Storming the Future
"A Rocketman Story" by John Pirillo Harry stood before the Rocketman suit, which was hanging by its arms in a clench of metal clamps that held it at a perpetual 12 inches above the pressed concrete flooring that covered the interior Swiss base of the Resistance. Behind it hung a second version, and behind that a third and so on through about ten versions. Each version was smaller than the last, but still far too big. He then looked at the smaller jump suit, as he called it, that was slung casually over a work bench where Einstein and Tesla were clucking like mother hens over their new babies. It looked similar to the old movie serial he had seen in the States before he had been transferred to the Allied front in Britain It was, however, powered differently, and modular. Each part of it could be replaced by simply removing the entanglement field that kept it in place. The entanglement field was something that Edison had come up with on a whim. He had been researching electromagnetics in hopes of finding a way to automate the building of his cars...and now the war effort's weaponized vehicles more rapidly, with them being easier to fix when things blew up. Which was often. It was based on some law that Harry didn't have the slightest comprehension of. Science was not his forte. Flying was. He frowned, but flying a ticking bomb had never been on his list of flying objects when he woke up in the future, or in the past and was drafted into the war on the Nazi regime. "Don't worry, Harry, they'll work it out." Jet told him from the side. Harry, startled from his reverie, and turned to eye his friend. "It's getting worse." Jet put a comforting hand on his friend's shoulder. "I know, brother. Believe me I know. I'm the one that has to listen to you scream at night, remember?" Harry sighed, then dug his hands into his uniform pockets, letting his frustration drain away. Jet was right. He always was. It just fretted at him that he had so little control over what was happening. Al, perked up, probably feeling Harry's upset and nodded to Tesla, who gave Harry a wave, then returned to probing the jump suit with a tiny tool that had headlights on it. Al brushed his hands off, wiped them carefully on a dirty cloth, then on a cleaner one, and came over, all smiles and perky. "Harry, my boy. So good to see you. And so bright and early." Jet gave Al a cockeyed grin. "As if anyone could sleep in this hole in the wall anyway." Al clapped a hand on Jet's right arm. "Always shooting from the hip." "Just be glad you're not the one in my sights." Al laughed, patted Jet's arm, then gave Harry a more serious look. "You had them again?" "Yes." "How bad?" ============================================================= Harry adjusted his flight attitude and zoomed in a descending arc towards the newly reconstructed Eiffel Tower. It was late at night and only a few guards stood there, but they were Sturmgiganten. The giant, genetically enhanced soldiers cooked in Hitler's massive genetics labs buried somewhere in Asia and out of the reach of the Resistance. For now. Harry thought grimly. One day. He let the thought subside as he dropped lightly onto the semi-lit platform at the top of the tower. It was similar to the one he remembered from his youth, when his father and mother had taken him to Paris for part of an European vacation. Those had been happier days. For Harry. But they had ended badly for his parents. His mother had contracted cancer and went through what seemed like an endless series of tests and remedies, which left her weaker and weaker over time. A stomping of a boot. Harry snapped out of the past to the present. This present. Not the one he had been born to. Which was in late twenties. Not this one which was a thousand years later and the hollow shell of the world it had once been. Its peoples decimated by a constantly warring faction of Nazi soldiers and Eastern Global warriors and weapons. The Second World War had ended with nuclear strikes at all the major western capitals of the world. The Eastern Block and Nazi Germany had divided the planet into two zones. They lived an uneasy peace between them, which was enforced locally by zombie soldiers...citizens whose minds were preempted by electronics...and Sturmgiganten...huge genetically modified soldiers that stood over eight feet tall, had muscles as thick as tree trunks and fists the size of hams. No, it wasn't a pretty future, or past as he remembered it. Harry slid in a sliding curve with his left foot and the other one jacked up and caught the Nazi giant in its right kneecap. It grunted in pain. They had no voice like normal, but spoke in a kind of apelike grunt. Harry knew the one on the opposite side would be coming fast. For some reason these creatures always knew what was going on with the other. Knowing that, he swiftly followed the kneecap kick with a double punch into the giant's privates. The giant grunted even louder, the pain of its crushed testicles...thank God it had something normal...being so excruciating that it doubled over. That brought its chin into Harry's reach. He slammed his right elbow into its throat, then shoved with all his strength and sent the giant tumbling against the railing, where its giant yellowed eyes glared at him angrily, promising hideous torture. It wasn't going to happen. Harry drop kicked the giant in its stomach and it flew head over heels from the top of the Eiffel Tower. Its grunts grew louder and louder with pain as it fell into the large metal struts holding up the massive tower. Harry never got to listen to it strike the bottom, because even if he could have heard it, the second giant was on him. He spun around powered his suit and flew like an arrow of destruction into its chest, sending it falling back against the railing. Harry didn't wait to struggle with it. He clasped one of its arms, gave his suit a power surge and lifted it off the platform, dangled it over the ground below and let go. He didn't listen for any grunts. He had a mission to do. He lit on the platform again and went to the strange device that topped the tower. It was, according to the Resistance informants, a death ray, that once activated. That one and a score of them about the city. That once activated, would create a lethal dome of blazing energies which no living thing could survive. His mission. It's not going to happen. He set the charges he carried in his side flaps, planted the timers carefully on all of them, set them for sixty seconds and leaped from the tower. He flipped on his jump suit and waited for the rockets to kick in. And waited. And... ============================================================= Harry's face was flushed and sweating by the time he had completed the retelling of his dream. Jet looked at him, his jaw hanging down. "God, Harry, I never knew. Man!" Al took out his pipe, which he always did when he was considering something weighty, or something that bothered him deeply, proceeded to tamp tobacco in it, then light it. He took several puffs, then said. "We're going to find out what is causing these time loops, Harry. I promise it." He said nothing more, but he gave Harry a quick side hug, then stepped back to rejoin Tesla, who looked up then, saw Harry's face, gave him a worried look, then returned to his work, with Al whispering words to him so Harry and Jet couldn't over listen. Harry slumped against the work table behind him and wiped the sweat from his face. He felt like crap. Probably looked like it too. He and Jet went to the small eating area that was allowed the base, took out two mugs and filled them steaming black java. They plugged the liquid with dabs of sugar and milk, then sat down, eyeing the activity going on, even at such an early hour. A platoon of Resistance Forces were training in one corner, their Squad Leader, hollering at them to stay trim, stay in line, be quiet, get down and all the other nasty things those guys did to save the lives of those in their command. "It's like I'm unhinged in time, Jet." Harry finally said, lifting his eyes from the activity in the base, to Jet's. Jet nodded. He waited for Harry to go on. "I never feel the death, but it always ends up that way. Why do I only remember the deaths?" Jet laughed. "God's keeping you humble, man. God knows you need it, Flyboy." Harry laughed despite the sadness and dismay he felt. He took a long sip of the hot java, the coffee streaming down his throat and igniting the nerve endings in his body, bringing some semblance of reality back to him again as he got further away from the dream. Then he remembered. "Jet, it's been happening to me when I fly the suit." "Yeah, man, we knew that." "Yes, but it only happens after I've been in battle." Harry jumped to his feet and dashed off. Jet set his coffee down. "Now, I know why they call him Rocketman. He never keeps his feet on the ground long." Jet sighed, threw the rest of his drink down his throat, then ran after Harry. ============================================================= Harry struggled into the Rocketman suit while the Techs helped him lockdown. It was like squeezing a soft tomato through the top of a wine bottle. It had to get inside without bursting. At least that's what it always felt like to Harry at first. He eyed the jump suit and wished it were stable. He needed the flexibility it provided. No use living in the past, he thought, then stuffed his arms into the arms of the Rocketman suit and waited as he was closed inside. Jet tapped on his faceplate. "Reading me, Harry?" "Only too loud and clear, pal." "Good, next time you run out on me like that I'm charging for the time." Harry laughed. The Techs about them laughed too. Harry and Jet were base favorites. Their humor and stamina were well known, as was their battle readiness. Harry activated the controls in his suit with his chin, tongue and nose, then dropped lightly to the floor as the overhead clamps released him. He turned towards the rising hanger door. He twisted slightly to look at Jet. "Make sure Al and Tes are monitoring my flight this time. It's important." "Not telling me why, pal!" Jet exclaimed in aggravation. Harry smiled through the face plate. "No time. Just tell them. Please!" "Gotcha!" Jet dashed off. Harry turned the Rocketman suit towards the opening to the Swiss air, then ignited his suit's rockets. He kept them tuned low so the radiations didn't backwash into the crew scrambling to clear his path, then punched them into full gear when he reached the opening. They could never leave it open more than a few seconds for fear of the Nazi Fume Fighters catching wind of them. So far they'd been lucky. Harry launched into the clear blue skies of the Swiss Alps, Lake Lucerne below him as he angled towards the clouds. He checked his radar and spotted a Fume Fighter. They had won that name from the ugly black smoke they emitted as they tore through the atmosphere, leaving a smoking trail of black fumes and stench. "Closing." Harry said into his communicator. "Gotcha, Harry." Jet said. "Be careful, Harry." Al told him. "My middle name." Harry chuckled. "Except when it's he who drops like a rock." Jet whooped with laughter. "That was good, brother. Really good." "Here goes!" Harry warned, then accelerated the suit, closing in rapidly on the Fume Fighter which was high above. Obviously, the pilot had his attention forward, instead of below, for Harry was able to launch a series of rockets into its exhausts before the pilot awoke to the Rocketman behind him. Harry didn't give him a chance to warn anyone, not even himself. He launched a deadly one, two whammy salvo of rockets which sent the Nazi pilot back to Valhalla. Harry circled the area he had struck the Fume Fighter in, waiting for his theory to be proved. Nothing happened. "Well, Harry?" Al finally said, his voice sounding a bit worried. "Nothing. Not a damned thing." Harry groaned. Realizing he had just shot down his own theory, he headed back to base. He shot through the entrance, backed off on his rockets, then lit like a dandelion on his favorite spot. He waited impatiently for the Techs to unlatch him, then thanked them, and raced to the back where Al, Tesla and Jet were standing next to the jump suit, which was still in pieces. Al gave Harry a searching look. "I thought the weapons somehow triggered the response that threw me between timelines." Al nodded and turned to Tesla, who had been jotting notes in a small tablet in his hands. "I think you're wrong, Harry. " He held the tablet up. Harry squinted at the mathematical symbols on it. "What's it mean?" But the words that left his lips seemed hollow, empty, as if he were in some kind of deep echo chamber. He jerked his eyes towards Jet, who was reaching for him and then... ============================================================= Harry was falling and falling. The rockets had failed. He would die if he couldn't fire up the engines. Finally, he did the only thing he had left for him to do, if he hoped to survive. He jettisoned himself. He watched the jump suit smash into a building and explode, sending scores of storm troopers from their quarters to see what was going on. And there Harry was, dangling from a parachute high above their heads, but plainly visible if any of them looked up. ============================================================= "Harry!" Jet screamed. Harry shook his head. Jet shook his body. Harry snapped out of the vision he had been experiencing and realized he wasn't falling anymore. Tesla wrote more notes in his tablet. "You were gone for..." He looked at his pocket watch. "Three seconds." Harry let out a whoop of joy. He hugged Jet. "It worked. It worked!" Al smiled comfortingly. "Yes. It did. Now..." He sighed, as he and Tesla exchanged glances. "We have to figure out why you are disobeying every law of physics known to man." Jet patted Harry on his back. "That's because he's Rocketman." Everyone laughed, except for Harry, who secretly wandered if someday he would be able to use the new knowledge and return. Return to the woman he had left behind. He had loved and was stricken from his life forever by a quirk in time. Alpha and Omega
"A Rocketman Story" By John Pirillo A slice through the shadows. Fall back deeper. Heartbeat so loud his chest feels like it's going to explode. Wait! Just. A. Little. Longer. Maybe this time. Maybe not. Slice through. New skies. Maybe! Maybe the search has ended! ======================================================= "Come on, bucket head." Jet whined. Harry swiped at the sweat pooling across his brows, his concentration unwavering as he studied the battle plans before him. Jet, leaning over the plans, anxious to get going, fretted like the little child he was sometimes. Got to love him, mused Harry as he finally swept his pawn across the board to block the only exit that Jet's king had. "Checkmate!" Jet grinned so big that Harry immediately knew he had made a tactical error. "You should have blocked the rook, not the castle." Einstein said, as he hovered over his shoulder, the sweet smell of his cherry blend whispering between his teeth from the pipe he was smoking. "Easy for you to say." Harry complained. "You plan a hundred moves ahead." "Well, one tries." Einstein replied humbly. Harry gave him a scowl, then waited for Jet to close the game. Instead, Jet yawned, stretched real big and got to his feet, stretching like a lion does before leaping upon its prey. "I'm whacked. Think I'll catch some shut eye. 'Night!" "Hey!" Harry complained. "You win, Harry. As always." Jet said, the hint of a snicker in his voice as he swept off to the right and their bunks deeper in the underground fortress. A fortress that was deep inside a series of natural caverns inside the Swiss Alps. Left there by ancient Romans on their way to defeating the rest of Europe. You could still see some of their statuary in deeper pockets of the fortress, where even some of their simple columns supported the cavern roof with beauty, while not actual need. Einstein sat down and pondered the board a moment. "Actually, he's right. You do win." Harry looked at Einstein. "You're kidding, right?" Einstein gave him a stony face, then broke into laughter. "Night, Harry." He walked off slowly, heading a different direction, probably to work with one of his fellow scientists on suit modifications Harry had suggested. He just found it harder and harder to fly the damn thing. He felt like a walking tank. Not like a bird flying. More like a bomb flying the wrong direction. Brenda, one of the Nurses on station, slipped into a chair opposite him and set down two cups of Java. "Thought you'd need this." "Thanks." He said, grasping its warmth, allowing it to warm his numb fingers. While the base was comfortable enough, no amount of work could change the temperatures inside, which were usually just this side of freezing. You could always see your breath. When he complained about it, Einstein laughed. "Would you rather it got hot and our electronics blew up, causing a thermal nuclear meltdown of our reactors?" "Boom!" Einstein made a cute explosion sound, then laughed. So that ended that. "Harry. Base to Harry. Come in, Captain!" Brenda teased. Harry focused on her face, the hint of a smile on his lips. "Sorry, just thinking." "Ask me flight boy, you ding that old noggin a bit too much for comfort. Some day you're likely to turn into one of those steel brains like Al." Harry barked with laughter. "He'd love hearing that. Then he could have a real partner to beat chess with." She smiled, then took a sip of her Java. Harry did the same. Then his eyebrows rose. She gave him the hint of a mischievous smile. "Woke you up, did it, fly boy?" "You shooting for bedpan duty, Nurse?" Harry quipped. She giggled. "No skin off my back. I've been doing that for years, Penguin." He laughed. "Sometimes I wish I were." "Yeah. Read you loud and clear." They both sat there lost in their thoughts a moment, then Harry said what was really on his mind. "Do you think they're still alive...out there...somewhere?" Betty's face grew impassive. "Facts are not always pleasant, flyboy." "Atta girl, fast thinking. But not as fast as my jenny." "Your jenny is nothing more than a firecracker with metal slung around it." She countered, then put a hand on his hand, not liking the direction their talk was taking. "Sorry, Harry. Didn't mean to blow out your tanks." "Likewise." He said with a grin. She softened. "We would all like to think she was still alive, but..." He grew somber with that thought. "So many gone. So many." "You still seeing the split?" "Yeah." "Must feel like being stuck in a Mae West double barrel salute when that happens." "Worse." He admitted. She looked into his eyes. "What's it like in that other world?" "We were winning." He didn't say anything more. What more could he say? On his own timeline the Allies were beating the crap out of those brown shirts, but here...they were on the run...hiding in rabbit holes and taking pocket shots, hoping for a big break. "You live back then sometimes, don't you?" "Yes." He sighed, put his head in his hands a moment, then looked back at her. "It's like a dream...this world...when I'm there, but now that world..." "Like a dream?" He nodded. "Al or Nicolai come up with anything yet?" "Not a damned thing." She put a hand on his wrist and he could feel the warmth of her seeping into his body. He flinched at first, but she didn't let go. "Whenever you want to talk more about it." She got up and smiled. "Why don'tchu come up and see me some time, big guy?" "You been looking at those old reels, have you?" He smiled at her. "Oh yeah. Those movie stars had it all down." She returned the smile, then walked off, the same time as klaxons blared throughout the underground cavern. Harry bounced to his feet, spilling his Java on the table top. He ignored it as he ran as fast as he could to the rigging area. He, along with a myriad of penguins, who supported the operations, raced in every direction. Checking power. Checking radar. Checking entrances and exits. Checking fuel. Checking supplies. Hauling out fire equipment. All the things that penguins did to make sure the flyboys were safe and the secret base secure. He mused over the term penguins a moment, thinking it funny that his fellow airmen would be called something as cute as that, but such was the slang of the times...even in this alternate reality. Which brought him back full circle to the klaxons blaring. Either there was a major battle coming, or something had gone terribly wrong. "Suit up, Captain!" Ordered his commanding officer of the day. Colonel Windser. The man was an uptight asshole, without the slightest clue of good manners or mercy. He would just as readily swap a fellow airman down into the ground as a Nazi storm trooper. Harry ignored him as always, leaped up the ramp into his suit, twisted around and slipped inside. The ground crew sealed him in quickly and made sure his electronic network was active and ready. Others manned the new electronic consoles that kept track of his heart rate, his air, his munitions and more importantly his amp out if need be. He'd only amped once, and it had cost him a month in rehab from the shock of impacting the ground. He was determined...not to let that ever happen again. Amping was a term for bailing out, but in his suit, it just meant being enclosed with a super inflated cushion that was supposed to protect him from earth impact. It did, but it usually left him in shock for weeks from the violence of the impact. They had tested it once without him and deemed it okay, but he knew better. It was experimental. Which was why he was begging them for lighter suit. As his helmet sealed off and his scanners lit to life, his screens for monitoring the outside of the suit, his armament, his flight navigator, his communications gear came to life as well. "Rocketman, loud and ready." He quipped. "Gotcha, Harry." Jet rang in from a receiver near his right ear. Harry activated his legs and began disconnecting from the ramp. He turned and faced the ramp he would be launching from. He began racing up it as the mountainside ahead began to part like the fabled walls of Ali Baba's forty thieves. "Rocket!" Harry shouted, then shot up into the midnight black of the Swiss night. No moon, no stars. Clouds thick and dreary. Perfect for his flight to stay hidden from the Nazi base below, but bad for his systems readouts, as the fog caused a lot of false readings. "Jet, what's going on? Nothing in range." "This is Colonel Windser, you are to stay air born until further instructions. We have a bogey. I repeat we have a bogey." "Colonel, that tells me zero!" "Heads up." Jet ordered. Harry turned his helmet up. The clouds were thinner there. As he flew higher, they thinned further and he became aware of something metallic coming into view. It was larger than him, and armed to the teeth. Another Rocket suit...with a huge Swastika on its chest. "Jet, we have a problem." "What is it?" "Me." Static blasted into his ears, then Colonel Windser's voice blasted through. "Shoot it down. Now!" "I can't." "Captain, are you disobeying a direct order?" "No sir, just not interested in shooting my own self." Long silence. "What?" "It's me. Rocket me." "Holy crap, Harry, how's that possible?" "How are you possible, how am I?" He shot back. "Some kind of new split in the timeline. Jeepers, you're rattin' up the wrong tree, if you wanna make sense of this." "Other suit is arming, Harry." "No kiddin." Harry did the only thing he could, he amped. Inside his suit, he became compressed in a soft substance that would save him from any impact. The suit was made of a highly resilient metal that nothing short of an atom bomb could destroy. He was the only breakable part. "Harry, you crazy!" "Guess so!" The last thing he saw was the face in the other suit as it closed in. His own. The eyes were in shock, then it shot to the right and vanished as he plummeted towards the earth. That was the last thing he remembered for about a week. The next thing he remembered was Nurse Brenda's voice talking to Jet in a low murmur. Then he realized it was just him surfacing from dreamland. He opened his eyes. He was hooked up to all kinds medical scanners and body fluids. "Hey!" They both gave him looks of relief. Colonel Windser stormed into the room, his face bright with anger, but instead of hollering at Harry, he wiped at his eyes, which were clearly wet with tears. He touched Harry gently on his shoulder. "Damn you, Harry!" "Damn me, sir!" Harry joked back. Colonel Windser jerked his eyes to Jet and Brenda. "You make sure he has everything he needs to recover fully." He looked back at Harry. "And then you got a lot of explaining to do." He smiled. "I'm glad you made it, son." He paused as if about to say more, then left in a storm as he had entered. Jet whooped it up. "Harry, you just got cussed out by the meanest guy on the earth and survived." "Didn't sound that way to me." Brenda laughed. "You should have heard him when you amped. My ears are still healing from all the swear words." "So what happened?" Harry asked, genuinely confused. "You survived." Jet said gently, his smile warm and soothing. "You made it, fly boy!" Harry laughed. "You should have seen the look on the other guy's face." "I'll bet." Jet snorted. "Bad enough to have one loser in the air, let alone two!" He laughed. But what he was really thinking was "How could Harry be sure the other Harry would recognize the gesture of surrender and not blast him to kingdom come?" Brenda joined the laughter, but Harry didn't. What had happened to the other him? Did he realize that Harry was not the enemy like he had the other? And why was he flying a suit with a swastika on it? Those questions boiled in his mind as he slipped into a much needed, and deep rest.
Stark builds Ultron as a prototype, a way to possibly never have to get back in the Iron Man suit himself again.
Those American Fools
"A Rocketman Story" John Pirillo Jet shivered in the hold of the cargo plane, while Harry strapped into his rocket suit. "Not my idea of a vacation, Harry." "You were expecting Florida, maybe?" Harry asked, as he drew his helmet down to lock onto his shoulder pack. Now he could navigate without his eyes burning out of their sockets from the air friction. Jet saw he was ready and put on his own goggles, strapping them extra tight. "This is going to be a close one, you know." "For the Fatherland I would do anything." Harry quipped, a scowl of a smile lighting the eyes behind his rocket suit helmet. "Yeah. We do go back a ways with father, don't we?" Jet grinned, and then stood up, clutching the parachute strapped to his chest. "Still I don't think hanging from the arms of a flying bomb is such a hot idea either." Harry ignored him and activated the rear door of the cargo plane, causing the door there to begin lowering. Wind rushed inside, shoving at them. Harry turned around. "Come to Papa." "You better not drop me." Jet warned. "That's what parachutes are for." Harry quipped. "Yeah. That and a two by four over the back of the head. Don't drop me!" "Ease up, soldier. This is a piece of cake. We jet over to the experimental air carrier; deposit our token of friendship to the Fatherland, then get the hell outta there." "Roger that, but..." Jet gave Harry a stern look. "Don't drop me!" Harry crossed his heart with a gauntleted hand. "Swear!" "Why don't I trust you when you say that word?" Jet asked, turning around for Harry to grab him. Harry didn't give him a chance to say anything more or move. As soon as Harry turned, he rushed forward, then grabbed him by the shoulder harness there, then threw them both off the back of the plane. "Don't dropppppppp meeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!" Jet cried out as they plummeted towards the rugged mountains below. Then Harry's jets came to life as he triggered them with his chin and nose controls and they leveled out, then as Harry angled his arms skywards, they shot like a rocket towards the moon high overhead. ======================================================= Colonel Wilhelm Smitzhkipf, a high ranking Sturmgard in service to the Fuehrer, paced the capacious deck of their experimental carrier, going from one needle nosed jet fighter to the next, first examining their armaments, then the pilots who stood at attention beside them. Satisfied, he stopped in front of the phalanx of jets and pilots, then gave them a stern look of approval. "The Father will be proud of you." The pilots all saluted at the same time. "Heil Hitler!" The Colonel nodded his head and gave them a weak salute in return, and then he struck his small hand whip against the side of his pants and looked towards the rear of the carrier, where the large door was already sliding open for the jets to launch an attack. "Switzerland has been holding out for neutrality." He explained, his attention barely on the men. "We shall teach them that there is no such thing as neutrality." "Heil Hitler!" The pilots said again with a salute. "Yes. Yes. That too. But now..." He turned to eye them, his face less stern. "You, my children, are the finest of the finest. We have spent years cultivating your abilities. You have been enhanced with sciences the West is not yet aware of, but soon will be. You are the first of our Sturm Drangers...Super Soldiers." "Heil Hitler!" Even louder this time. He smiled like a wolf about to eat a lamb. "You shall teach the meaning of real peace to those fools below, who huddle in their simple cottages and unprotected towns next to their...disgusting lakes and ducks." The pilots burst into laughter then. He grinned. It was working. He had then firmly in the grip of his hand. Not one of them was questioning the fact that their jets had only enough fuel to attack, but not to return to the Fatherland. "Now, prepare to launch." "Heil Hitler!" The pilots hailed one last time, saluted, then dashed up the small ladders into the cockpits of their jets as flight crew assisted them. At that same moment something roared through the open area in back to the surprise of the Colonel. Harry landed in front of him and let Jet go. "Go, Jet!" Harry commanded. Jet dashed for the front of the carrier with his small package held tightly in his hands. "Seize him!" The Colonel ordered and several of the flight crew ran after Jet. "So." The Colonel said, walking closer to Harry. "I see our friends in the West have been working on a little surprise for us. After we kill your companion, we shall take your suit back to our Fuehrer and make thousands of them!" "Nice fantasy, Colonel. But I don't think so." "There is nothing you can do to stop us!" The Colonel said, his face screwed up in anger. "Uh actually, there is.' Harry pointed to the back of the plane where another package stood. The Colonel's eyes widened. Harry gave the Colonel a three fingered salute, and then launched towards the front of the carrier. He slammed through the flight crew chasing Jet, then grabbed Jet's harness and lifted him off the flooring. He angled put on speed towards the distant cockpit where a wide panel of glass gave a view of the Alps below. "Harry, please tell me you're not going to do what I think you're going to..." Harry drew his arms back, allowing Harry to fall below and to the rear so that his helmet and shoulder armor would take the brunt of the crash, then slammed into the glass paneling before the Pilot and Co-Pilot of the Nazi Carrier. The paneling shattered like a soap bubble, instantly sucking the Pilot and Co-Pilot through the opening to their deaths. Behind them the Colonel ran towards the package in the rear, his face red with exertion and fear. He reached the package, heard a ticking sound, which stopped. Nothing. He grinned. The fool Americans had failed. He lifted the package. It was heavy. He saw some writing on it. He read it. "Give my regards to the Devil." It read. The package exploded. ======================================================= Behind Harry and Jet the vast Nazi Super Carrier exploded at its tail and the explosion ripped forwards, tearing the vast vehicle into a thousand pieces of flaming debris. Harry brought Jet forward. "We're safe now." Jet looked up at Harry's helmeted face a moment, then down at the Alps below. "I'll believe that when we land. And next time, you run and I fool." "It's a deal." Harry said, and then executed a sharp angled turn, which plummeted them like a rocket, which he was, towards the secret base below. "Jets away!" He cried as they shot towards home. Aw!
Last chapter! From Wikipedia, the free encyclopediaZombies of the StratosphereJudd Holdren as Larry MartinDirected byFred C. BrannonProduced byFranklin AdreonWritten byRonald DavidsonStarring
70 minutes (feature)[1]CountryUnited StatesLanguageEnglishBudget$176,357Zombies of the Stratosphere is a 1952 black-and-white Republic Studios serial that was intended to be their second featuring "new hero"Commando Cody and the third 12-chapter serial featuring the rocket-powered flying jacket and helmet introduced in King of the Rocket Men(1949). Instead, for reasons unknown, the hero was renamed "Larry Martin," who must prevent Martian invaders from using a hydrogen bomb to blow Earth out of its orbit, away from the Sun, so that Mars can take its position. As in Radar Men from the Moon (also released in 1952), most of the screen time for each of the dozen chapters is spent on fistfights and car chases between the heroes and a gang of crooks hired by Narab and his extraterrestrial colleague Marex to steal and stockpile the Atomic supplies needed for construction of the H-bomb. The serial was directed director by Fred C. Brannon, with a screenplay by Ronald Davidson, and the special effects by Republic's Lydecker brothers. The serial is remembered today as one of the first screen appearances of a young Leonard Nimoy, who plays one of the three Martian invaders, Narab. In 1958, a feature film version of this serial, retitled Satan's Satellites, was made by editing down the serial's footage to feature film length. Contents [hide] Plot[edit]Larry Martin (Judd Holdren), a leader in the Inter-Planetary Patrol, detects a rocket coming to Earth. He takes to the air in his rocket suit and helmet to investigate and discovers two Martian invaders, Marex (Lane Bradford) and Narab (Leonard Nimoy). Since Mars is now orbiting too far from the Sun and its ecology has been dying, the Martian invaders want to swap Earth's and Mars' orbits, so Mars will then be closer to the Sun. They plan on achieving this by using hydrogen bomb plans stolen from Earth scientists to cause the two planets' orbits to swap, using specifically placed atomic explosions on both worlds. Finding they have an Earth accomplice in the form of the traitorous Dr Harding (Stanley Waxman), the Martians set up a base in an underground cave that can only be reached from underwater. Over the course of 12 action-packed chapters, Larry, as Rocket Man, uncovers their daring plan and then their secret location and sets about defeating them. In the end the Martian plot fails thanks to the Rocket Man efforts, aided by his associates Sue Davis (Aline Towne) and Bob Wilson (Wilson Wood). Chapter titles[edit]
Cast[edit]
An addition to the Rocket Man back-pack and helmet, used for the first time in this serial, is a two-way radio about the size of a lunchbox; Larry Martin wears it hanging heavily from his belt when dressed for flying. This radio is also seen in some stills of Cody in Commando Cody: Sky Marshal of the Universe. As most flying sequences are reused stock footage from earlier Rocket Man serials, the radio usually disappears when Commando Cody is in flight. Martin also uses an ordinary police revolver instead of the ray gun favored by Cody in earlier and later serials. Zombies of the Stratosphere was budgeted at $172,838, although the final negative cost was $176,357 (a $3,519, or 2%, overspend). It was the cheapest Republic serial of 1952[1] and was filmed between April 14, and May 1, 1952. At seventeen days, this is tied with King of the Carnival for the shortest filming period of all Republic serials.[1] The serial's production number was 1933.[1] Zombies of the Stratosphere reuses the "Republic Robot" (somewhat resembling a walking silvery hot-water heater with two ribbed arms that terminate in pincers), along with stock footage of it in action (such as the Bank Robbery by Robot scene from Mysterious Doctor Satan) and black-and-white footage from a Republic full color Roy Rogers film. The serial is also heavily padded with footage from their King of the Rocket Men (1949), to which this is a pseudo-sequel. Although the Zombies serial has Martians as the villains, they are not the same Martians as shown in the earlier Republic serial The Purple Monster Strikes.[3][4] The Robot was first seen in Undersea Kingdom (1936) and prominently featured in Mysterious Doctor Satan (1940). Stunts[edit]
Release[edit]Theatrical[edit]Zombies of the Stratosphere 's official release date is July 16, 1952, although this is actually the date the sixth chapter was made available to film exchanges.[1] This was followed by a re-release of Dick Tracy vs. Crime, Inc., re-titled as Dick Tracy vs. Phantom Empire, instead of a new serial. The next new serial, Jungle Drums of Africa, followed in 1953.[1] A 70-minute feature film version, created by heavily editing down the serial footage, was released on March 28, 1958, under the new title Satan's Satellites. It was one of 14 feature films Republic later converted from their large catalog of serials.[1] Television[edit]Zombies of the Stratosphere was one of two Republic serials later colorized for 1990s television broadcast.[1] Home video releases[edit]During 1991, the serial was released in original full length and black-and-white on two videodiscs from The Roan Group; in 1995 by Republic Pictures Home Video in the U.S. on VHS edited to 93 minutes and colorized;[5] as a 2-DVD set from Cheezy Flicks Entertainment in 2009 at full length and original black-and-white.[6] Reception[edit]Critics and viewers found the serial to be relatively dull and unimaginative, not as interesting as Radar Men from the Moon. The use of stock footage from earlier serials is not quite as overwhelming as seen in the earlier or later Cody outings, as greater emphasis is placed on fistfights rather than scenes using the rocket back-pack. Holdren's performance is often stiff and amateurish, especially when compared to the professionalism of the old Republic pros who surround him on screen. Cline describes this serial as just a "quickie."[7] References[edit]Notes[edit]
Taken from Wikipedia
Larry Martin (Judd Holdren), a leader in the Inter-Planetary Patrol, detects a rocket coming to Earth. He takes to the air in his rocket suit and helmet to investigate and discovers two Martian invaders, Marex (Lane Bradford) and Narab (Leonard Nimoy). Since Mars is now orbiting too far from the Sun and its ecology has been dying, the Martian invaders want to swap Earth's and Mars' orbits, so Mars will then be closer to the Sun. They plan on achieving this by using hydrogen bomb plans stolen from Earth scientists to cause the two planets' orbits to swap, using specifically placed atomic explosions on both worlds. Finding they have an Earth accomplice in the form of the traitorous Dr Harding (Stanley Waxman), the Martians set up a base in an underground cave that can only be reached from underwater. Over the course of 12 action-packed chapters, Larry, as Rocket Man, uncovers their daring plan and then their secret location and sets about defeating them. In the end the Martian plot fails thanks to the Rocket Man efforts, aided by his associates Sue Davis (Aline Towne) and Bob Wilson (Wilson Wood). Chapter titles[edit]
Cast[edit]
An addition to the Rocket Man back-pack and helmet, used for the first time in this serial, is a two-way radio about the size of a lunchbox; Larry Martin wears it hanging heavily from his belt when dressed for flying. This radio is also seen in some stills of Cody in Commando Cody: Sky Marshal of the Universe. As most flying sequences are reused stock footage from earlier Rocket Man serials, the radio usually disappears when Commando Cody is in flight. Martin also uses an ordinary police revolver instead of the ray gun favored by Cody in earlier and later serials. Zombies of the Stratosphere was budgeted at $172,838, although the final negative cost was $176,357 (a $3,519, or 2%, overspend). It was the cheapest Republic serial of 1952[1] and was filmed between April 14, and May 1, 1952. At seventeen days, this is tied with King of the Carnival for the shortest filming period of all Republic serials.[1] The serial's production number was 1933.[1] Zombies of the Stratosphere reuses the "Republic Robot" (somewhat resembling a walking silvery hot-water heater with two ribbed arms that terminate in pincers), along with stock footage of it in action (such as the Bank Robbery by Robot scene from Mysterious Doctor Satan) and black-and-white footage from a Republic full color Roy Rogers film. The serial is also heavily padded with footage from their King of the Rocket Men (1949), to which this is a pseudo-sequel. Although the Zombies serial has Martians as the villains, they are not the same Martians as shown in the earlier Republic serial The Purple Monster Strikes.[3][4] The Robot was first seen in Undersea Kingdom (1936) and prominently featured in Mysterious Doctor Satan (1940). Stunts[edit]
Release[edit]Theatrical[edit]Zombies of the Stratosphere 's official release date is July 16, 1952, although this is actually the date the sixth chapter was made available to film exchanges.[1] This was followed by a re-release of Dick Tracy vs. Crime, Inc., re-titled as Dick Tracy vs. Phantom Empire, instead of a new serial. The next new serial, Jungle Drums of Africa, followed in 1953.[1] A 70-minute feature film version, created by heavily editing down the serial footage, was released on March 28, 1958, under the new title Satan's Satellites. It was one of 14 feature films Republic later converted from their large catalog of serials.[1] Television[edit]Zombies of the Stratosphere was one of two Republic serials later colorized for 1990s television broadcast.[1] Home video releases[edit]During 1991, the serial was released in original full length and black-and-white on two videodiscs from The Roan Group; in 1995 by Republic Pictures Home Video in the U.S. on VHS edited to 93 minutes and colorized;[5] as a 2-DVD set from Cheezy Flicks Entertainment in 2009 at full length and original black-and-white.[6] Reception[edit]Critics and viewers found the serial to be relatively dull and unimaginative, not as interesting as Radar Men from the Moon. The use of stock footage from earlier serials is not quite as overwhelming as seen in the earlier or later Cody outings, as greater emphasis is placed on fistfights rather than scenes using the rocket back-pack. Holdren's performance is often stiff and amateurish, especially when compared to the professionalism of the old Republic pros who surround him on screen. Cline describes this serial as just a "quickie."[7] |
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