Chapter 4

Blackout...

The towheaded, blue-eyed American dashed down, following Lt. Briggs. He was panting like a dog that had been running for at least two miles, but his pants came out as strangled gasps that could have come out of a man’s sore throat. 'When I get out of this mess, perhaps I’ll turn to the soft grounds of becoming a nanny'...the American muttered with utter distaste to himself.

There was a puny, jagged crack that was in the middle of the path toward the fortified portion of the wall. Lt. Briggs, who saw the crack, leapt over it. John Ranger, so minded up in saving his own flesh, did not. He tripped over it, and crashed flat onto his face.

At the exact same minute, a Patriot Missile Battery fired at one of the V3 rockets. It hit perfectly into the exhaust, and the back of the rocket flashed a streak of white so fast that you could barely see it before vomiting a booming cough and the back of the rocket disappeared in a small ball of red flames, which quickly morphed into a ball of orange flame before fading away. The front of the rocket, without an engine to guide itself and without tailfins, dumbly glided down toward a blond American lying on the north wall.

The other soldiers’ eyeballs seemed to leap out of their sockets momentarily, knowing for certain that the Grim Reaper had come for Private Ranger’s soul.

The American G.I. was too weak to stand, after all that running. He didn’t know that he would experience a near-death experience, until Lt. Briggs told him later of that incident. 

The rocket was zooming at high velocity, screaming as it dived down. It would certainly stab a hole as large as a monster truck tire into the American’s back. He was lucky, as one of the Patriot Missile Systems fired a missile at the rocket. An emaciating-looking, jet-black missile streaked out of a firing slot. It crashed into the tip with a sound of an ancient Chinese gong getting rung, before a sudden flash of whiteness appeared and the sound of thunder was heard. Red-hot chunks of metal cascaded like rain everywhere.

Private Ranger, totally baffled, picked himself up and ran toward the shelter Lt. Briggs was in. The Lieutenant considered of telling the Private of what would have become of him, but he decided to tell him after the battle. He gazed up at the Patriot Batteries and his face turned white as fine porcelain. It was so white that you could barely see the jade-shaped, translucent beads of sweat oozing down his body. 'What’s wrong?' asked the American Private.

'Lt. General Chopin told me that there was a secret power plant embedded in one of the walls in Fort White Fox. I just hope that the Patriot Batteries won’t make one crash right into it'...

At that same moment, one of the V3 Launchers fired a single V3. It cruised briskly toward one Prism Tower. Whoosh! was the sound of an anti-air missile cruising out of a Patriot Battery firing slot toward the V3 missile. It slammed perfectly into the exhaust, and a groaning sound of exploding metal was heard before a bright-red ball of flames tore open the exhaust. The V3 rocket soared up into the sky momentarily before pointing down toward a wall. It picked up speed as gravity’s strong arm hurtled it into the wall.

KA-BOOM!!!!

'This is bad!' Private Ranger muttered with sorrow. A dying groan was heard as the power shut down. The defenses weren’t moving.

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