabbed his shoulder, pulling him back.

"C'mon, soldier!! We gotta get outta here and regroup!!"

The Duck tried to break away from him. "No way, Ice!!" he yelled. "I can take them!"

The Duck wrenched away from Ice's grip and jumped over a mound of dirt and ran out into the open, once again firing his puck cannon.

Suddenly, a great blast surrounded the young Duck. Fire and dirt flew all around the area. Ice shielded his eyes as he watched a member of his platoon die in the explosion.

"He died with courage." Ice said, and he lowered his head. He then followed his retreating troops.

The running Ducks were followed by a horde of Authority soldiers, all dressed in black uniforms and red helmets. They all carried dark tachyon blasters and knives on each side of their leg. They fired upon the Ducks as they headed back towards an AeroWing attack jet.

The front ramp of the AeroWing was lowered as the first group of Ducks ran onto the attack jet. The jet fired a few pulse blasts over the battle field, holding the Authority soldiers back as the rest of the squadron loaded up onto the AeroWing. When Ice finally made it aboard, he punched a button and the ramp began to retract and fold up.

"Okay, Sunrise! Let's go!!" Ice yelled to the pilot.

Two pilots were sitting in the two chairs in the front of the cockpit. Sunrise pushed a few buttons and the other pilot pulled the throttle back. The AeroWing began to rise over the battle field. The Authority soldiers below them aimed their weapons at the belly of the plane and began to fire. The AeroWing returned their fire and scattered them out around the battle field. The Ducks then flew off to return to the resistance's base, the Blue Triangle.

Sunrise leaned back in her chair as she brushed away a purple lock of hair out of her face. She looked over at her flying partner, who was a rookie at flying back from a battle. She grasped the flying wheel firmly as she checked her instruments from under her shoulder length hair.

Sunrise smiled at her. "So Sara," she said. "You ready for your first home landing outside simulation?"

Sara looked over at her teacher. "I can do better than that."

As the AeroWing made it safely over the secured borders of the Blue Triangle, she aimed for the main building that all the administrative headquarters were held. It was a incredibly tall skyscraper all alone. It was very well guarded. Sara kept going toward the building.

"What are you doing, Sara?" Sunrise asked worriedly.

Sara didn't answer as she made the AeroWing do a tight swing around the building and hover above the AeroWing landing point. As she centered the plane squarely above the target area, she dropped the vertical thrusters. The AeroWing fell at a great speed. All the troopers clung to the rails along the insides of the plane, trying not to be flung across the plane.

"What the heck are you doing?!" Ice hollered at Sara.

Sara smiled as she saw that she was nearing the ground, and pulled back the throttle. The AeroWing began to slow and landed softly and perfectly on the target area. She then taxied the AeroWing to the main hangar of the Blue Triangle and lowered the ramp. All the Ducks walked off the AeroWing in a daze. Ice left the plane with Sunrise and Sara.

"Where the heck did you learn how to fly like that?!" Ice asked. Sara shrugged.

"I really can't tell you." Sara replied. "It would cost a good pilot her job."

Sunrise smiled and blushed. The three Ducks went into the main barracks and headquarters. The two girls went to their bunks while Ice continued towards the main office.

When he entered the door, the room fell silent. It was full of high-ranking officers and soldiers who had just returned from other battles around PuckWorld. They all looked at Ice. He was dripping with sweat, his battle uniform clad with dirt and blood. The officers in the room knew that Ice was one of the best leaders the resistance had to offer, and they also knew that he had the most difficult objective. They all were relieved to see him back from battle, but they still were waiting for him to speak. How did it go? Did he take the strategic Authority building that stored supplies for the Authority? How many men did he lose.

Ice stomped his way through the crowd of officers and made his way to the head general's table at the end of the room. He stopped in front of the desk and looked the general in the eye. He then picked up the general's coffee cup and turned it upside down, spilling all of his hot coffee over his desk. The general looked up at Ice.

"Is something disturbing you, Sergeant?" he asked the irritated Duck.

Ice slammed the coffee mug back on the table and bared his teeth.

"I lost 300 men on this last mission." he growled. "My men and I can't go on like this. We need more fresh troops so we can clinch that supply station. Then we can rebuild from there and start taking out other Authority stations. Afterwards, we can unite all our forces and take out the Authority headquarters and end all of this once and for all!!"

The general wiped his face at the thought of losing a great number of men. He looked up at Ice again and brought out a stack of papers. He slammed them on his desk on top of the spilt coffee.

"Do you see this, Sergeant Ice!?" he asked the commander. "These are the names of all the soldiers that we have lost to small resistance groups because they think that they're immortal when you put a gun in their hands. They break away from this army to fight in their own little groups. If this keeps up, we might not have an army to fight the Authority with. What we need is a prayer."

Ice hung his head and clenched his fist. "I'm going for that supply bunker one more time." he said to the general. "I want 200 men, 3 AeroWings, and ten land speeders."

The general shook his head and looked up at Ice again. "I'm sorry, Ice, but I can't spend that much on such a small factor."

"This is no small factor, Justin." Ice glared. "And this is not over."

Ice stormed out of the office and went out in the hangar. He walked out onto the target areas for the AeroWings. He watched as a group of troopers took off in an AeroWing to another battle. "They've all got spirit." he thought.

He continued walking along the AeroWing fighters, thinking about how the resistance would live on if they couldn't even get a hold of just one supply post. He kicked a rock on the ground and watched it skip away on the blacktop. He watched the rock stop and sit where it was. He stared at it for a while.

Suddenly, he felt the feathers on the back of his neck stand up, and the wind started to blow, and the temperature started to fall. Ice looked around to see if the Blue Triangle was facing an attack by the Authority. Clouds began to circle around the complex, and lightning began to form.

"This is too weird." Ice stated. The storm began to pick up and the lightning became more violent. Ice prepared himself for the worst, he thought he was going to be struck by lightning.

Finally, there was a loud roar as the lightning struck the ground. The wind blew everything around, shaking the AeroWings in their place. He tried to look into the great light of the lightning, but had to shield his eyes. After the storm reached his peak, it began to die down, and Ice was able to see where the lightning struck. He gasped as he saw that there was now strange vehicles that he had never seen before. The only one he recognized was the Mighty Ducks' AeroWing. He rubbed his eyes to see if he was seeing right, and he held his ground.

He watched as he saw the Mighty Ducks and the Second Line get out of their vehicles with their purple hockey jerseys on. Stivz got out of the Triton and charged his puck rifle, looking for any movement around the area. Justin brought down his hands and walked over to Stivz. He pointed the rifle don at the ground and looked around.

"We're here." he said. "It's the Blue Triangle."

"The what?" Wildwing asked. He looked around and saw his home planet. It was dark form destruction. He then saw the lines of AeroWings on the runway.

"This is the main headquarters for the resistance against the Authority." Justin answered. He pointed to the tall skyscraper. "My office was in there."

Ice stared at the Ducks. He couldn't believe what he just saw. At first impression, he thought that they were intruders. So, he did what any well-trained soldier would do. He fired at them to hold them at bay.

When the first puck hit Stivz's Triton, Stivz ducked behind his door and charged up his puck rifle. All the other Ducks jumped back into their vehicles and armed their weapons. Justin warned Stivz.

"Don't fire on him! He's one of PuckWorld's only hopes."

Stivz disarmed his rifle and waved own the others. Justin stood up and walked out from behind Stivz and raised his arm to Ice, who finally stopped firing.

"Who are you?!" Ice yelled, still pointing the puck cannon at Justin's chest.

Justin pointed at Ice's hand and lightning shot out from his finger and struck the gun Ice was holding. The gun fell to the ground and Justin began walking towards Ice. After he walked about 10 feet, Ice recognized the face and just stood there.

"General?" he asked. Justin stopped.

"Yes, Sergeant. It's me." he said. "At least, I'm from the future."

"How about your little friends over there?"

"Actually, they are from the present, but they are here to help you take control of that Authority supply station. It wasn't until two years after your death when I realized that your plan was the best one that we had."

"My death?" Ice blinked.

Justin stopped himself. "Remember, history hasn't been written yet. But you, these Ducks, and the two pilots known as Sunrise and Sara, are the keys to PuckWorld's liberation."

"I understand." Ice stated.

"Good." Justin said. "Let's meet your new friends."

Justin walked Ice over to the large SuperVehicles. He had never seen anything from Earth, let alone oversized assault vehicles. Ice saw every Duck as they got out of their wheels. He noticed how every member of the team wore their large, dark purple jerseys. He then recognized the bright logo of the triangle and the two crossedover hockey sticks. He knew that these Ducks could be trusted.

Wildwing stepped of the stairs of the AeroWing onto the ground. Ice immediately noticed his golden hockey mask.

"You're the-....." he stuttered. "You're him!"

Wildwing looked confused. "I'm who?"

"You're the guy who led that team of Ducks in kicking Dragonous and the Saurians off the planet!" Ice said. "You're wearing Drake DuCaine's mask!"

Wildwing blushed. "Well," he said. "This is that team of Ducks." He gestured his arm behind him, and pointed out the original Mighty Ducks. Ice couldn't believe his eyes. Justin explained more to him.

"Ice, these are the Mighty Ducks, the elite fighting force that kicked Dragonous off PuckWorld." Justin pointed to the rest. "And these Ducks are the Second Line. They came to Earth from PuckWorld a year ago. All of them together are kicking Saurian tail all about the planet there."

Justin then walked to Stivz. He put his hand on Stivz's shoulder. "This fine young Duck is Stivz." Justin said. "He is the leader of the Second Line, and will be quite useful in this crazy war."

Justin then walked over to Ice. "These Ducks are here to help you. They can fight anywhere, and at anytime. The Authority headquarters are in a city called Bauertown. Once you take over the supply depot that you need, assemble as many troopers as you can and make an offensive towards the Authority's base. It's the perfect plan."

Ice nodded. He then looked over to the new Ducks and saw their weapons and their other supplies. He smiled and turned to Justin.

"We're really going to go through with this, aren't we?" he asked. Justin smiled.

"It's for the good of the free PuckWorld."

Justin then walked over to Wildwing and Stivz and gave them instructions.

"Gentlemen, welcome to PuckWorld." he said. "Wildwing, you take your team and apply for officer positions. You all will then train soldiers to be prepare for the ultimate conflict with the Authority."

Justin then turned to Stivz. "Stivz, take the Second Line and form your own squadron. You and Ice will lead this team and a few other Ducks into taking out an Authority post, and then prepare for the final fight. PuckWorld's freedom is counting on both of you."

Stivz and Wildwing nodded, Justin stood back and folded his arms proudly.

"Then good luck to all of you, and good hunting." Justin said. He raised his arms and the weather began to change rapidly again. As the storm grew Stivz yelled to Justin through the wind.

"There's one thing I need to know." he screamed. "How the hell did you jump off the edge of the Pond?!"

Justin smiled as the lightning began to form from his fingertips. "I'm not just a time traveler."

With that, Justin disappeared in the bright lights and thunder, hopefully back in the future, peacefully enjoying PuckWorld as a free nation.

Stivz shook hands with Ice, and the other Ducks soon followed. Ice looked at them once more. He still couldn't grasp the entire situation. The Mighty Ducks were with Wildwing already applying for officer jobs. By now they were probably already being assigned to the training complex. James looked around and saw how much the planet had changed since he was last there. It was now dark and bleak, and the smoke and smog made it hard for the sunlight to shine on the ground. Dusty was getting impatient.

"So, when do we start hurting people?"

Stivz smiled. "As soon as we get ready." he said. "Right now we need to find out our mission and get mobilized."

Ice grinned. "You know your military." he said. "Let's go to the briefing room."

On the way back into the building, Ice and the Ducks passed a team of message runners.

"Notify Sara and Sunrise to meet me in the briefing room." Ice ordered. The message runner saluted and hurried off towards their dormitory.

"Things are ran pretty well around here." Betsy commented. Chance blew a lock of black hair away from her face.

"Yeah." she said. "And the security's pretty tight around here. It would take a legion of Authority soldiers to penetrate this place's defenses."

Blade and Nylessa laughed. "Ha!" Nylessa shouted. "Blade and I can blow past the security with one hand tied behind our backs."

"Forget that." Erin said from behind them. "What kind of computers do they have here. I've never been to PuckWorld before. I think this is just great."

Stivz frowned. "Unfortunately, Erin, the technology here on PuckWorld isn't as advanced as it is on Earth."

Ice butted in. "But many say that the Authority has tons of computer equipment and technology stowed away in their supply stations. They've been keeping it from us for months now."

"I guess we'll find that out when we hit that Authority junkyard." James said.

Finally, the Second Line and Ice made it to the briefing room, and entered it. Inside, there was maps of the terrain around the Blue Triangle and places where Authority targets were highlighted. Ice pulled down another map that he had used in the battle before. It showed arrows pointed toward a small group of dots on a hill. The Second Line sat down in the desks in the room. Stivz grabbed a pencil from off his desk and started to chew on it. Ice picked up a laser pointer and circled the little dots.

"This is our target, ladies and gentlemen." Ice stated. "This is the key in the offensive towards Bauertown, the Authority headquarters."

Stivz was confused. "What is so important and significant about a supply station? Doesn't the Authority have dozens of those?"

"Yes." answered Ice. "But intelligence says that this supply depot is heavily guarded. Which means that there is something very important in that place."

"Ahh." Stivz said. James cracked his knuckles and popped his back. "So, what's the plan?" he asked.

"I'm glad you asked." Ice said. "First, we'll clear out the area of Authority booby traps and soldiers by firing pulse blasts from the AeroWings and that silver aircraft that you have. Afterwards, we will land here with two AeroWings in this area guarded by small hills." Ice pointed to a brown spot on the map. "Then we will separate into two group and run an attack pattern parallel to each other, firing on Authority soldiers that will attack the AeroWings."

"It's brilliant!" Dusty said. "It's just like a give-and-go pattern in hockey. The opposing team will be checked from both sides. They can't defend against that."

"Exactly." Ice said. "Once we get our pilots in here, we can get ready for battle."

Stivz leaned back in his chair, stretching as far he could go. "Yep, yep, yep." he smiled. "There's nothing like a good war that can bring out the aggressive side. I don't care how I'll wind up, as long as I'm helping PuckWorld win its freedom."

"So Stivz." Erin asked. "Have you decided who will fly the SilverWing?"

"Why, yes I have Erin." Stivz said. All the Ducks now listened, leaning on any word that would come out of his mouth. Stivz announced who would fly.

"I've decided that Betsy will fly the AeroWing, and Erin will ride with Chance in the Streak."

"YESSS!!" Betsy shouted. She had longed to fly the plane ever since she laid eyes on it.

There was a knock on the door and Ice answered it. "Who is it?" he asked through the door.

"It's your escort service." laughed a girl from the other side. Stivz's eyes grew wide. He had never heard a voice like that. It was almost hypnotizing.

Ice opened the door to let Sunrise and Sara come in. Stivz almost fell out of his chair as he first saw Sara. He long bright blonde hair glowed and her smile was absolutely gorgeous. Stivz couldn't help but stare at her. His jaw literally fell to the ground.

"Stivz." Ice said. "May I introduce our transportation for this mission: Sunrise and Sara."

Stivz shook Sara's hand. It was so warm that Stivz felt that he was about to melt in her hand. He couldn't believe what he was feeling. After their little greeting, the two girls sat down in their chairs near the front desk. Stivz walked back to his desk and turned around to get another look at Sara. She looked right back into his eyes as she crossed her legs. Stivz was so surprised that he broke his pencil in his hand and fell into his chair. James slapped him in the back.

"Ease off, big guy." James said. "Don't be going off into relationships before a war. You never know what might happen in battle." James had been watching Stivz and his reactions all along.

The smile on Stivz suddenly disappeared. "That's right!" he said. "Let's go kick some ass."

"All right," said Ice. "Let's see what we have here."

Ice was taking inventory of everything that the Ducks had brought with them from Earth. He especially liked the vehicles.

"These huge cars and trucks will be very useful in the time to come." he said. "We could plow through Authority defenses with no problem."

Stivz reached into the bed of his truck and pulled out a hockey stick. It was one that was unbreakable like the rest of the Second Line's, which they stole from an Authority base a year ago.

"This will come in handy whenever we're in hand-to-hand combat with those idiots." Stivz said. He then patted his puck rifle in its holster. "And this will be for wiping out a few lines in the battlefield."

Ice grinned. "I've got about 150 troops coming in for this mission. It's too bad that we're sneaking them out from behind the general's back."

"I wouldn't worry about it." Stivz said. "Once we accomplish this mission, everything will be alright."

Stivz dropped a street hockey ball on the ground and covered it with his hockey stick. He then pointed to a wall on the side of a hangar.

"You see that wall right there?" he asked Sara, smiling. Sara nodded. Stivz then drew back his stick and let a slap shot rip at the wall. There was a loud crash, and the ball fell at the base of the wall. It had left a dent about a 2 inch dent in the reinforced iron pane wall.

"That's what I'm going to do with the Authority leader when I get the chance." Stivz grinned, sliding his hand up and down his hockey stick. Sara just smiled and blushed. She knew that Stivz was trying to impress her. She winked at him, which gave him a great sense of pride and compassion.

Stivz walked back to his Triton, put the stick in the back, and leaned up against the side. He looked around and saw his teammates. They were all ready for battle. Dusty checked to see if his two puck blasters were loaded, and he also made sure that he had plenty of spare puck clips in reach. Chance adjusted her glasses, and Erin was checking her laptop.

"Make sure that all of you pack your blades." Stivz ordered. "There's a lot of land out there, not much ice. So, we may need them."

Betsy gave Stivz a thumbs up and finished loading her gear. She threw her duffel bag into the back of the SilverWing. James walked over to Stivz.

"When I was a spy against the Authority back here a long time ago," he said. "I learned many things about the Authority soldiers."

Stivz scratched his chin. Ice overheard James and became interested. He walked over to the two.

"Don't keep us in suspense." he said. "We need all the information we can get."

James frowned. "Authority troopers do not take prisoners. They are ruthless, and prefer hand-to-hand combat rather than shooting aimlessly into a crowd of Ducks."

"Good." said Ice. "We can take out more soldiers that way, but we still need to be careful."

Stivz nodded. James simply grinned. "Let's just pray that everything goes smoothly for us."

Sunrise walked up to the Ducks with her flight jacket on. She threw a flight jacket to Sara, who immediately put it on.

"Well," Sunrise said. "The AeroWings are ready for loading, and then we can get outta here after the Authority."

The Ducks knew their cue. They started getting their SuperVehicles ready and dove them up the ramp into the cargo hold of the AeroWings. Stivz was the last one on. After all the vehicles were on board and the Ducks were ready, Sunrise turned to her young pupil.

"I guess this is the big test." she said. "It's time that you fly your own ship." Sara nodded.

"Yeah." Sara replied. "I'm kind of nervous, but I can do it."

Sunrise smiled and shook her head. "There's nothing to be nervous about. You know what to do, and I'm sure you'll do alright. Your one of the best young pilots out here."

Sara blushed and smiled. "Thanks." she said. "I needed that."

Sunrise nodded and walked away towards her AeroWing. Sara looked around at the Blue Triangle complex. Would it be the last time she would see it? Would she see any of her friends again? Sara shook off these thoughts and looked at Betsy climbing into the SilverWing. She admired the design and the weapons capabilities of it. Betsy sat down in the pilot's seat and adjusted her seat and belts. She then put on a small headset so she could keep in touch with the other Ducks. It was like the one Chance wore all the time. In fact, Chance was putting her headset on at that same time. Sara looked around once more, and noticed Stivz at the bottom of the AeroWing's staircase looking around. He was probably wondering the same things that she was thinking. Stivz then pressed a button on his belt and the silver flame burned on his beak. Sara stood back and watched, awestruck. The flame vanished and Stivz's silver mask was in its place.

"My God!" Sara whispered. Stivz looked up into the AeroWing and climbed up the stairs into the large plane. Sara then followed Stivz and made her way into the AeroWing.

When she entered the ship, Stivz was in the passenger pilot's seat, reading and drawing on a few maps Ice had given to him. About 90 troopers were inside also, cramped between the vehicles and the walls. Ice and Sunrise were commanding the other AeroWing and the rest of the troopers. The Second Line was all with Stivz. They all still wore their large purple Mighty Ducks jerseys.

Ice suddenly came over the radio. "All right, ladies and gentlemen, let's get ready to depart and wipe out some Authority ass."

Their were some cheers, and Sara went to her pilots chair and sat down. She then started pressing buttons and checked readings. When everything seemed to be in order, Sara radioed back to the other AeroWing.

"We're all ready over here." she reported. "Let's rock and roll."

With that, Sara pulled the throttle lever and the engines began to hum. The Ducks all sat down in their places and strapped themselves in. Blade couldn't help but notice the strange look on the faces of the troopers. They seemed awfully worried.

"What's with them?" she asked Nylessa. Nylessa just shrugged. Sara overheard and told them why they were all nervous.

"There's a rumor going around that I'm a reckless flyer." she laughed. "But I'm really a good pilot."

"Thanks for reassuring us." James joked. Stivz smiled and spoke into his WristCom.

"All right, Betsy." he said. "Just follow us and get a feel for the ol' girl."

"Roger!" Betsy shouted. She was very excited.

"Let's do it!" Sara yelled. She then pressed a button for the thrusters. The AeroWing lifted into the air. It hovered over the landing target for a while when Sara made a switch, and the attack jet began moving straight forward. Stivz looked out the window and saw the first AeroWing near ahead. The three jets picked up speed and headed on their way to the Authority compound. Stivz looked at his map again and looked at where they were to land. It wasn't too far from the supply base, and the Authority would probably see them coming. Stivz glanced at the weapons readings on the AeroWing's dash. All weapons were charged and loaded. Stivz sat back in his chair and relaxed. "Well, this is it." he said coolly. Sara looked over at him. "This is what?" she asked. Stivz looked over at her with loving eyes. He couldn't believe he was going to war with this beautiful blonde Duck beside him. He must have been crazy to join the war. Stivz almost forgot was he was about to say. "This is the time in history where PuckWorld is liberated from its interior oppressors. It's also time to separate the Ducks from the lizards. It's time for revenge." "Damn right!" Dusty said. "Some of my best friends were killed by Authority patrol units. I want to look into the eyes of an Authority soldier and feel his fear right before I pump about a dozen pucks into his system." "We'll all get our chance." Stivz advised. "And we will come out the winners."

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