Crown
Imperium
By Maltray Fox
Some events and characters
Copyright © of all trademarks materials (Captain Scarlet & the Mysterons
and all other series titles, all their characters, vehicles, crafts, etc.),
owned by ITC/Polygram/Carlton International.
Based on characters created by
Gerry and Sylvia Anderson for the TV series "Captain Scarlet and the
Mysterons”.
**********
2069
The view
from the observation deck was breath taking; Captain Scarlet looked out onto
the vast ocean of clouds. Perhaps the day wasn't so bad? His sleep had been
interrupted for much of the night. For the last three weeks there had been no
Mysteron action. Perhaps the lost sleep was because of that? It wasn't like the
Mysterons to sit back. Behind him there was a noise as someone else entered the
observation deck. Scarlet turned to find Colonel White standing behind him.
"Good
morning, Captain Scarlet."
"Good
morning, Colonel," replied Scarlet.
"It
is troubling, isn't it?" asked White.
"It's
not like the Mysterons; perhaps they are trying to lull us into a false scene
of security?" commented Scarlet.
"That
is a possibility," White agreed.
**********
Two large
trucks, full of explosives, were making their way down a lonely stretch of road
nearing the French border. The trucks where heading for a construction site in
the Pas de Calais area. After the near disaster in London with a nuclear
device, the World Government had wisely gone back to traditional methods of
building. About half a mile ahead of the trucks sat a black sedan. Leaning
against it was a gaunt-looking man.
"This
is the Mysterons relaying instructions to Captain Black. You know what you must
do."
"The
Mysterons’ instructions shall be carried out"
Captain Black
leaned into the back of the sedan and picked up a long sniper rifle. Resting
the gun on the roof of the car, he sighted up the front truck and fired. The
shot fired, the bullet screamed from the barrel and made its way along the
projected path. The bullet smashed into the truck’s cab, hitting the driver in
the forehead. A spray of blood splashed over the broken windshield and the
driver slumped forwards and to the side, over the steering wheel. The truck
speed out of control and smashed though the barrier. Pieces of the metal
barrier flew into the air and spun across the road. Pieces of debris hit the
tyre of the second truck, sending it speeding through the gap created by the
first truck. As they hit the bottom of the ravine both exploded in a huge fireball.
As the flames settled two light-green rings moved over the wreckage and within
a few moments it had gone. Above on the road, the now Mysteron drivers and
trucks made their way along the road. Captain Black watched them pass by the
sedan.
**********
"This
is the voice of the Mysterons; we know that you can hear us Earthmen. We have
not forgotten your unprovoked attack upon our Martian complex. For our next act
of retaliation we will destroy the Crown Imperium within the next twenty-four
hours. We will be avenged"
"Send
for Captains Scarlet and Blue," White said
as he looked at a situations report.
"S.I.G
Colonel," replied Lieutenant Green.
Within a
few moments Captain Scarlet entered the control room followed by Blue, the two
sat down and looked to Colonel White. White placed the report on to his desk
and looked up.
"Well,
gentlemen, what are your thoughts on the new Mysteron threat?" asked
White.
"It
depends, sir, on what 'The Crown Imperium' is," replied Blue.
"Spectrum
Paris reports sightings of a fireball somewhere within the Pas
de Calais area. Captain Silver has reported that so far it seems to be only a
rumour. With the current threat I believe it might be in our interest for him
to investigate this sighting," Colonel White explained.
"Excuse
me, Colonel White. Spectrum New York reports a sighting of Captain Black within
the metropolitan area," commented Lieutenant Green.
"Colonel,
I think the Mysterons are trying to throw us off the scent. As I recall there's
several monarchies left in the world," replied Scarlet.
"Yes,
you’re quite right, Scarlet," replied Colonel White.
"Sir,
can Lieutenant Green find out if any of them are going anywhere today?"
asked Captain Blue.
"Of
course, Imperium...? Hmmm. Lieutenant
Green, try a search on ‘royal families’," ordered White.
The
colonel slipped the reports away into a small file and entered the contents
into the main computer bank. He'd remove the rest of the file later. Lieutenant
Green was already at work; the computer, as yet, had brought up nothing. The
Lieutenant sighed and rubbed his temples; perhaps it wasn't such a good idea to
pull that second shift last night. A small noise brought his attention to the
computer readout.
"Colonel,
according to the computer only two royal families are going anywhere today. The
Monaco family is on its way to its ocean cruiser in Nice. Also the remaining
British Royal Family is on its way to Gibraltar. They plan to use the channel
tunnel, sir," said Lieutenant Green as he read the information.
"That
has to be it; one of the unofficial national anthems for Britain is 'Crown
Imperial'. Captains Scarlet and Blue, you are to go directly to Paris and pick
up S.P.V. transport there. Check the French side of the tunnel and their
security. I'll have Captains Lilac and Gold do the same on the British side.
You're to meet up with Captain Silver, there, once he has checked out this
reported fireball." commented White.
"S.I.G,
Colonel," replied Blue and Scarlet together.
**********
High above
the Atlantic Ocean the spectrum passenger jet screamed through the clear blue
sky. Captain Blue mused over the recent Mysteron threats. He sighed and looked
at Scarlet.
"Paul?"
he asked softly.
"Yes,
Adam?" replied Scarlet.
"Do
you think we'll ever convince the Mysterons that Captain Black acted out of
fear?" he questioned.
"I
don't know, Adam, even with the Mysteron detector and anti-Mysteron gun, I
think we don't know enough, as yet. We know that they can show compassion, when
and if, they want to. The Mysterons are a force to be reckoned with. But some
day we will show them by our actions that Black made a mistake out of fear, not
malice," replied Scarlet.
**********
The two
Mysteronised trucks continued their way towards the city of Paris. However, the
city was not the target this time. The best route was to skirt aound the city
and then head of Calais. Captain Black sighed; it was unusual for his masters
to have so much going on at once. Spectrum where getting better, in fact, too
good at times. The last three of the missions had failed spectacularly, twice
because of Captain Scarlet. Black had to agree Scarlet was a determined foe.
Perhaps the Mysterons had made a mistake by underestimating him? The third time
was made a failure by all of things... a human child.
"This
is the voice of the Mysterons relaying instructions to Captain Black. You are
to meet the trucks near the French terminal of the Channel Tunnel, Spectrum are
making plans to stop us, this must not happen."
"The
Mysterons’ instructions shall be carried out," replied Black.
**********
The
out-buildings of the small French garage seemed… well, dilapidated was
the word Captain Blue was thinking of. But where better to hide one of the many
Spectrum Pursuit Vehicles? Scarlet was looking for the owner, while he was
looking at an old oil tank. There was a noise behind him and Blue whirled
around. He found a man of about early middle-age looking at him. The man
nodded.
"Spectrum,
eh? You’ll be wanting the S.P.V. then," the man said in perfect English.
"Yes,
I require S.P.V. 246. Captain Blue, Spectrum," said Blue as he produced
his pass.
The man
looked at it and nodded seeing it was up to date. He went over to a small out-house. Suddenly the oil tank split in
two as hydraulic rams opened it. Inside sat an S.P.V. Scarlet came around the
corner.
"You
found him then. Let’s get going," said Scarlet.
"Alright,
I guess time isn't with us on this one," said Blue.
**********
The S.P.V
had parked outside in the compound.
Captains Scarlet and Blue were kept waiting for a little time. A man, in
the white uniform of one of the Spectrum administrators, came up to them.
"Good
afternoon, Captain Scarlet, Captain Blue. Captain Silver has already gone ahead
of you. He'll meet you at the terminal entrance," commented the man.
"I
see. Alright, but tell him to stay
there," replied Scarlet.
"I
don't know why but...I have a bad feeling about this," commented Blue.
**********
Captain
Silver looked ahead at the road. There seemed to be nothing wrong. A few
moments ago he'd received a radio message telling him to return to Spectum's
Paris HQ for Scarlet and Blue. The Spectrum saloon car was rather more comfy
than the S.P.V. Silver smiled and looked up, behind him by roughly three hundred yards, was a black
sedan. It was speeding up to him and soon was blasting its horn and flashing
its lights; it came along side and Silver moved over to let the car pass. The
car drew up and Silver could see the driver.
"Oh... God help me - it's Captain Black!" Silver exclaimed as he put his foot down on the accelerator.
The saloon
was soon powering away but for some reason to Silver it seemed like he wasn't
even moving. Perhaps it was best that Silver never spotted the hard right turn
ahead. The saloon broke through the wooden barrier and plunged into the river
far below. The car spun end over end before hitting the bottom. It lay on its
roof and Silver, badly wounded, tried to slip out of the wreck. A black boot
filled his vision and a gunshot rang out.
**********
Scarlet
and Blue had landed at an airport just outside of Paris. They soon picked up
S.P.V transport, the two made their way to the tunnel security building. The
building was a large affair about half a mile from the entrances for the
mag-lev trains that used the tunnels. When the two of them had looked around
the building, Scarlet had noted that it all seemed rather quiet. To quiet for
his liking. Just in case of trouble,
Captain Blue had gone and fetched a Mysteron Detector. Blue scanned the
personnel of the base and Scarlet waited. Blue had trained the detector on
Scarlet first to make sure it was working.
"Well,
Blue?" asked Scarlet.
"Everyone
checks out fine," replied Blue as he placed the detector onto a table
nearby.
"Then
the Mysterons must still be planning to strike, but how? Contact Cloudbase and have them check on Captain
Silver. There's something about this I don't like." Scarlet frowned.
Blue was
about to do this when the epaulettes of Scarlet's uniform tunic lit up.
"Captain
Scarlet, this is Colonel White, is Captain Silver with you?"
"No,
Colonel, he's not. Tunnel security says he's not been here, sir" replied
Scarlet.
"I
see, Captain. He's not checked in with Spectrum Paris either or Cloudbase. It's
quite obvious that...excuse me, Captain Scarlet. It seems Captain Silver has
just checked in with Spectrum Paris. He says that his com links were down. It is possible I guess, continue your
mission, Scarlet"
"S.I.G,
Colonel," answered Scarlet.
As soon as
Scarlet's cap-mike had swung back into position Scarlet stepped outside, Blue
followed.
"You’re
worried, Paul," said Blue as the two looked towards the tunnel.
"I
know,It...it seems too convenient, Adam. I don't like it at all. Stay here; I'm
going to check out Silver. He might
have lost one of his coms, but all of them in one go? I don't think so. I'll take the S.P.V," commented Scarlet.
**********
Already
the two explosive trucks had made their way towards the tunnel. In front of
them the Spectrum Saloon coasted easily. Captain Silver watched the road ahead.
Something was wrong, the Mysterons where expecting some sort of interference
from Spectrum. As they neared the two mile mark an S.P.V. came onto the road
ahead of them. Next to him Captain Black watched the on-coming S.P.V.
"It's
Scarlet, you know what you must do, Silver. The Mysterons will succeed this
time," commented Black.
"I
understand," replied Silver.
Suddenly without a single noise Black vanished from the passenger seat. Silver crossed the road and into the path of the S.P.V. As the two vehicles connected there was a screech of tyres and metal grinding against each other. The S.P.V. spun off the road and crashed into the ditch along side of it. As the S.P.V came to rest there was a sudden in rush of air around the road and one of the trucks exploded, as it veered from the road about nine hundred yards further ahead. The second truck sailed on unhindered. Captain Silver's saloon was no better off; both the doors had been ripped off their hinges and Captain Silver’s head lay against the steering wheel. He awoke and moved from the car. As he did so Scarlet was coming around the rear of the S.P.V. Scarlet had lost his cap in the crash.
"You’re
too late, Earthman. Where’s your sixth
sense now? Already our plan is working
and Spectrum will fail. The Crown Imperium will be destroyed. We will be
avenged!" challenged Silver.
"We'll
see about that," replied Scarlet.
He lifted
the weapon in his hand and fired. The anti-Mysteron gun let rip with a light
neon beam that blasted Silver back onto the saloon behind him. Scarlet knew he
had two miles to think up a plan, the S.P.V. was wrecked but he slipped inside
and removed the powerpack and fitted it to the jetpack in the vehicle. He hoped
he'd be in time.
**********
"Captain
Blue, is Scarlet with you?"
"No,
sir, Colonel, he was suspicious of Captain Silver, sir. Why?" asked Blue.
"Two
trucks of explosives are over-due at a construction site in the Pas de Calais
area. It's obvious this is how the Mysterons intend to strike. We've been on to
the British Royal Family and they won't delay their trip till tomorrow. In
fact, the last time they were heard from, they were entering the tunnel."
"I
understand, sir...excuse me, sir, there seems to be a commotion outside,"
Blue reported.
**********
The
explosive truck and its driver expected little to no resistance. He approached
the checkpoint into the complex and powered through it; the barrier snapped in
two easily. He was watching the road, making for
the inspection/evacuation tunnel. Above him, at
nearly ten meters flew Scarlet; he was busy trying to get a handhold of the
rear of the truck. The truck started to swerve as he grabbed hold. As he
recalled the mag-lev trains normally took just under ten minutes to clear the
tunnel. Scarlet abandoned the pack as it would only slow him down. He reeled
slightly, as he confirmed the presence of a
Mysteron on the truck.
"Give
up, you've lost. Maybe our scientists can help you as they did me,"
thundered Scarlet.
"No,
Earthman, you have lost. The Mysterons will destroy all life on Earth and then
we will leave your system. We will have our revenge," replied the driver.
Scarlet
sighed; at least he had tried to reason, but to no avail. He swung out onto the
side of the truck and made his way slowly along it. As he did so the driver
drove into several cars, trying to shake Scarlet off. With a determined look on
his face, Scarlet held on. The truck scraped against a wall and Scarlet had to
leap back on to the top of the trailer. He made his way up to the cab and then
onto the cab's roof. Suddenly a mag-lev started to emerge from the tunnel.
"Oh,
good; it's come early," Scarlet commented to himself.
Scarlet
swung his legs and with a crash smashed the windshield. He swung into the cab
itself. The Mysteron tried to push him out of the door. Scarlet replied to this
with his knee and brought it up into the Mysteron's stomach. Winded, the Mysteron fell back giving
Scarlet the window of opportunity he needed. He rammed his elbow into the
Mysteron's face and then opened the driver's side door. Scarlet booted him in
the chest and the Mysteron fell from the cab. Scarlet moved into the driving
seat and took hold of the steering wheel. At first it wouldn't move at all but
slowly, bit by bit, it did. Scarlet's face was sweating with the effort and he
tried applying the brakes. This was just as bad as the wheel. But it did give.
All he needed was a few more seconds and the mag-lev would be out of danger.
Slowly it seemed to Scarlet the train moved out of danger. But in spite of all
his effort, the truck would still hit the side of the tunnel wall. Scarlet let
go of the wheel and jumped. The next thing he knew, there was a huge explosion
and debris raining everywhere. The
last thing he heard was the wail of an ambulance siren before the blackness
took him.
**********
Captain
Blue was the first to arrive at the scene, it wasn't pretty. Most of the outbound tunnel entrance to
England had collapsed. Perhaps, he
thought, it will spell the end of the Tunnel as a means of transport? As he searched, he found a scrap of scarlet
clothing. He began to dig and found his
friend. He soon cleared the rubble from Scarlet and pulled him out into the
open. Scarlet's eyes opened for a little while.
"Train......safe...?"
asked Scarlet.
"Yes,
Scarlet, it's safe," replied Blue.
"Good......Mysterons...
defeated then....happy," commented Scarlet.
Two
ambulance men came up and looked at Scarlet's body; it was pretty badly beaten
up. Scarlet sighed and collapsed again.
The two men looked at each other, one pulled Blue aside. The other looked for a
pulse and found none. Out of Blue's vision he shook his head.
"He'll
have to come with me; we'll wait for the Spectrum helicopter," commented
Blue.
"Well,
of all the callous things....I'm sorry, sir, I don't think you get the gravity
of the situation,” said one of the men.
“This man
is dead, sir, I'm afraid. He gave his life to stop these Mysteron things,"
said added the other one.
"I
assure you both, Captain Scarlet will live, and he will continue the fight
against the Mysterons; maybe sooner than both of you think. A Spectrum
helicopter is on its way here already," replied Blue.
**********
"Members
of Spectrum, once again we have defeated the Mysterons. However, as we are all very aware, the war
of nerves will continue. We have learned that the Mysterons have every
intention of carrying out their threats to the full. We have also learned that
they are capable of doing many things at once. True, we have come along a very
bumpy road, but we are holding our own. We can only hope with time they will
learn that the actions of a single man are not the actions of an entire
people. Let us take heed of that and
continue. The British Royal Family have sent their thanks to Captain
Scarlet," commented Colonel White.
"Thank
you, sir, but everyone did their part as well," replied Scarlet.
"Everyone
is dismissed, if they are not on duty," Colonel White said.
**********
Captains Blue and Scarlet where sitting at a table on the deck; Blue was sipping a drink as Colonel White entered. Both stood up as he looked to them.
"Please,
sit down, gentlemen. I have a feeling
tomorrow will be a much better day," commented White as he took a seat with
them.
"Yes,
Colonel, I think it will be," replied Scarlet.
The End
Any comments? You can contact the Spectrum Headquarters site