Mighty Ducks-The Second Line
D.U.C.K.S.
She appeared from a dim alley and looked up into the sun. She saw its rays
reflect off of the tall skyscrapers of Bauertown, the Authority headquarters. She
walked carefully along the sidewalks of the city, trying to be as little suspicious as
she could be. Finally, she came upon her destination, a small building near the city
limits. It was a hangout for Ducks that didn't want anything to do with the
Authority. The building used to be the main camp for one of the small resistance
groups that fell against the Authority. She walked in and was welcomed by many of
her friends, all fellow anti-Authority Ducks.
"Hey there, Street!" said her friend Warstrike. "Glad you could make it."
Street McMallard hugged her friend. "Thanks, DuCaine." she said. "I came
across five Authority patrol speeders on the way here. For some reason, they've
beefed up the security."
Street looked around and saw all the other Ducks. They were talking with
great excitement over their breakfastes. The atmosphere in the room was a little
more cheerful than usual. Street was curious.
"What's the deal with everyone?" she asked.
''It's about the same reason the Authority has increased security around
Bauertown." Warstrike answered. "We got word late last night that a part of the
united military forces of the resistance siezed and captured the Authority's main
supply station."
"Then why all the commotion around here?"
"Well, the assault team that took the supply compound plan to come this way
and take the Authority headquarters by storm. Whoever is the guy who controls the
Authority, he's pretty nervous."
Street smiled with a little relief. "Whoever the guy is who leads the assault
team, must be pretty crazy."
Warstrike raised an eyebrow. "Neverthless, he's already taken the heavily
guarded supply bunker. What's stopping him from taking Bauertown?"
Street nodded. "Well," she said. "We need to get ready for their arrival in
case they need any help."
A huge, steep, and gigantic cliff overlooked the glittering streets over Bauertown.
The city's skyscrapers lit the bottoms of the clouds and the rest of the night sky. Jet
helicopters circled the city, with searchlights moving across on the ground. Very few
cars and land speeders moved around on the streets, and most of those vehicles were
Authority patrol units. Only one person was walking on the sidewalks, but later, he
ducked into an alleyway and disappeared.
"Can you make out the headquarters yet?" Ice asked. Chance put the
binoculars down from her face and rubbed her eyes.
"Not yet," she replied. "It's probably heavily guarded in the center of the
city."
Ice continued his investigation. "How many patrol vehicles to you think there
are?"
"I'm guessing there are around thirty or forty active units."
Ice frowned. "I sure hope Stivz knows what he's doing." He then looked
closer at the city from the high red rocks he and his troopers were positioned. Also
with him and Chance were the vehicles, the two AeroWings and their two pilots. Ice
picked up a rock from at his feet and threw it out over the cliff towards Bauertown.
"He'd better be careful." he said. He then felt a hand on his shoulder.
"Don't worry." Sara said. "He will."
The Second Line's dark purple hockey jerseys were a good camouflage
against the dark alleys and the dimly lit streets on the outskirts of Bauertown. They
were all huddled together in the alleyway, taking glances around the corner to see if
there were any patrollers.
Erin punched a few keys on her laptop, and a map of Bauertown flashed
upon her screen. A circle on the map flashed. It was the Authority headquarters
building.
"All right. I've managed to download these maps from PuckWorld satellites.
I've also got the position of the main headquarters." Erin reported.
Stivz looked down and studied the map on the computer. "Can you give us
some more information on the building itself?" he asked her.
Erin responded by typing a few more commands into her computer. A new
screen appeared and a list of all the building's statistics and blueprints were
displayed.
"The building's a 70-story skyscraper and is about two miles into the city."
Erin said. "And not to mention it's heavily guarded on all sides."
James scratched his chin, considering how many Authority soldiers there
might be. "How many ways inside are there?" he asked.
Erin gasped as she looked up more information. "You're not going to believe
this, but there's a square moat around the building twenty yards wide. There are
four bridges into the headquarters, one on each side."
"We can't just walk right up to the doors." Nylessa commented. "There has
to be an easier way inside."
Blade turned towards her friend. "Not unless you want to have some fun."
Blade then patted her DuckSabre at her side.
Dusty was at the end of the alley searching for the Authority when he began
to wave his hands frantically at his teammates. The Second Line went silent as
Dusty crept behind the wall and remained still. An Authority patrol unit glided by,
scanning the buildings with searchlights. Betsy held her breath as she clenched her
puck blaster. She was ready for a fight, as was the rest of the team. James lay on the
floor motionless, ready for another encounter. Finally, the patrol vehicle passed on,
and the Ducks were safe.
All the Second Line sat in silence for a minute, concentrating on a way to get
through all the Authority's defenses and into the headquarters. After a few minutes,
Stivz began to take his backpack off, and dug through his gear.
Betsy looked at him strangely. "What may I ask are you doing, Stivz?" she
asked.
Stivz finally pulled out his pair of roller hockey skates and began to take off
his wheels. "All of you," he said. "Get out your blades. I'm going to make a little
modification."
High above the streets of Bauertown, upon the roof of a skyscraper among
dozens of other buildings that tower over the ground, a lone shadow sat gazing out
over the city. His dark clothes, his dark face, and his dark essence blended in with
the inky black night around him. He watched the jet helicopters as they hovered
around other buildings, landing and launching from the large building at the center
of the metropolis.
He perched on the edge of the building very still, the wind blowing around
him, threatening to send him over the side and out over the black hardtop. Black
Pheonix continued to survey the territory around and below him, looking for
anything unusual about the area.
Just then, a tiny flash of light caught the very edge of the corner of his eye.
He looked to his left out of the city. He saw the mountains that surrounded the town,
and he noticed the enormous cliff that gave the scenic look. He saw a faint patch of
light emanating from the cliff. Someone was out there, someone who didn't belong in
that area. He ignored the presence, figuring that it wasn't a threat. Or at least, not
just yet.
As the highly decorated Authority soldier entered the elevator, he brushed
off a loose thread and tugged at his collar. He turned and stood in the center of the
elevator and breathed a deep breath. He then realized he wasn't moving, and he
nervously reached over and pressed the button for the top floor. The doors closed
and the elevator began to ascend.
When the doors closed tight together, the soldier felt that he was helplessly
trapped. He felt as if the elevator was his casket, and it was traveling up to his final
resting place, wherever that may be. The ride was long, but finally, the soldier saw
that his floor was getting closer.
The elevator slowed and stopped. After a brief pause the doors opened once
again. The soldier took in some of the new air. However, he felt a strange essence.
He became frightened, and was slow in exiting the cabin. He finally built up enough
courage to step through the open doors. He looked around him and saw many
Authority guards. These were the elite guards, whom protected the main leader of
the Authority. The room was a large area, which took up two stories. Most of the
roof was a skylight, and an elevated walkway spanned around the entire room. Far
from the elevator doors was a large desk with many television monitors behind it.
Each monitor had its own glass outlining casing, and two large pictures hung on
each side of the wall of screens. One picture was the logo of the Authority, a globe of
PuckWorld with a dagger through the top, like its axis. The other picture was the
scene of the groundbreaking of Bauertown. Many Authority soldiers were shown
striking the ground with their daggers.
A chair was turned facing away from the elevator, and the officer who just
walked in. The officer was suddenly surrounded by the elite guards at both sides.
One of the guards spoke.
"First Officer McHill is here upon your request, my Lord." the guard
announced.
One solitary hand appeared from the right side of the chair and made a
gesture. The guards left the officer's side and returned to their posts. McHill stepped
a few steps forward and revealed a folder he was carrying. He stood still in attention
and waited for any sound that may follow the eerie silence that hung in the room.
Finally, a voice growled and echoed in the room.
"Officer McHill, I hope that you have brought with you the satellite pictures
I requested." the voice behind the chair asked. A puff of smoke suddenly rose from
the top of the chair. The hand showed again, this time holding a cigar. The hand
knocked the burnt ashes off and returned to the chair. McHill walked to the large
metal desk and placed the folder on it.
"Yes, my Lord." McHill answered. "These photos indicate a large group of
resistance forces have assembled on the Cliffs outside of town."
Another cloud of smoke rose from the chair, and the low voice sounded again.
"I want helicopters to drop a siege team to get rid of the pestilence forming there."
McHill barked in agreement. "It will be done, my liege."
"However," the voice said. "I want to do something unexpected."
McHill seemed confused. "What would that be, sir?" he questioned.
The chair suddenly spun around to reveal the dark leader of the Authority.
His dark clothes matched his long dark hair that draped over his eyes and stopped at
the nose. His red and yellowish eyes could hardly be seen under the hair, and his
shoulders seemed to stretch out to the ends of the desk. He looked at his nervous
officers with cold, intimidating eyes.
"I want a prisoner." he grinned. "I want to drag the rest of the resistance out
of their holes in order to save just one hostage."
"Understood, Lord Corban." said McHill.
"You are dismissed, then." Corban said. McHill saluted and spun on his heels
to exit. Right before he reached the sanctuary of the cabin, he was stopped short.
"There's one more thing, Commander." Corban boomed. McHill looked over
his shoulder.
"Choose wisely." Corban said.
McHill nodded and saluted once again, and finally left the room into the
elevator. When the doors closed, he collapsed and started to sweat. he wiped the
perspiration from his brow and looked at it. He than sighed with relief and waited
for the elevator to reach the ground.
Warstrike walked into the dimly lit room with a cardboard cylinder tube in her
right hand. She acknowledged the officers on each side of the door and proceeded to
the center of the room. There, was a glass table with Street McMallard standing at
one end of it, and a decorated officer from the PuckWorld resistance forces at the
other. Warstrike stopped at the table and immediately opened up the tube. She then
pulled out a pair of rolled up maps and spread them out on the table. A light flashed
on above the table, and a blue neon haze shined from underneath the table. The
officer brought out his laser pointer and circled a square on the map with it.
"All right," he said. "This is the main headquarters building, which is
surrounded with soldiers and a moat. It would be very hard to try to penetrate this
defense."
The officer then moved the pointer to outside the outline of the city at a
strange looking formation. "And this is where we think the small group of special
troops are located. They will probably send a team into the city to check the area,
unless they already have. Remember, a special group of officers are coming in
tomorrow morning to lead more troops."
"Either way," Street said. "They might still need our help. They don't know
the terrain as well as we do."
"Right." remarked Warstrike. "We should be out there looking for this
'team'."
Street backed away from the table and lifted up the bottom of her shirt a
little and revealed a small puck sidearm stuck in her belt. "Make sure you're
wearing protection." she smiled. "You never know who you might run into."
Warstrike smiled as well and walked over to a box full of puck weapons saved
over the long year of fighting. She selected a little larger weapon, holstered it, and
walked for the door. Street walked to join her. As they opened the door. The officer
stopped them.
"One more thing." he said.
The two girls turned around and looked back at their advisor.
"Be careful out there." he said.
"Don't worry about us, Captain Nosedive." Street replied. "We will."
With that, the girls passed the door and the door shut. Nosedive sighed and
waited alone in the room. Would they be back? Would this help to end the
Authority? Only time will tell.
"Stivz, we sure would like to know what you're doing." Betsy said as she
looked at him service his skates. Stivz held an axle tool in his beak as he replaced the
wheels he had on his skates with a clear, neon greenish colored wheels with new
bearings. One peculiar thing about these new bearings, is that they were black
instead of gold or silver, and that they had eight little lights in a circle around on the
bearing shield.
"We need a way to beat the Authority's defenses and take that Supertower
before dawn. After that, our cover would be blown and it would be too late." Stivz
said.
Blade looked confused. "And you are doing....what?" she asked.
Stivz popped another wheel out of the metal blade on his skate and searched
for another special wheel. "I figured that a stealth mission all the way from here to
the tower would take to long, and there would be more chance of us getting spotted
far from the headquarters rather than close to it."
"So what's with the skates?" Nylessa questioned.
"My idea is to lay a siege on the tower using what we use best: speed." Stivz
said as he lifted up his completed skates. "I have modified the jet blades in my skates
to go faster using synthetic bearings and a more powerful propulsion system in the
back of the skates. You will find the same equipment in your packs."
The Second Line then brought their packs off their backs and dug for their
gear. They all pulled out their skates, and found a small plastic bag which contained
all of the tools and special parts.
Blade took a bag out of her pack and looked at the wheels. They were very
colorful, blue and green, and had a letter 'K' on them.
"Hey Stivz." she asked. "What kind of wheels are these?"
Stivz looked up at her with a sly grin. "Kryptonics." he smiled.
They quickly began repair. It was just past midnight, and they only had five
to six hours to take the tower.
Dusty picked out a new wheel and inserted it into the blade of his skate when
he saw his axle tool vibrate on the ground. A small rumbling then sounded, and
suddenly stopped. The tool laid still, and Dusty looked up at his teammates.
"Did anyone else feel that?" he asked. James nodded, but refused to speak.
"What could it have been?" Erin asked. Stivz felt something was not right,
and armed his mask. The blue eyes in the mask immediately turned to red, and Stivz
searched the area. The rumbling started back up again, this time the Second Line
moved into the shadows of the alleyway, and the sounds became louder.
A light shined out onto the street. Soon, even more lights focused on the
hardtop, and the black surface became brighter and brighter. The noise was even
more louder, and the rumbling grew even more fierce.
All the Ducks were silent, and they waited for what the strange commotion
was. Finally, an enormous Authority patrol vehicle passed the alley way, with tens
of Authority soldiers hanging off the sides of it. Two of these large carrier
transports passed the alleyway and rumbled off into the darkness of the streets. The
Ducks began to move slowly when Stivz heard another sound. He whispered harshly
to his team.
"Jet helicopters! Get back!"
Soon enough, even more helicopters flew over head high above the streets.
James tried to count them all as they passed. The helicopters hovered past them and
continued out into the cool night, and the noise lessened until it was all quiet.
"Can anyone guess how many there were?" Betsy asked. James responded.
"I think I counted about twenty."
Stivz scratched his beak. "Twenty?" he said confused. "Where are all those
vehicles headed?"
Dusty took a peek around the side of the building and watched the vehicles
move slowly away. He then gasped as he saw where they were headed.
"Erin, get Ice and Chance on the radio." he said, almost in a panic. "Tell
them that the Authority is coming for them."
Next Chapter
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