35 – DESPERATE TIMES, DESPERATE MEASURES

The Greens were allowed an extremely quick meal in Yellow Command's mess hall, and then hurriedly sent back through the teleporter to the Halothrii Wilderness before they could see any more of the station then they already had during the battle.

It may not have been fully justified, given the amount of help the Greens had given the Yellows during the Red's attempted siege of the station and what followed after, but Bradley felt it nevertheless important that classified reveals be kept at a minimum for just in case relations between the Green and Yellow armies deteriorated at some point in the future. Nome protested that they'd already seen the bridge and several other important sections of the station, and verbally wondered what Bradley could possibly want to keep a secret that had not already been seen by them.

But Bradley was insistent, and considering that they were on a station filled with Yellows (most of whom were still jacked up from the fight against the Reds and obviously not feeling generous or merciful), the Greens had little room for further argument. They went single file through the teleporter, and ended up on the other end, in the Wilderness near a now ruined base that the Blues used to occupy days before.

"Well that kinda sucked," said Kenny, absentmindedly chewing on the remains of a pastry. "We help them kill the Reds, and then help them fight Vincent, and then they're like 'okay, you've seen enough of the station, time to go back to your base.' Assholes."

"Big surprise, really," Skope muttered sarcastically. "They ARE Yellows, remember."

"Well, at least we're done up there," said Kevin. "We've completed the mission the Grand General assigned to us. It's over." He let out a relieved sigh.

"Over in one sense, perhaps," said Nome. "However, when we take into consideration that the universe's continued existence is now in jeopardy due to the efforts of the Red Army's leader. From that position, the situation would appear to have only begun."

The others noted that Nome had purposefully neglected to refer to Vincent by his name, perhaps because he was still in the process of accepting that the source of all their recent trouble was a fusion coil.

"Let's just get back to base," said Skope. "I need some R and R. Just…to be alone for awhile."

"You okay?" Jess asked the sniper.

Skope nodded. "Yeah, sure," he lied.

He wasn't okay. Not by long shot. He needed to think to himself about the fact that Vincent was doing all of this because Skope had sniped the fusion coil's pile. As stupid as the reason sounded, it still made him in a large way responsible for the peril that the known universe was in. He wanted to believe it was a mistake or something, but Vincent had managed to refer to him by name during the confrontation on Yellow Command's bridge, which could only imply that it was true: Skope had fucked up in the worst way possible.

The Greens jogged back across the canyon to their base entrance structure. When they reached the elevator to go down into the base, they discovered that the elevator's call pad and control panel had been broken. The casing was laying across the walkway in two pieces, and wires were strewn out of the conduit's wall like thick strands of multi-colored hair.

"Oh yeah, the Reds mentioned they attacked the canyon while we were at Yellow Command," Kenny suddenly remembered.

Jess rushed over to the dissected control pad and took some of the wires into her hands, observing them. She then let out a relieved sigh and put the ends of two of the wires, both a dark blue color, together. There was a quick burst of sparks from the wires, and the elevator's call tone sounded.

"It doesn't look like they were able to get into the elevator shaft," Jess then explained. "When the Reds came here, they didn't have the codes, because they had been sent to invade the Yellow base in this canyon but not the Green one. They must have tried to manually override the elevator, but it didn't work. They couldn't get in. Looks like we're in the green, both politically and metaphorically speaking."

"That's good news if I ever heard it!" Kevin exclaimed as the elevator finally came and everyone stepped into the car.

"Hope the Yellows had it worse than us," he muttered sourly.

"FUUUUUUUCK!" Patton bellowed after gazing upon the insides of their base. The steel door that had until recently protected the base from unwelcome entry had been literally annihilated, and solidified droplets of metal now coated the entrance hallway. The Reds had clearly used a high power laser to burn through the door. Near where the molten steel had splashed, scorch marks covered the walls, coating the entire corridor in the unbecoming color of char and ash.

Patton and the other seven inhabitants of the base rushed in hastily to see what else the Reds had done besides destroy their door. They were relieved to find that none of their quarters had much out of place. The locks on all of the rooms were now busted from forceful entry, everyone had some ammo missing, and someone had rearranged Ryan's book collection in reverse alphabetical order, but aside from that there wasn't so much to worry about.

Ryan feared initially that the experimental weapons had been stolen, but upon inspection of his room he discovered that the weapon's he'd left behind had been so cleverly hidden (in a compartment below a floor panel below another floor panel below a third floor panel under a carpet under a couch on the floor of his room) that the Reds had fortunately managed to overlook them. They hadn't even gotten close.

Relieved, Ryan also pulled out his personal laptop (which was thankfully untouched as well, having been in the same place as the experimental weapons) and checked the views for the video he'd uploaded to YellowTube of the Green taking off his armor in front of the base entrance structure just over a day earlier.

"Holy shit!" he called out in shock. The others soon joined him in his quarters in a stampede of boots and a near-collision between Clair and Inez.

"What's the emergency?" Clair asked.

"Um, there's not one," said Ryan. "Our YellowTube just broke half a million views."

"Seriously?" Amber exclaimed. "Hot damn!"

Everyone looked over Ryan's shoulder to find that, sure enough, the video had accumulated 531,441 views. Ryan refreshed the page, and the number jumped by 25.

"Holy crap you're right." Clair said, astonished.

"This...is...AWESOME." Amber added gleefully.

"Is this what I missed just before arriving at this base?" Hearts asked while watching the actual content of the video, instead of just its quantity of views. "Looks awesome."

Patton nodded sadly. "Yeah, it is. But we can all watch this later. Now c'mon, people. We've gotta check out the rest of the base first. If the Reds did ANYTHING, I want to know.

The others were reluctant to leave the video, but recognizing necessity they all followed Patton out of Ryan's quarters and down the hallway, towards the kitchen.

The major thing worthy of notice to the members of Yellow Base (Lemon Squadron more specifically) was that the Reds had apparently gone on a fake lemonade binge and had somewhat of a party in the kitchen, using up the last of the "carbonated piss" in the process, as well as a considerable amount of the other food supplies, the trash of which they had left around the room. This caused stifled anger, but no more than that, since the food supply problem could easily be solved with a call to Yellow Command later about sending down replacements for what had been eaten.

Next on the sweep of the base was the motor pool. The vehicles there had been tampered with, but thankfully not taken. The reason for this, undoubtedly, was that the Reds had been planning on taking Yellow Command at the time, and since the cramped corridors of a space station weren't very welcoming of bulky vehicles, the Reds would have decided unnecessary the idea of stealing them. They probably even thought they could take the vehicles when they came back later after taking Yellow Command.

But of course, my team and I stopped that from happening, Patton thought to himself silently and proudly. Suck on that, dipshits.

Lastly was to investigate the thing everyone knew had been taken, as Steve had proved on Yellow Command when he had explained his not-so-original setup for keeping the Yellows and Greens in shield wall cages. Their trip down to the holding cells yielded no surprise: the Purple spy, Travis Chamealon, was nowhere to be seen. He had been taken by the Reds.

"Don't care about a motor pool's worth of high quality vehicles," Hester commented as she gazed at the Purple's now empty cell. "But like any respectable Army, you just can't pass up a prisoner."

"Big surprise." Inez noted blandly. "Pity. I wanted to ask him more questions."

"We're still pretty damn fortunate the Reds didn't take more," said Hearts. "It's a good thing they had a schedule to keep on Command. If they'd had more time, they probably would have cleared us out."

"Yes, fortunate we are," said Hester. "And the Reds won't be so fortunate to enter our base again. We have a bit of repairing to do…and I have a booby trap or two in mind to add."

"As do I." Inez agreed.

Patton nodded. "Sounds like a good idea…and maybe a little fun. Kills two birds with one stone; stops the Reds from getting in, and makes them suffer too."

Hester nodded to him, then turned and headed up stairs to begin repairs on the base, followed by the rest of Lemon.

That was when Patton's COM started flashing. He answered it.

"Hey bro, short time no see. Yeah, I've got some time. Hmmm…yes, I suppose it does call for some desperate measures…but are you sure? I mean, really? Yeah, I guess you're right. It worked well enough when they were on the station. Well, I'm still a little iffy, but if you're for it, bro, then so am I. Just give me the order and I'll do it."

Skope stood on the veranda of the Green's base entrance structure, staring out at the rest of the canyon through the scope of his sniper rifle. Five days ago, when he had sniped Vincent's pile (that had been the one with that lone fusion coil off to the side, must've been) he'd been standing just like this. Staring straight out into the canyon, the Green Commander standing behind him and lecturing about the war and armor and things…

And then Skope realized that in the five eventful days since this memory, no one had bothered to give the Commander a proper funeral. He had been buried the evening of the same day he'd been sniped, but because of everything else that had happened, they'd never gotten around to a ceremony or anything. They just stuck him in the ground and shoved some dirt over him. Skope admitted to slight guilt over this, but right now wasn't the time either. He had to think. Plan.

This was where he'd been standing when he'd unknowingly put the universe in jeopardy. Vincent's pile had been destroyed, and this had somehow set the angry fusion coil on a path of vengeance. Though in that regard, it wasn't all Skope's doing. After all, the fusion coil was the one behind the Red Army. Skope hadn't even realized there was a Red Army until more than two days after he had sniped Vincent's pile. And it had obviously been in the works for a while before that. So in that respect, he wouldn't be entirely responsible if the universe was destroyed. Just partly responsible. Not that it made him feel any better.

His thoughts were interrupted by the pinging of his COM. It was Jess, calling over the direct communications frequency.

"Someone's coming through the communications tower teleporter from Centerpoint City. Oh my God, it's-"

After a pause she finished, this time on TEAMCOM: "Everyone. COM tower teleporter. Now! Double time."

It was very unusual for Jess to get bossy, which meant that whatever this was about had to be damn important. Skope slung his rifle onto his back and jogged over to the communications tower. He joined Kenny, Kevin, Mr. Boom, and Nome as they went single file through the door.

Inside they found Jess, standing next to the active teleporter, and next to her stood-

"Holy shit, it's the Grand General!" Kenny exclaimed. Then he gasped. "Oh, I mean…Sir!" He gave a salute. The rest of the Greens followed suit.

Kevin stood in the doorway stunned, for he had only heard mention of his team meeting the Grand General before. "Your…your Grandness, it is a pleasure to meet you!" he babbled out.

"You would be Kevin Guinness, would you not?" the Grand General responded pleasantly. "Your communications expert informed me of your return when she spoke to me over the COM, a few hours ago."

Kevin nodded enthusiastically. "Yessir, that's my name."

Inside his head, he thought The Grand General knows my name! Oh my God!

"Indeed we have already informed you of the results of our mission over COMs," Nome stated. "If my may ask, sir, why are you here? Surely we completed the mission you assigned us."

The Grand General gave a gentle nod. "Yes, about that. It would seem that the results of your mission have carried over far beyond simply helping the Yellows survive. In light of the fact that the joint operation between you and the Yellows worked as well as it did, and also that the universe is in danger by the leader of the Reds, we have decided to form an indefinite truce between our Armies, at least until this Vincent is apprehended or destroyed."

The Greens stared dumbfounded at the Grand General. It was enough that the Grand General had come to their base in person, but the second part of the news was so much that they had trouble believing that they had heard correctly.

It was Jess who broke the silence a few moments later. "Um, sir, did you just say 'a truce between our Armies?' As in, a truce with the Yellows?"

The Grand General nodded. "Yes, that is correct. Please don't act like it's such a shock. After all, early on in the war's history, truces like this were quite common. The Yellows themselves had one with the Blues in order to defeat the Oranges, who were then a threat to all Armies. The Blues actually helped them build their Command. That truce no longer exists, because the Oranges are long gone. Or at least they were until recently. But my point is this: indefinite truces have happened before, and considering that the Reds have somehow gained the power to throw the known universe in jeopardy, if there is any time for us to strike a truce, it is now, beyond a shadow of a doubt. Vincent is a threat to everything we know and love…because the universe is everything, and he wants to pop it in the name of vengeance; and so, for the sake of reality, we must join forces to stop him."

The Greens gave subtle nods, taking it all in.

"Which is why I have arranged for the highest ranked representative of the Yellow Army who is currently near this planet, Bradley Patton, to meet all of us here, in the middle of this canyon, to discuss in person the best method for defeating the Reds."

The Greens again just stared at the Grand General. An in person meeting between the leaders of two armies over a proposed truce; This had never happened in the history of the war, much less in the history of the Green Army, and that fact underscored exactly how much of a threat the Grand General and Bradley Patton viewed Vincent and the Reds.

"Yessir," as all Skope could think of as a response.

The Grand General continued: "We have both decided on what we believe to be an effective operation to defeat Vincent. But we shall discuss this in the middle of the canyon, when we have convened with the Yellow's Lord High Commander General." He then muttered under his breath, "Now that's a title I'd like, very long and very prestigious."

The Grand General enjoyed that thought for a second, then briskly strode towards the door leading outside. "Follow me, soldiers. Time to meet up with the Yellows."

"Again," Kevin quietly exclaimed. Everyone ignored him

The Greens, the Grand General, and his escort of elite guard (who came through the teleporter after him) got into some Warthogs and headed for the middle of the canyon. As the Grand General had stated, they indeed found Bradley Patton there, alongside the same team of Yellows the Greens had fought with only three hours before while on Yellow Command, and days before against the original Reds. The Grand General dismounted his Warthog's passenger seat and stepped slowly towards Bradley, with everyone else watching and holding their breath. Was this truce for real, or was one leader about to end up dead from underhand play?

The Grand General reached out to Bradley…and shook his hand.

"Nice firm grip," the Grand General said. "Good, I like that in a soldier."

"As do I. Good in a leader as well." Bradley replied.

Everyone else exhaled. This was for real.

"Quite a pleasure to meet you in person, Lord High Commander General," The Grand General said.

"Likewise, Grand General." said Bradley. "Now then, have you told your soldiers about our plans to stop the Reds?"

The Grand General shook his head. "I was saving that for this particular occasion. Not every lifetime a convening like this happens. An epic plan for an epic moment."

Bradley nodded. "Yes, of course. My men have already been informed. I'll let you brief yours."

The Grand General nodded and turned to face the Greens. "Before this meeting, the Lord High Commander General and I decided that it would be best to send a team, composed of soldiers from both armies, back into the alternate universe to permanently stop Vincent. Though it may be temporarily disabled, the fusion coil's giant hand device is still in one piece, and we need to destroy it. That team includes these Yellows-" he pointed at Patton, Ryan, Clair, and Amber, then turned back to the Greens. "-and you. "

The Greens were beginning to get a bit tired of staring at their General, so instead Nome decided to say "Mmmmmmmm" while Kevin simply said "Ah" and Mr. Boom mumbled something.

The Grand General continued: "Yes. To honor the truce, and also to get as much manpower as we can, we shall send those four Yellows and two of their fellows, plus all of you, into the alternate universe. The only exception on our side is Mr. Boom, who needs to stay behind and look after that huge bomb, and make sure that it doesn't blow up or something. The Yellows, I believe, will be leaving some of their special operations unit to help out as well."

"Indeed we will." Bradley commented.

Mr. Boom nodded confirmation while the other Greens crossed their arms in thought. Behind them, back at Green Base, the recording of "spiked kittens" sounded throughout the canyon, and still seemed to be enough to keep Happy from getting ecstatic enough to explode.

Skope asked the Grand General: "Sir, when we confronted Vincent, all we were able to do was just run before it killed us. Anything we throw its way gets thrown back with its telekinesis powers. How are we supposed to defeat it?"

"You mentioned in your report that you encountered several other people in the alternate universe who called themselves The Clan of the Caged Watermelon. Perhaps they have an idea for how to kill a telekinetic fusion coil. I realize that this is a long shot, sending in all of you with no real idea for how to accomplish your task. But you all need to remember that just three hours ago you helped the Yellows defend against the most powerful siege they have ever had to face on their Command. If anyone can pull this off, it's your group. You will find a way. You must find a way."

"I also have a question," said Nome. "How exactly will we get back into the alternate universe? The portal the Reds had inside their base was destroyed with a bomb they themselves triggered."

Now it was Bradley's turn to answer a question. "Both of our Armies have known of this other universe. Until recently, all we were able to do was catch flashes of it. Enough for readings, but nothing else. But when we combined what our Armies both knew of the science to open a portal, as well as the information you gave your Grand General from your own trip there and intel recovered from the Red base, we discovered how to make what we think will be a stable portal to the other side."

The Grand General nodded. "We have set up a schematic detailing a design that should work. We will of course need to have it built here, so that both colors of the team can access it, and to ease its protection, should someone attack it from this end."

"I should be able to do that," said Nome. "Before I became a medic for the Green Army, I was able to acquire a Master's degree in theoretical physics. If I have the designs then I should be able to create a physical representation of the schematics, though the help of Master Chief would be useful in doing so."

"Excellent," said the Grand General. He then turned back to face Bradley. "It appears that everything is set, then. The portal will be constructed by tomorrow morning, and then the team will set out."

Patton walked over to Nome. "Yet again I end up cooperating with you instead of trying to kill you." he hissed. "Consider yourself lucky, Medic."

Recognizing that this was Patton's traditional greeting to a member of another Army, Nome replied: "It will be a pleasure working with you again as well, Patton."

Taking a cue from Nome and Patton's interactions, the other Greens and Yellows walked towards each other to get to know each other a little better, since they would very soon be embarking on a joint operation of unknown length. Meanwhile, the Grand General and the Lord High Commander General decided to converse in private, and stepped away from the crowd to talk.

"Never thought I'd see this day coming, I have to admit," said Bradley.

"Times have changed, haven't they?" answered the Grand General. "Not so long ago there were only three Armies. Now there's six. And the universe could end soon. It's almost like a whole different war."

"If it weren't a different war then I would never have agreed to this truce," said Bradley. "But, desperate times, desperate measures."

"Nor I," said the Grand General. Then another thought occurred to him. "This team we've set up may be the last hope for our universe. Maybe even for the alternate universe as well."

"Desperate times indeed," stated Bradley.

CONTINUED IN STAGE 3