Super Soaker Central

Slowly, he knelt down and poked his head around the corner at floor height. Standing about ten metres away were four Tempests with their weapons raised.

Force pulled his head back in as four beams of water hit the ground where his head was. He got up and grabbed his guns. Signalling for a couple of people to come and help him, Force readied himself by the door.

He guessed the Tempests were waiting for them. One of the militia tapped Force on the shoulder and handed him a mirror on a stick. Holding his 2000 (which he had loaded with the special ammo) in one hand and the mirror in the other he put his arms round the corner.

At the same time he shouted, "Weapons round the corner." Three of the militia put their weapons (also loaded with special ammo) out and opened fire.

From the mirror, Force could see the Tempests getting soaked and attempting to return fire, but with no targets there was no one to hit. They turned and tried to run, but the chemical kicked in and they collapsed to the ground.

With the Tempests dealt with, Force quickly ordered everyone to grab the remaining stuff and move out. Anything they could not carry would be destroyed to prevent it falling into enemy hands. Within twenty seconds they had left the cave and headed up the tunnel. After about 50 metres, they came to the turning to 2 and started off down it.

Spinner really wanted to see the "tank", so Duxburian opened the garage. There it sat, the huge water tank built by Wetmonkey and Leprekan long forgotten from an old war of the past.

The tank had been in the garage for awhile, but as Duxburian got in he found out that the thing still worked somehow. The engine started after a pull on the rip chord and Duxburian backed it out so that Monsoon and Spinner could see it.

Racer was looking up at the wall when the shadow of a tank fell upon him. He turned around with an expression of amazement. "Whoa...where did you get that huge thing?" Dux only grinned. Monsoon and Spinner both climbed in to see the interior.

The control board was still rusty and the firing pedal was still cracked, but both could be easily fixed. The tank had a 75mm main cannon, but needed new ammo. Duxburian said, "I wish Wetmonkey and Leprekan were here. They would be amazed that their tank still lives!" Monsoon commented, "Wait until the others see this! Speaking of the others, when do you think they will arrive here?"

Belisaurius hadn't gone very far into the complex, when suddenly he felt the nozzle of a water gun jammed into his back. He was thrown up against a wall, surrounded by Tempests who apparently had NOT been his after all. At least that was reassuring. They were far too stupid to be real Tempests.

"Just my luck. I'm not even on the island a day and I've already been captured," he thought to himself. Someone behind him landed a few had punches on the side of his head and rib cage, bruising several areas and causing him to pass out.

Just as Monsoon was asking about Force, Nibor and the others, he heard a click from the tunnel entrance. Everyone turned around, weapons ready, and the door swung open. Out stepped Nibor. They breathed a sigh of relief.

The rest of the militia followed behind Nibor, bringing all the weapons and equipment. Nibor made sure he locked the door behind them and moved the fake rock across.

Force explained to the others what had happened in the tunnels. "If they send another party down, they'll follow the tunnel and be lead here," said Monsoon. "Well then, we'll have to be ready for them," Force replied.

"OK, now we're all here," said Spinner, "We can get the plan to investigate 7 in action. Dux, Stingray, let's go. Everyone else, check over all the fortifications."

"I think I can fix the tank," Racer said to the rest of the militia. "Great, how long will it take?" asked the rest of the militia. "An hour at max, you guys can head over to 7, I'll stay back here and work on it." "Great, lets get going on the plan."

Forceuser was checking through the weapons they had recovered from the caves. He came across something interesting in one crate. It was a home-made, but like nothing he had ever seen before.

Painted all in black, it was long and quite thin, with a tank on the back, kind of like a 2000 shape, but smaller. Attached to the bottom was a cylindrical canister (of which there were another 20 in the same crate). At a guess, Force thought it was some kind of CO2 powered gun.

"I'll have to try this out later," he thought to himself. Just then he noticed something else in the crate. He pulled out a piece of paper. Written on it was some kind of code. "Maybe this will give me some answers to where these weapons came from," he pondered. Having a quick look at it, he decided that he wouldn't be able to solve it quickly by hand. However, he did have a program on his computer back home that would be able to crack it.

He chucked his 4100 (which he had also picked up a pressure booster for) on his back and taking the code went to see Nibor. He explained to Nibor that he was going back to his house to try and crack the code. Nibor wished him good luck. As Force prepared to leave, he had a thought. He ran back and picked up the strange weapon along with a spare canister. Then he headed off for his house.

"Is all the equipment ready?" Toaster called to Monkey, the Sabres' all-around guy. "Sure is," the other replied, "We can go whenever you're ready." "Good," Toaster muttered, "On to 2, so we can get some information on the situation here." "Sir," Bukan called, "If we want to be there with time to spare before sunset, we gotta leave now."

Looking grudgingly at the sun, hanging low and lazy in the west, Toaster gestured for his team to hop on the Armadillo, and then climbed into the passenger's seat. Bathed in the orange glow of approaching sunset, the Sabres' vehicle lumbered towards town.

Cloud Rolled down from the hill to the road to meet the Sabresâ\u20ac\u2122 vehicle. He aimed up for his CPS 2000 to snipe. At the right moment, he pressed the fiery orange trigger and, FWOOSH! It sent water flying which doused Monkey and Toaster with ice cold water.

"Bullseye!" thought Cloud. Then he realised what a horrible mistake he had made. He heard tires squeal in the distance and saw the Sabres' vehicle scream full speed toward him. He jumped into a near tree and let loose another full blow directly into Monkey's lap.

Forceuser got to his house and quickly set about cracking the code. He typed it into his computer and left it to crack it. While it was doing that he fitted the pressure booster into his 4100. After a while he went back to his PC, only to find that it was still trying to crack it. "They obviously don't want people to find out what that says very easily. Must be something like an enigma code," he thought.

Trying to waste some more time, he decided to go and fill the strange black weapon. Just as he finished, he heard a beep from his computer. It had finished. He rushed back to it, dumping the gun on the way. What he read suddenly made everything make sense...

Forceuser started reading the code. There had been on the island a group of elite modders and water warriors. They had been there for a long time and it was not that long ago they had left. They had created lots of ideas and had a huge armoury. Using sophisticated technology, they had dug all the tunnels and caves.

However for some reason, which the code did not specify, they had to leave. They hid all their stuff and vanished. The weapon which Forceuser had found was their final creation - the XX 50. It was, as Force correctly identified, a CO2 powered weapon. It had the ability to fire a blast of water over 40 metres!

The tunnels which they had found were not the only ones, they were actually the upper layer of tunnels. There were in fact tunnels linking every part of the island which were deeper down. The entrances to them were through the floors, which is why no one had ever found them. They were looking for fake walls, not floors.

The entrance to the one in 2 had a separate entrance, however, not through the top layer tunnel. Force pulled out a map and compared it to the instructions on the code. The tunnel was only a couple of hundred metres from his house. Grabbing the XX 50 and his bag, Force set out for it.

Within a couple of minutes he was at the entrance. It was located down a well. Force tied a rope to a nearby tree and lowered himself down. Just above the water level was the tunnel. Force climbed into it. He headed off down it in the direction of the caves.

Stingray, Dux, and Spinner were about ready to go. Nibor had just placed a huge turret on the back of Spinnerâ\u20ac\u2122s jeep. "It shoots about 100 feet," he said. He then showed that attached to the top of the turret was a water balloon launcher. "I don't think any Tempests will be able to touch you while someoneâ\u20ac\u2122s manning this thing in the back." "Cool," said Dux, and jumped in the back. Spinner got in the driverâ\u20ac\u2122s seat and Stingray got in the passenger side armed with a CPS 1000. They drove off to 7.

Meanwhile the militia was told to start restocking on water balloons. Nibor went inside the compound to formulate a plan of defence. The Tempest would eventually find their new strong hold.

Monsoon had decided to stay back and learn to operate the old tank vehicle in the garage. He opened the back door to the garage and hopped inside the tank's cockpit. "I wonder how you would start this thing?" he said.

Monsoon searched the cockpit for a compartment that could possibly contain an instruction manual. After rummaging around for a minute, he found the owner manual under the seat. "So all you gotta do is hit the 'on' button, and I'm on a roll!"

Monsoon pressed the ignition button, but the engine failed to start. "Hmmm, looks like it needs oil." Monsoon grabbed Racer's scooter and headed for a nearby store. He found an auto shop and bought a bottle of engine oil. "This has to work now!" he exclaimed. He once again turned on the ignition, and the tank roared to life. "Awww yeah!" he yelled in excitement.

He opened the garage door and the tank rumbled out. Two of the militia came running and said, "You got it to work! Nice!" Monsoon parked the tank and climbed out. "We need water balloons. Lots of huge water balloons," said Monsoon. "The cannon is about 75mm in diameter, so we need the 'cannonball' balloons," explained Racer.

Monsoon once again got out his wallet and went to a water gun store. "I need twenty 'cannonball' balloons on the double!" exclaimed Monsoon. "Here ye go, that'll be twenty bucks, buddy." Monsoon paid the cashier and came outside. "We need to fill these up. Where are we going to find a filler large enough to fill these things?" said Monsoon. "The main dock has an oversized water pump near the gates. Maybe we could use that?" said Racer. "I guess we could swing that. It's not too far from here either. You two, get in the tank, we're going to 3." Racer and a militiaman hopped into the large cockpit along with Monsoon and rumbled off to 3.

After a long trek down the tunnel, Forceuser arrived at the caves. Or, well to be more precise, under the caves. The entrance was clearly marked from the bottom. There was even a ladder to make things easier. Force climbed up and put his ear to the trapdoor. He couldn't hear anything. He unbolted the door and pushed it upwards.

He poked his head through the hole. No one was there. An empty stretch of tunnel went off both sides. Force shut the trap door, which could be opened again by using one of the sticking out bits of rock as a handle. He headed off left down the tunnel.

After a short distance there was a door on the left. It appeared to be some kind of cell, with a large deadbolt pushed across. "Who could they be keeping in there?" Force thought. He got his XX 50 ready just in case, pulled back the bolt and opened the door.

Inside, lying on the floor, was a partially beaten soldier. Slowly, he looked up at Force. "Who are you?" Force asked. "Beli. Commander of the Tempests." "The Tempests? But why are you locked up then?" "These are not the real Tempests. They are mercenaries pretending to be them." "Oh, well that might explain a few things. Well, even though you are the enemy, I suppose you'd better come with me. At the moment we have a common enemy who needs dealing with." "Alright."

Beli heaved himself to his feet and limped over to the door. "Need a hand?" Force asked. "Thanks." Leaning on Forceuser, Beli hobbled down the tunnel to the trapdoor. Force knelt down and pulled it open. They climbed down. Force shut and locked the door behind them. They would never know how Beli escaped! They headed back for 2.

Eventually, Forceuser and Beli made it back to the entrance. With difficulty, Beli managed to climb the rope up the well and they were out. Force untied the rope and chucked it into his backpack. Just then, Force heard footsteps, lots of footsteps. He pulled Beli down behind a bush.

Marching up the road past them were a column of about twenty Tempests. "Dang!" Force muttered. He looked at Beli, "Stay here. I'm going to try something out," he whispered.

He crept off down a side street. Once he was out of view, he ran along parallel to the Tempests until he got to the next side street. He hid behind the corner and checked until the Tempests started passing. As soon as they did, he moved behind the house and shot over the top of it.

The recoil he experienced was amazing and the water shot straight over the house and the one behind before landing right in the middle of the group of Tempests. They looked around trying to work out where the shot had come from. Force ran off back to Beli, chuckling to himself. He found that Beli had moved and had been watching down the street. "Was that that gun you have?" he asked Force. "Yes, I'll explain later. Come on, we need to get back to the base." Giving Beli a hand, they headed off for the militia's base.

Spinner's jeep, rather overloaded with the extra turret and all the people, was making rather slow progress along the main road to 7. Still, in about half an hour, they arrived and started to wander along the main street. It was deserted, not a soul in sight.

Turning left at the end of the street, they finally came across someone.

Or twenty.

Instantly recognising the Tempest armband, Dux and Stingray opened fire with the two water balloon launchers. Spinner, realising the odds, and noticing that more were arriving from what appeared to be a small base, jammed on the brakes and flung the engine into reverse. They had to get out of here, and fast.

Monsoon was driving the tank to three, when they encountered a Tempest patrol. "Lets smoke these Tempests!" said Racer as he rapidly pressed two buttons next to Monsoon. "What do those do?" Monsoon asked. "Watch and learn," said Racer, and then two small rapid fire air powered water balloon launchers popped out of the sides of the tank and started open firing on the Tempests.

"I got weapons! You drive!" said Racer to Monsoon. "Report; we have taken out around half of the Tempests," said the militiaman from the clear plastic viewing hole on top. Racer pressed a different button; the cannon started to rumble. "This doesn't sound good," said Monsoon, but Racer just smiled. KABOOM! A huge blast of water drenched the remaining Tempests.

After about 5 more minutes of driving, they were at 3.

"Hey Wontwood!" Toaster shouted at his team-mate manning the Gemini Cannon (the twin water balloon launcher). No more explanation was needed as two water balloons careened towards the attacker. One balloon missed, but the second clipped the assailant's shoulder, spinning him around as he fell to the ground.

The marauder tried to scramble away, but Wontwood was one step ahead of him, as two water balloons pasted the now drenched antagonist. Another assault, and the mysterious attacker lay still on his side, playing dead.

"Humph. That'll teach him to fire on the Armadillo," Toaster chuckled, squeezing water out of his shirt. Monkey, who now was in the back, towelling himself off, grumbled various curses. "Keep going, Bukan," Toaster ordered, and the Sabres continued on.

After finally arriving at 3, Monsoon, Racer, and one militiaman hopped out of the tank and retrieved the cannonball balloons from under the driver seat. "I'll hold the balloons up to the nozzle, you turn the water on," said Racer.

Racer steadied one of the monstrous balloons onto the nozzle protruding from the side of the water tank. "You ready?" called Monsoon. "Fill'er up!".

Monsoon switched the rather large valve open and water filled the balloon in about three seconds. "OK that's one, nineteen to go!"

Monsoon and Racer filled up the rest of the balloons, only to be confronted by a small squad of Tempests. "You, over there! Load these into the tank cannon!" yelled Racer at the militiaman standing by. "I have my CPS 4100 with me," said Monsoon," Maybe we can take them on, do you have any soakers on you?" "I have this unmodded CPS 1200 I found," said Racer.

Monsoon and Racer readied their weapons and aimed at the four Tempests that stood before them. "I've never seen you around," called one of the Tempests, "Let's see what you've got!" Monsoon immediately opened fire and the skirmish began.

"We'll cover you, just hurry up loading the cannon!" called Racer. The Tempests held their own using a CPS Splashzooka, a Monster X and a CPS 1700. Racer dived into the shrubs lining the perimeter gates to the docks. "Racer, where the heck are you going?" screamed Monsoon.

The tank was just about loaded when two more Tempests showed up, one with a Monster XL, the other with what looked like a homemade air pressure weapon. "Racer, I could really use your help over here!" called Monsoon as he got hit in the face with a huge blast from a Monster XL. Racer poked out of the shrubbery and drenched one of the Tempests.

"The tank is loaded!" said the militiaman. Monsoon made a run for the tank, and Racer backed him up, squeezing off CPS 1200 shots at the group of Tempests. "They're going to use that tank!" said the Tempest with a Monster X. Monsoon started up the engine and Racer once again took control of the guns. The other militia member sat on top of the tank with a CPS 2500 and took shots.

"Oh no, run!"

The Tempests started off running, but the tank readied its cannon and shot a cannonball balloon. It landed in front of the Tempests and soaked all of them. The group eventually radioed to retreat and a Tempest vehicle came by to pick them up. "We sure showed them!" said Racer. "Yeah, that was pretty cool," said Monsoon. The tank eventually made its way back to 2's militia base without trouble.

Things weren't looking too good for Spinner and the others over at 7. Heavily outnumbered, Spinner was trying to reverse the jeep out of the street while avoiding being hit. Dux and Stingray were blasting away at the Tempests with the water balloon launchers and standard guns, but the water supply was limited.

Finally, Spinner managed to reach the turning. Spinning the jeep round, he jammed it into first gear and sped off. A moment later, he saw in the mirror three armoured vehicles roaring out of the base and starting to pursue them. Gritting his teeth, he pushed the accelerator down further.

Beli and Forceuser got back to the militia's base without any more trouble. Leaving Beli on a bench, Force went over to Nibor. "Who's that?" Nibor asked. "The Tempest commander." "You brought the Tempest commander back to our base! What the hell do you think you are doing!" "Let me explain."

Force proceeded to tell Nibor what he had found out. "I'd say we have about five minutes before they [the Tempests] get here." "I have an idea. Racer and Monsoon can head out in the tank and then attack them from behind when they get here. We can attack them from in here." Nibor explained. "Let's do it." They shouted orders around and everyone prepared themselves. Racer and Monsoon got in the tank along with a militiaman and headed off. Nibor would radio them when they had to attack. Everyone else waited ready.

Racer and Monsoon took these orders and revved up the tank again. Now fully loaded and ready to go, the tank burst into action and headed off to the far eastern side of 2. They had all the weapons ready: The main 75mm cannon, the two rapid-fire water balloon launchers and the militia member on top with a CPS 2500.

Monsoon and Racer got their soakers ready inside the cockpit. "Monsoon, I have a CPS 1000, K-modded. What are you going to use?" "My good ol' CPS 4100. I filled it with ice water and colossus modded it while we were at base," said Monsoon. They waited in the shadows of two buildings.

Meanwhile, back at the militia compound, Spinner had arrived, followed by the three Tempest vehicles that were pursuing him. "Holy moly, call in the tank!" called Nibor.

Back at the waiting spot, the tank's radio buzzed. "Monsoon, Racer, we need your help over here!" screamed a militiaman. Monsoon stepped on the gas, and the tank lurched forward. It wasn't too long before he and Racer could see the enormous engagement ahead.

"Looks like we have everyone fighting!" exclaimed Racer. "Yeah, but look, we're really in for it now," said Monsoon. Monsoon pointed up into the sky, and a helicopter bearing the Tempest marking threw out a rope ladder. Five Tempests swung out of the helicopter, all equipped with CPS 2500s.

"Ready cannon!" called Racer. The tank's main cannon took aim at the low altitude helicopter and took a shot at it. "Look out, we're being fired at!" called the Tempest helicopter pilot. The helicopter couldn't move away in time, and the cannonball balloon smothered the side of the copter with icy water. "The windows are fogging up! I can't see!" yelled the copter pilot. The tank attempted another shot, but the helicopter made a slow and cumbersome escape.

The militia base was in lockdown, and every member was armed with a CPS 2500/2000, shooting from the walls or lookout towers. Some took control over Douchenator water balloon launchers mounted on the base.

Spinner's jeep reloaded and went to face the armoured Tempest vehicles. "They're putting up too much of a fight," said Dux, "I can't keep aim for long!"

The battle looked grim, and the Tempests kept coming from different directions, attempting to swarm the militia base. "Firing machine water balloon launchers!" said Racer. The two rapid-fire water balloon launchers popped out the sides of the tank and opened fire on a large group of enemy soldiers. The militiaman on top had built a clear plastic shield for protection, and squeezed off a few shots at Tempests surrounding the tank.

Everything was looking OK, until they found that the Tempests were trying to break down the back wall of the militia compound.

Forceuser was using the XX 50 to snipe Tempests. Then he heard a call from the back wall. He turned round to see two Tempest vehicles with ropes leading from them to the wall. He ran along the top of the wall over there. The vehicles started moving. The wires drew taught and the whole wall shook. They reversed and tried again. This time, cracks appeared in the wall. The section where Force was standing started subsiding. He felt it going and attempted to jump off, but it was too late.

The section of wall and him fell outwards. They crashed to the floor behind one of the Tempest vehicles, snapping the rope. Force hit the ground and he landed in a crumpled heap.

He lay on the ground, temporarily in agony. Luckily, however, nothing was broken. The pain passed quickly as adrenaline kicked in. He looked up to find a group of Tempests running towards him. Then he saw them suddenly hurtle sideways. He looked round. Salvation!

The tank rumbled up and Monsoon pulled Force inboard. "Need a hand?" Monsoon asked, a smile on his face. "Thanks." Then their attention was drawn back to the remaining Tempest vehicle trying to break the wall down. "Leave it to me," Force said.

He jumped out of the tank and ran over to the rope, taking out some Tempests as he did so. He pulled out his knife and hacked his way through the rope. Just as he did so, the Tempest vehicle accelerated again. With no rope to pull on, it sped off. Straight into the wall opposite. Force got back into the tank. "Lets go." They wheeled round and headed off to deal with some more Tempests.

Monsoon said to Racer, "I'm going to try and tamper with the Tempest vehicles. Tell the guy up top drive this thing," he said. Monsoon dashed out of the tank clutching his full CPS 4100. He came up behind what looked like a Tempest tank, which was busy shooting at the walls of the militia compound.

Monsoon took a metal rod, which must have dropped off of the vehicles, and stuck it in the tank treads. The wheels became jammed and the tank was immobile, but could still shoot cannonball balloons. Monsoon took a crowbar from his backpack and started hammering on the long barrel of the cannon. A Tempest managed to sneak behind him, and Nibor rushed in and decked him into the side of the stationary tank. "I'll hold them off, you destroy the tank's cannon!" said Nibor.

Spinner came wheeling around in his jeep along with Dux and Stingray. "Hey, Monsoon, I'll get the other tank, OK?" called Spinner. "The other one? I thought there was a third one?" thought Monsoon. Nibor soaked about thirty Tempests when Monsoon finally managed to put a dent in the barrel of the tank's cannon to render it useless.

"Spinner is trying to lead the driver of the next tank out, you go back with Racer and take to the rear where we need you!" said Nibor. Monsoon hurried back over to the militia tank, where Racer and the other man were being swarmed.

Monsoon pumped up his CPS 4100 and opened fire at the large group of Tempests surrounding the tank. "Dang, they're trying to damage the barrel of our tank too, those..." thought Monsoon. "Here, use this," called Force. Force tossed Monsoon a Douchenator water balloon launcher and gave him some water balloons.

Monsoon quickly ducked behind a large stone from the destroyed wall of the compound and loaded the water balloon launcher. "Hey, you guys, look over here!" called Monsoon. Some of the Tempests turned their attention from the tank and looked at Monsoon. Monsoon fired at the Tempests and made some of them run off soaked.

"Awww crap I'm out of ammo," he said. At that moment, Spinner, Dux and Stingray came over to them and assaulted the swarm of Tempests. "Pull back, pull back!" yelled a Tempest. The enemies retreated and Spinner stopped the jeep. "We've stopped the other tank," said Spinner. "Good, but wasn't there three tanks chasing you here?" said Monsoon.

At that moment, a Tempest tank came rumbling towards them at full speed from another street. "Cannon ready!" called Racer. The militia tank opened fire on the Tempest tank with everything it had, but failed to stop it. Force came to assist them.

The Tempest tank delivered its full payload upon the group of militia personnel. "C'mon, this is getting really out of hand, we need backup!" said Racer. "Spinner, I don't think we'll be able to handle the Tempest attack," said Monsoon. "They just keep coming with backup from the mainland by speedboat, ferry and helicopter!" said Force.

Spinner reflected for a moment. "That base at 7 must have been a secret Tempest airfield," he thought, "The situation looks desperate here. I reckon we should evacuate and try to gain the aircraft, regroup and re-invade when we have greater numbers. To stay here is certain soakage for us."

He explained his plan to Duxburian and Belisaurius, and they nodded and went off to marshal as many troops as possible together to flee to 7.

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