Choking brick dust still hung in the air from the freighter's down draft as the boarding ramp lowered. Five figures walked down, squinting in the pale dawn light after weeks of shipboard illumination, their rumpled jump suits already picking up a patina of grime as they hefted their kit bags.
Three were identical, squabbling and grumbling amongst themselves as they stepped off the ramp.
"Geez...", started the first.
"What an absolute...", continued the second.
"Dump!", concluded the third.
"Could be worse, could be jungle again", observed the fourth, a young slender man with straight sandy colored hair plastered across his forehead.
The fifth, an older man running slightly to fat with thinning hair and an impressive mustache paused at the bottom, scanning the landscape with a practiced eye.
Warehouse buildings stood shattered as far as the eye could see, the roads and walkways cluttered with impact craters and debris mounds. A large area had been pushed flat, blade-dozers having been used to clear an impromptu landing pad and form the rubble into safety berms around the perimeter to protect the locals from thruster wash. From the look of some of the ground imprints they had used mecha to stamp down the hard core to flatten and compact it properly prior to use.
His eyes were drawn to the huge bright blue tarpaulin being used as in place of the fourth wall of a nearby factory building.
"I assume from the cunning use of camouflage that we should be reporting somewhere over there", he said sourly.
As the quintet began crunching across the strip, hawking up the dust gathering in the backs of their throats, they were hailed from one side. Glancing across they spotted two small figures clambering down the slope of the safety barriers, bright blue with what should have been bright white pants and boots if not for the permeating grime of the place. White forage caps bobbed as the pair came bounding across towards them, one of them flailing his arms wildly.
"Greetings!" yelled the first.
"Salutations!" exclaimed the second, arms still rotoring.
"Hello!" they finished in unison, skidding to a halt and kicking up more choking dust.
"Brilliant..." muttered the mustachioed man, then forced a smile as he stiffened to a form of attention and threw a salute to his erstwhile allies. "Members of Heroes second regiment, reporting for duty. I believe our commander John Dubya would have informed you of our impending arrival, so if you gents would be so kind as to direct us to his quarters we will get ourselves sorted."
"This is Smurftastic!" proclaimed the initial blue being in his high piping voice, "I have indeed been in contact with your John Dubya and he said he would be sending a detachment to provide heavy support! Welcome, welcome!"
Any reply was interrupted by the appearance of two more figures, females both, long hair flowing in the breeze and clad in tight hugging faux leather. They navigated the loose ground in improbably high healed boots. The overall effect was enough to pull the conversation up short.
"Whoa..." breathed the first triplet.
"Its like watching..." observed the second.
"...a snavurm in a four wheel drift" concluded the third.
"Hi boys", purred the taller one as they approached, her auburn hair settling to cover one eye, "have we missed the introductions?"
"My compliments ma'am," responded the older man, giving a small bow and clearing his throat. "Lieutenant Mac, Davey Mac, at your service. These three gentleman attempting to drown in their own drool are Trav two, three and four respectively, while this young man is..."
"My name is Skywise, I'm here to rescue you!" exploded the youngster excitedly.
"...Who has been practicing that line in the mirror for a week," Mac carried on smoothly while throwing his companion a flat look. "Second Heroes Regiment, on detachment with your forces for the duration of the upcoming conflict."
The redhead gave a beaming smile. "I'm Jess, and this is Ferbie. We're..."
"The Bunny Gir...Ouch!"
"Defenders of Bunny" Mac interrupted, stamping down on Sky's foot. "Your reputation as fearless and professional warriors precedes you," he said with emphasis, glaring at the youth.
"And allow me to welcome you formally to the Smurf Brigade," interjected the small blue being. "I am Commander Chaotic Pain Smurf, and this is my adjutant and communications officer Pio "Windmill" Smurf. Shall we proceed in getting you settled?" he said as he went to move off in the direction of the factory.
"A moment sir," Mac interjected. "There appears to be a few points of confusion. First, am I to understand that our commanding officer, John Dubya, is not actually here with you at present?"
Chaotic Pain looked nonplussed, before responding "Of course not. He is currently at Smurf Legion headquarters with the remainder of your regiment and from what I understand some elements of your first regiment. He diverted you to us to provide heavy support."
"I see," noted Mac carefully, "which brings me to my second point. We," he continued, waving a hand to indicate his companions, "are a light skirmish and recon detachment, not heavy support. The heaviest mechs at our disposal are a pair of Orresters, and one of those is still crated fresh from the production line".
"You've got Orresters?" inquired the shorter, dark haired Defender, her eyes wide. "I've never seen one that... big... before" she breathed.
The three Travs whimpered, while Skywise tried not to bite through his own tongue.
"Oh, good grief," muttered Mac in a disgusted voice.
"Indeed," observed Chaotic Smurf, gulping and wiping a bead of sweat from his forehead, "as Miss Ferbie has indicated yours will indeed be the heaviest units in our faction."
"Excellent," beamed Mac, sincerity plastered falsely across his face. "If you could excuse us for a moment, I need to very quickly discuss this turn of events with my colleagues. Shan't be a moment," he concluded as he herded the other Heroes away into a small huddle.
"Well this, as they say in these parts, is a right Smurf up..." he stated to the group in a low voice. "I will get in touch with the boss as soon as we can find a working comm-link, however for the time being we must assume we will be here for the duration. We being the only members of Heroes in this area, as senior pilot I'm going to be the one having to report back. And bearing this in mind, let us set some ground rules. I do not wish to have to make any reports that include the word fraternization, especially if Mrs Trav is in a position to read them," he directed his remarks at the triplets. "Any failure on your part will also include within the report certain details regarding, how should I put it, illicit reading material hidden in the lining of your iMech's pilot chairs, yes?" he stated as the Trav's turned grey. He continued mercilessly, "Even with three heads, I feel you would be hard pressed to convince her that issues of 'Big and Bouncy' actually refer to trade catalogs for an Ammonite Shock Absorber system," proving his information was spot on.
He locked gaze with Skywise, and then looked pointedly across at the ladies close by. "Nor, and I really must insist on this, am I going to tolerate the use of the word "cockpit" in any form of jocularity, are we clear on that point? Good..."
As they returned to their allies, Mac noticed a certain wariness had come over the waiting group, coupled with some furtive glances towards the Travs. As they were led towards their new headquarters, it was Jess who broke the silence, directing a question towards the trio.
"So if you guys are Trav two, three and four, where's number one?"
"He's up the line with the wife, he got..."
"...Rostered on to husband duties this week. Looks like he's..."
"...Going to have to pull a few extra shifts this time if we've been split up," the Travs responded in turn.
"So how come there's more than one of you?" inquired Pio, arms still whirling.
"Oh, we picked up the extra's after a run in with Dr Drake" Sky cut in, "They were wandering around the complex looking all confused. They got even more confused when Mrs Trav started yelling at them... they'd only been out of the cloning tank a few hours and they suddenly had to deal with that!" He gave a mock shudder, then started suddenly as he noticed their group was surrounded by dark figures who were observing their progress silently, each standing alone around the perimeter of the landing field and previously hidden by the dust clouds.
"Easy tiger," smiled Jess as she noticed his darting gaze, "They're friendlies."
"The fourth contingent of our Brigade," explained Pio, "Those are the Exiles."
"So why are they just standing out of the way looking all creepy at us?" asked Sky.
Jess chuckled, "And which part of the word Exile didn't you understand?"
A gentle hand on Mac's arm caused him to slow his pace, Chaotic Pain waiting while the rest of the group drew away before he stated uneasily, "Lieutenant, there may be a concern that I need to make you aware of. It concerns the clones."
He took Mac's raised eyebrow as permission to continue. "Um, you see, they weren't the only ones that were recovered after the fight with Doctor Drake. The point is, well, there's no easy way to say this, so I won't Smurf about the bush, but... Drake is here. He swapped sides and he's fighting for us now. Is that going to cause any problems?"
Mac's shoulders sagged. "Wonderful," he sighed to himself. "Welcome to the Faction Wars."
Submitted by David McCallum #701548