NationStates Jolt Archive

OOC: I don’t really expect anyone to reply to this, this more of just a short story I’m putting out to get some plot things out of the way. If you really do have a good reason for getting involved though…eh, TG me.


IC: AIV Olympia, in orbit around planet Cirrus

Seeing the water planet out the window in his conference lounge was becoming more and more frequent. Not that Cirrus wasn’t beautiful. The class O planet with its heavily populated island chains was a stunning sight, for any space traveler. But Admiral Vega liked seeing new sights more. He liked being an explorer.

He sighed. Thus was the downside of being an Admiral. Meetings, Meetings, and more Meetings. Special occasions that he had to be at in person. A holographic representative would be rude. And these days, there were more of these occasions then usual. Vega had hoped to get back to exploring after the war ended, and at first he had seemed to get his wish when his vessel was sent out to explore the universe and meet new people.

Then the problems began. The most obvious of which was the reconstruction of all that was lost in the war. Atlantis’s defenses were weak… not a comforting thought. Although no one had shown interest in Atlantis for some time, the old paranoia mindset of the Atlantian people still lurked. The other was what had caused Admiral Vega’s mission to be cancelled…and which was directly related to the lack of defenses problem…

Immigration. Since the Zoir empire had fallen, there had been a light but steady income of Zoir refugees that had been settling in the border territories of Atlantis. This wasn’t a problem. What the problem was had been the dramatic INCREASE of the amount of immigration since the war had ended. And this time, they weren’t all Zoir. No fewer then five different species were now taking up residence inside Atlantian space, and not all of them were friendly. One group in particular, a saurian species, had been responsible for several terrorist attacks in an effort to gain power in the border worlds. Thanks to them, if the Olympia wasn’t in orbit of Cirrus, the capital planet, with Vega in a meeting; then it was out patrolling the border colonies.

The computer screen on his desk beeped, jolting him awake from his musing. He pressed a button, and one of his Ensigns’s faces appeared.

“Sir, Professor Ikia is onboard. He is being escorted to your room as we speak” she said.

Vega nodded. “Good work ensign. Thank you” he turned off the communication signal as the door beeped. “Come in”

A young Atlantian with long white hair walked in. He had a large smile on his face, and his movements suggested that he was easily excitable and eccentric.

”Great” Vega thought to himself, ”They sent me a green”

“Professor Ikia I presume” Vega said with a smile, standing up out of his chair. He offered a handshake, which Ikia returned vigorously.

“Yes sir, Admiral Vega, sir” the professor replied. He slammed a large briefcase down on the table which caused Vega to jump slightly. He offered Ikia a seat, and then sat down himself.

“You’re lucky you caught me when you did” Vega said, “We were just about to head out on another patrol”

“My apologies for being late” replied Ikia, “We had trouble with one of the prototypes data assemblies…so we had to try and recalibrate the power nodes”

Vega’s eyes widened slightly in anticipation. “So then…you have it?”

Ikia nodded. “It’s not yet safe for testing on people, but it IS operational” he unlocked the briefcase and pulled out a small wrist device, about the size of his fist. “THIS little bugger is the activation module” he handed it over to Vega. It was silver and black in color, with the initials “ASF” engraved onto it. It had bands to connect to the wrist, and several buttons on the side of it.

Vega looked over it and nodded, then looked back at Ikia. “How soon will it be until it’s ready?”

“We need another month or two of testing before it’ll be ready for actual use. In the meantime, we’ve been looking for good candidates. …Which is one of the reasons why I’m here”

“…It is?” Vega handed the device back to Ikia.

Ikia nodded as he put the device back in the case. “We’ve narrowed down our candidates to a select few. One of them is on this very ship. We’ve studied their physical, metabolical, and mental states, as well as their known endurance, strength, and intelligence. We can only choose the best for this project”

“Are the suits that expensive?” Vega asked, with a slight hint of sarcasm. He got up and opened a small fridge next to the wall.

“Well, yes. But that’s not the real reason”

Vega took out a bottle of liquid. “Do you care for some Elarian Ale? 12,560 AZ, by the Atlantian calendar. Good year”

Ikari nodded. Vega took two glasses and the ale over to the desk and sat down. “I always find that the ale adds something to the conversation” Vega poured the bottle into the two small glasses, then handed one over to Ikari. “Now then…what’s the real reason?”

“You have to understand what we’re dealing with here, Admiral. This…this is a HUGE jump in not just nanotechnology, but quantum physics, hyperphysics, and basically almost every other ‘experimental’ field. We have nothing to back us up, not even prior steps up to this, except for some ancient Atlantian database that we can’t even fully decrypt. To be quite honest, what we’re attempting to do is insane”

Vega chuckled. “Yet you do it anyway” he took a sip.

Ikia smiled and looked down. “What can I say? It’s all part of the adventure”

“Indeed” said Vega. “So then…what exactly is the problem?”

Ikia moved his glass slightly. “The process that these things activate by involves dimensional distortion and nanotechnology. In short, these devices are giant…” Ikia searched for the right word. “…giant sinkholes, in the fabric of spacetime. We can’t risk activating too many of them or anything could happen. We don’t KNOW what would happen. It could range from the devices shorting out, or something as bad as say….reality collapsing. Which would be a bad thing.”

“How many?”

“…How many what?”

“How many could you activate at one time?”

“We’re guessing five is a good estimate. Six might be possible, but we don’t want to test reality. So we’re looking for five of the BEST. A super-strike team” Ikia took a sip.

Vega nodded. “Not that I want you to test reality as far as possible. You and I both know from personal experience that sometimes…things don’t go very well”

“Sir?”

Vega sighed and thought for a moment. Then he swung his chair around, to face away from Ikia. “I know your department was responsible for “the cure””.

“Sir, every scientist…every department has its share of defeats, as well as its victories. Not that it was ethical to try and wipe out an entire portion of our species, but…well, it was before I signed on anyway”

“I’m sorry for bringing it up then” Vega turned back around slowly. “I just have…reservations about whose behind this project…especially if it involves one of my crewmembers”

“I—I understand sir”

“…Which one is it?”

“Ensign Kamino, sir”

Vega’s eyebrows arched. “…Kamino? He’s a bit of a rebel rouser”

“Trust me, I know. I’ve seen his record. But his achievements have been extraordinary. And I don’t know…perhaps a special forces team would be a good move for him”

The Admiral pondered for a moment. “Perhaps” he pressed a button a small wrist watch he had on. “Admiral Vega to Ensign Kamino…please report to my office. Now”

“Join the Navy, see the Universe” Kamino muttered sarcastically, as he was squatted down on the floor, tinkering with a control console in main engineering. “Right. Which is why all I’ve seen so far is my own backyard” Kamino was young for an Atlantian, only in his early 40’s. In comparison with a Terran, he looked only 18.

“What’s that? Could Ensign Kamino be…BORED!?” Lt. Avias, who stood nearby checking warp core readings, put on a fake surprised face. “Oh, the disbelief”

Kamino put on a sly grin as he continued to work. “What can I say? I have a bad case of ADD”

Admiral Vega to Ensign Kamino…please report to my office. Now.”

Kamino made a deep sigh and stood up. What was it THIS time?

“What’d you do this time?” Avias laughed. “Turn the Holodeck into something rated X?”

“Sadly no, but that IS a good idea” Kamino said with a grin, before walking off. What WAS it this time?

Ensign Kamino was a fairly new member of the Olympia, having been shipped over during the last rotation. Yet he was well known already, even among the command crew…almost as if he was one of them. This was mostly because of his proficiency at technology…and his proficiency at pissing people off. Like the Opera incident. Or the Smiley Face incident.

Except he hadn’t done anything this time around. Was he being blamed for something he didn’t do? He hated the thought of that. Nothing irked him more then being blamed for something he didn’t get the pleasure of setting up.

He approached the door. Taking a deep breath, he pressed the bell button.

Come in

The door opened, and Ensign Kamino stepped inside. “What’d I do this time, sir?”

Vega chuckled. “Nothing. Come, take a seat. This is Professor Ikia, of Department 6” he held out his hand at he professor as he introduced him. Ikia and Kamino nodded at each other.

“Nice to meet you” Ikia said, giving Kamino a handshake, before Kamino sat down.

“We’ve just been discussing you’re…plans for the future” Vega said.

“Oh, joy” replied Kamino. “That’s just what I want. A bunch of bureaucratic guys deciding my fate for me”

“Ensign Kamino…” Ikia interrupted him. “I have a proposal I wish to offer you”

“…And that would be…?”

“Do you know what Project: “Taskforce” is?” asked Ikia. Kamino shook his head. Ikia smiled. “I figured as much. We’re playing low-key right now” he pulled out a small holographic display from his case. He placed it on the desk, and it immediately activated, showing a detailed analysis for what looked to be a suit of armor.

“With the help of some ancient Atlantian tech we discovered, we at the department have been creating a new breed of warrior. One with super-light, super-flexible, super-strong armor; an internal support system, and the ability to put on this armor within seconds with a simple voice command”

Kamino raised his eyebrow. “And…just how are you going about this? “A wizard did it”?”

“Are you familiar with the concept of Alchemy?”

“The whole myth about being able to turn lead into gold?”

“The concept of being able to trade one object for another of equal mass, yes” said Ikia. “Well, thanks to the concept of Nanotechnology and Quantum Physics, it’s quite possible. Just…usually too complex and advanced for anyone to utilize.

“…So what makes this any different?” asked Kamino.

Ikia changed the holographic projector to a picture of a set of old Atlantian ruins in the desert. “This” he zoomed in on an ancient computer terminal they had found. “This database gave us the ability to construct certain machines. Or…rather, FINISH building said machines. We still have no idea how they actually managed to do this, but I’m certain that with hard work and a bit of luck we can—”

“Professor” Vega cut him off.

“Oh…I apologize. I got a little carried away there”

“Just tell him what it is, Professor” Vega said.

“Y-yes, sir” Ikia cleared his throat. “Project Taskforce is the combination of nanotechnology and dimensional physics. Using highly advanced and ancient technology, we plan to create a series of…suits, for lack of a better term. Full-body armor with built in self-sufficient respiratory and temperature regulating functions. It is super strong, super light, and super flexible. In other words…it is like near-indestructible spandex”

“Ok, so that’s the nanotechnology. Doesn’t sound all that much like dimensional physics” Kamino said.

“Well you see, that’s the really fantastic part of this!” Ikia pulled out the same small device as before and put it next to the holographic display. “It’s all in here”

“…There?” Kamino pointed, his eyebrow arched.

“Right there” Ikia said nodding, with a big grin.

“…What, you mean like rolled up like a sleeping bag?”

“No, no. The blueprints are in there. The protoforms. All the data, all the information, the entire program needed to install the suit on the person”

“…Install?”

“Yes. This is where we break half the laws of physics. When this module is activated, the blueprints for the uniform is activated. It then…causes reality to distort. It causes matter to change on the subatomic level. The air around you…your clothes…CHANGE into the suit of armor. Then when you deactivate the module…everything reverts. As if it was magic”

Kamino’s eyes widened. “You’re literally talking about alchemy”

“In a sense…yes”

“This could revolutionize…everything! An entire army of supersoldiers…”

Ikia laughed. “Not so fast…the technology in this thing distorts reality. Too many activated at once would…theoretically, tear a hole in the fabric of reality”

“Which is why we can only create and activate a small handful at a time” said Vega.

“…aaand you want me to be one of these lucky people” said Kamino.

“Your record speaks for itself. As do your physical and mental records” said Ikia. “You ARE one of our top choices”

“Are you certain?” asked Vega. “He’s only been in the fleet for a year…and he is a bit of a troublemaker”

“Ensign Kamino has an affinity for technology, correct?”

“Yes”

Ikia nodded. Vega nodded in agreement. “Well then Ensign…I guess the choice is up to you”

ASF headquarters, science and development division

“Now turn it up to high”

Xolin could hardly hear the engineer’s voice over the sound of the energy blast her small craft was emanating into the block of steel. “You got it” she cried back, even though she knew chances of being heard were close to nil. Pressing a few buttons, the laser cannons increased their output…

--then suddenly shorted out and died. Xolin grunted with annoyance as she stepped off the small skyrider. It was best described as a flying bike, without wheels and elongated for atmospheric travel, as well as a big engine in back.

“There still must be a problem with the reactor overlays” Xolin said, grabbing her soda from off a counter beside her. She walked up to the engineer.

He shook his head. “No, no…we fixed that. I think this is coming from the laser ignition” he looked up at some of the mechanics now tinkering with the skyrider. “Hey, can we get a confirmation status on the laser ignition?”

They nodded and went to work. The engineer looked at Xolin.

“You’d think we’d have these things up and running by now” Xolin muttered. “I mean, it’s not like these are the most sophisticated part of our arsenal”

“Sometimes we get too cocky, Xolin. Perhaps the gods want us to learn something from this”

“Right…gods” Xolin muttered, as she started towards the exit. “I’m gonna go take a shower” as she reached the exit door, it opened on her, revealing Professor Ikia…and another person.

“Ah, Xolin” Ikia said, “Allow me to introduce a new candidate for the squad. Ensign Kamino, of the Olympia”

“Yo” Kamino said.

Xolin gave a false smile. “Cute. Professor…can I speak with you a moment?” he pulled Ikia away.

“What the hell is this?” she asked with a whisper

“What is what?”

“What did I tell you about recruiting children? We need experienced soldiers!”

Ikia looked her in the eye. “I told you before, he’s a candidate. We needed to gather all of them that made it this far in our selection in order to choose. Kamino is VERY experienced in technology”

“But this is COMBAT, professor. This is war, not your desk job. There is a difference. We will be on top secret intelligence and combat missions. I need soldiers”

“You? May I remind you, Xolin, that you are not leader of this squad”

“I’m fairly certain Sid would agree with me”

“Actually, I don’t” said a voice. Xolin and Ikia looked over and saw another man, a little older then Ikia, walking over to them. “Let the professor do his job. I highly doubt the kid will pass anyway. Trust me, I’ve seen some of the competition. And we only have one spot left to fill”

The three looked over at Kamino, who was now leaning against the door looking very bored.

“Speaking of which, where are Sel and Coros?” asked Ikia. “They were supposed to be down here”

“Training in the holodeck” said Sid.

Ikia nodded. “Ah”

…

Holodeck

She landed gently on her feet, staff still in hand. Up ahead, her opponent was charging, a staff in his hands as well. The two met, and exchanged blows, both of which were blocked by each other’s weapons. He dropped down and swung low at her feet. But she was too quick. She jumped into the air, over him, and landed a kick in the back. He tumbled over, and got back up on one knee. She landed and turned to face him.

“You are quite good”

“Likewise”

The landscape was one of a volcanic setting. The rock was black and red, and in the distance, through the smog, one could see a volcano erupting. Rock formations littered the landscape.

“So…any particular reason you chose a volcano?” she asked.

He shrugged. “What, is there something wrong with volcanoes?”

She rolled her eyes, when her communicator beeped. She took it out of her pocket and flipped it open. “Sel here”

It was Sid. “Hey guys. Sel, Professor Ikia is here. It’s time for your checkup”

She grumbled. “I’ll…be right there” she hated these ‘checkups’. Treated less like a person and more like a bomb that was about to blow. But then again…wasn’t she? She closed the communicator. “I guess we have to wrap things up here” she said.

Coros nodded. “Computer; end simulation”

Immediately, the holodeck reverted back to its standard white room format. Sel grumbled and walked out of the room, leaving Coros to his own devices.

Lab

She was tired of being used like an experiment. Being prodded and poked, moved around and X-rayed. Subjected to multiple tests and mental stimuli. And worst of all, she knew that’s all she was to them. A toy.

Sel was strapped to a table, outstretched so the machine could scan her more properly. The table rotated, taking her with it. Then it rotated again, before returning to its original spot.

“Ok, we’re done” said a voice, which echoed into the empty white room she was laying in.

“Peachy” she replied, as the clamps holding her legs and arms were released. “Now can I please put my clothes back on?”

“As you were” the voice replied.

…

“So?” asked Ikia. He and an elder scientist were in a smaller control room, which a large window that looked out into the chamber where Sel was.

The scientist, Rama, grimiced. “The machine read higher blood pressure and muscle exhaustion levels. And…I’m reading higher mental activity”

“She’s been using her powers”

“Indeed”

“Is she recovering?”

Rama looked down at the readout on the table. “Slowly. But I don’t know if she’ll continue to recover if she keeps doing this”

Ikia nodded. “I’ll talk to her”

“Please do. I’d hate to lose such a fine subject” said Rama. He turned off the scanner’s finds.

Ikia nodded again, and walked out of the room.

…

Sel pulled on her shirt as she stepped out of the room into the hallway.

“Feeling better?”

She turned around, only to see Ikia walking towards her.

“What do you mean?”

Ikia crossed his arms. “I think you know damn well what I mean. You’ve been using your powers”

She smiled weakly. “…maybe a little”

“Sel…you know you can’t do that. You’ll end up killing yourself”

She brushed past him, slightly annoyed now. “Professor…if you honestly believed that, you wouldn’t have pulled me into this”

…

“Uron, Rathma, Orion, Seth, Kamino, Gel, Trok, Orth, Aban…” Sid flipped through the pages of possible candidates as he walked down the hall.

“Seth looks like a good one” Xolin muttered as they walked. She pulled the paper out of Sid’s hands.

“Hey—”

She cut him off “What’s this? …lost in time—”

Sid pulled the paper out of her hands.

“..and something about a ‘Galactic Hurricane’, or something” she finished.

“Galactic Maelstrom” Sid corrected her. “Brush up on your knowledge of galactic geography sometime”

“Ooh, someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed”

“With you around, any side of the bed is wrong”

She smirked as they reached the door. “Let me do the talking” Sid said, as the door opened. Inside sat the remaining candidates.

“Good Morning” Sid said, as he and Xolin walked inside. “My name is Sid, leader of Strike Team Alpha. And this is my second in command, Xolin” he looked at Xolin.

Xolin just nodded.

Sid turned back to the group. “You all know why your here, so let’s just skip that. The way we do this is a set of physical and mental tests to determine who’s the best of you. Are we ready?”

The group nodded.

“Then let’s begin”

“It’s twelve on one. Ok….I can do this” Seth held his trident at the ready, as he was slowly surrounded by a group of robots, all armed with various melee weapons. Behind him was a typical cliff that led straight down to a canyon below. “This is gonna be fuuun…”

He swung forward, slicing though chest armor of the closest bot. Sparks flew as the machine fell backwards onto the hard rock ground. He loaded up the trident like a rifle, moving a piece on the staff back and forth. He aimed, and fired an energy pulse from the trident’s tip at another robot. Seth then charged forward, hacking at any bot he could. He was glad the trident’s hadn’t changed much in design in the thousands of years he had been stuck in that Galactic Maelstrom.

A few yards over, Kamino was positioned behind a rock outcropping, firing at the approaching enemy machines. One return shot flew right by his head, singing some of his hair. He immediately ducked.

“Problems?” asked another fighter, who was crouching right next to him.

Kamino smirked. “You could say that”

Another few shots flew by. “Name’s Trok” he said.

“Kamino” Kamino did a fake two finger salute.

“You want an easier way to take care of these suckers?” asked Trok, pointing to the oncoming attackers.

“What did you have in mind?”

Trok pointed to Kamino’s gun. “Their shield harmonics rotate on a regular pattern. You gotta know the frequency in order to shoot through the shields”

“Yeah, I know. The problem is knowing said frequency”

“6745.142.531”

Kamino’s eyed widened.

Trok pointed at the bots again. “A bit of trial and error, plus some mental math. Now shoot!” he aimed his gun as Kamino set the frequency and aimed himself.

Over near the cliff, Seth had created a hole in the enemy lines, and was now running for his life as lasers wizzed past him. “Oh why, oh why did they turn safeties off?” he muttered as he ran. He rolled over behind a wall of rock. He looked over, and saw he wasn’t alone. Two other fighters were hiding as well.

“Hey” said the closest one, with a sheepish smile. “Name’s Isdilian”

“Cortez” said the other one, a female.

“You two taking in the sights?” asked Seth.

“You could say that” replied Cortez. She pulled out her sword and readied a small shield in her other hand. “How close are they?”

A bunch of laser bullets flew by.

“Fairly close” said Seth.

Isdilian grabbed an ax and his own shield. He and Cortez nodded. “Let’s do it”

“CHAAAAAAARGE!” Cortez screamed at the top of her lungs. Both of them ran out opposite sides of the rock wall, charging at their opponents.

Seth took a deep breath. “Crazy ass loons” he then took his trident and ran out after them.

Further away, in a large group of rock formations, Sid and Xolin were running as a hord of machines followed them.

Sid armed his trident as he and Xolin moved behind two close rocks. “I LOVE this part of the game” he said, almost in sing-song.

“With the holodeck safeties off?!” Xolin asked, as a flurry of lasters flew by.

“Especially with the safeties off” Sid aimed his trident and returned fire. Xolin began doing so as well.

“Wonder how our candidates are doing” Xolin said as she fired another shot.

“I’m sure they’re fine” Sid grabbed a small round device from his belt, and pulled a small pin out. He then threw it at the machines. “FIRE IN THE HOLE!”

A large explosion followed.

“NOW!” Xolin shouted. Both of them flew out from behind the rocks and opened fire, taking out the surviving, dazed machines.

“Time to go check on the others” Sid said, running off. Xolin followed.

…

Lab 24-C (Highly Sensitive)

“Are we ready to begin?”

The lab was a small one, only about the size of a bedroom. In it though, were many tools and devices that lined the walls. Three people stood inside. One was behind a computer terminal, and another was standing next to the wall near the door. Both of them were scientists.

The final person was in what seemed to be a personal transporter unit, except he was being restrained. He nodded to the scientist behind the computer terminal.

“Beginning startup sequence now. Bringing activation module online”

The man in the unit began to feel tingly all over.

“Activating blueprint protocalls. Preparing for “morph” sequence…now”

A surge of energy flowed through the man, causing him to feel pain, dizziness, and power all at the same time. Flashes of light filled the room, giving it a stroblike effect. A suit formed over his body. It was completely black, except for some silver trimming, and a red spot in the center of the chestplate.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/c/c0/PhantomScreenshot.jpg/250px-PhantomScreenshot.jpg

The scientist at the computer had a wide grin on his face as the computer screen displayed the results. “Morph Sequence Sucessful. Prototype Power suit online”

The strobe-like effect in the room ceased, and now a fully-uniformed individual stood in the room. The clamps holding him released, allowing the figure to move freely.

“Well?” asked the computer scientist, “how do you feel?”

The figure pulled his hands up closer to his visor to get a better look. Then he looked down at his body. Read-outs appeared all over his screen. Scanners, multiple forms of vision, internal readings, news reports…the internet.

“I feel…power” he replied at last. “I’ve never felt such….energy” he spoke as if it was almost too much for him. In truth, it was. He was unprepared for the sheer amount of energy now surging through him. A bit of static electricity shot around his suit, signifying the power within.

He stepped forward, and suddenly felt like the world was spinning. “Too much…energy” he said, as he collapsed onto the floor. In a flash of light, the suit vanished, leaving an unconscious person on the floor.

“It was too much for him” said the computer scientist. “The body couldn’t sustain that much energy”

The scientist at the door spoke up for the first time since they had begun the experiment. “Indeed. We will need to find a way to reroute some of that energy. Possibly for use as a weapon”

“I don’t like the suit design” said the computer scientist.

The door scientist nodded. “It’s just a prototype suit anyway…we didn’t have time to create a fancy look for it. What you see is the suit’s necessities. Power armor, data and quantum pods, the Orcalic power core in the center of the chestpiece, etc”

The computer scientist nodded, then looked down at the floor. “What should we do with him?”

“Get someone to drag him back to his quarters”

…

ASF Lounge 3

The normally busy lounge room was dead. Probably because it was the dead of night. Most of the lights were turned off, leaving the multitude of chairs, tables, and the large counter darkened.

Only four people were in the room, awake at 2 AM.

“I’m still not sure I see how playing ‘tetris’ allowed us to test them” Xolin said, as she paced near the table they were sitting at. In her hands she held a set of test results.

Sid looked up at her from his seat. “It allowed us to test puzzle-solving abilities while under fire”

“Right” she replied with a slight smirk. “I believe you”

Sel put down the set of papers she had been reading. “I hate it when everything’s neck and neck. I just want to choose and go to bed, damnit”

“You and me both” replied Sid. Xolin nodded. All three of them looked over at Coros. He was seemingly studying a set of test results.

“Hey…Coros?” asked Sid. “…yeah. You’ve been looking at those test results for over ten minutes now…you ok?”

“…huh, wha?” he asked.

Sel arched her eyebrow. “…you were sleeping with your eyes open”

“No I wasn’t” he replied, a little groggy. “It’s just…” he pointed at one of the names on the list. Specifically, Trok’s. “His name is familiar. And…you say he does well with technology?”

Xolin looked at her own sheet. “From what we’ve seen, he’s a master at both hardware and software. He used to be a hacker of sorts”

“I think I know this guy” said Coros. “He was my partner when we ran that mercenary business”

“We DO need someone with the gift of technology” said Sel. The others all looked at each other.

“Well then” said Sid, “It looks like we may have a winner”

“Good” Sel got up out of her seat. “Then I’m goin’ to bed. I got the day off tomorrow…so whoever wakes me dies” she turned and left, walking out the sliding doors of the lounge.

“She’s such a nice, warm, people person” Sid said in a sing-song voice.

“What about this Seth person?” asked Xolin, ignoring Sid’s comment, “He was an exceptionally good fighter”

“And Trok was decent. Unfortunately, Seth didn’t show the same amount of technological expertise, which is what we really need” Sid replied. “We’ll put him on understudy. Who knows, if those scientists manage to get rid of the whole ‘risk of creating a temporal black hole’ problem with activating too many suits, Seth might lead his own team”

Xolin nodded slightly, then yawned as she put her paper down on the table. “I’m calling it a night myself. We can call in Trok in the morning”

“Good idea” Coros said. He began to shuffle all the loose paper on the table into one stack, then gave it to Sid.

“Then I’ll see you all tomorrow” Sid said. The others nodded, and walked out.

Two months later

Lab 12, 4:12 AM

The small room was dark. Inside, with only the light from the hallway outside which filtered through the open door lighting the room, Professor Ikia opened a small silver metallic briefcase, about the size of a large book. Inside was molded into five identical, but irregular “pits”.

On front of him on the counter sat his objective. Five small wrist devices, all hanging on a rack. Each one was silver with an opaque center piece, and three red buttons of too the side.

http://www.rangercentral.com/images/prtf-ar-morpher.jpg

He grabbed them, one by one, and placed them into the pits in his metallic case. After he finished, he closed the case, and hurried out the door. He locked the room, and then started off down the hallway in a hurry. He was late. And time was running out.

…

4:15 AM

Sid yawned. He wasn’t supposed to be up this early. NO ONE was supposed to be up this early. Not on a day off. He raced down the empty hallway, as if his life depended on it. Well actually, his life DID depend on it.

A few minutes ago, Ascendancy signatures had been detected on the building’s internal sensors.

Ascendancy. There was a term Sid thought he’d never hear again. As Sid approached an intersection in the hallway, two beings transported in right in front of him. Both wore centurion uniforms, the full-body armor uniform of the Atlantian army.

Sid glared at them. Every Atlantian knew the risks of using transporters on one’s soul. Yet these people didn’t seem to care?

“IYAH!” he slammed into one of them with a kick before either could draw a weapon. He then spun around and slammed his fist into the other one. Sid then took off before either of the soldiers could get back up. As he did, he pulled out his short sword from its sheath. This was going to be a rough trip.

…

4:19 AM

Armed with only a lance and her wits, Xolin made her way through the building’s hallways. Only a few minutes ago, she had been in bed, sound asleep. Now…she was convinced she was in Hades. Or something close to it.

Her lance had already tasted blood. Three guards had run into her, and attempted to take her hostage. They didn’t take more then three more breaths, tops.

Sensing danger, Xolin ducked and rolled over. Sure enough, an Anubite had almost impaled her skull with his sword.

“Wrong time of day to mess with me, Fido” she cut across his knees, causing the jackal warrior to stumble backwards and fall over. Xolin took off, with no time to lose. She had to get to the docking bay.

…

4:20 AM

Ascendancy forces. Teleporting all over. But what could they be after?

Duh. Stupid question. Trok rolled his eyes at his own momentary lapse of judgment. But how did they get in? The base had defenses against teleportation. Unless someone had been working from the…

Duh. Working from the inside. This WAS one of the devisions that had worked on the cure. The Ascendancy had probably kept good tabs on this place when they were in charge, looking for a cure for the cure.

Trok smiled. A cure for the cure. THAT was ironic, no? Well, that was what happened when an entire government ruled that genocide of an entire gender was ok, and that a substitute had been found. One should never play as a god.

Gripping his two sidearms, Trok made his way through the hallways of the base. Not a fun way to start off the morning. As he turned the corner, he opened fire on a couple of Ascendancy troops that had teleported into the building. Well, in actuality, he didn’t know if they were Ascendancy or not...but what he didn’t know couldn’t kill him, right?

…

4:22 AM

Coros gripped his ax as he quickly but silently raced down the hallway. As he came to an intersection, he slowed down. He knew an enemy lay on the other side. An enemy ALWAYS lay on the other side.

He took a deep breath.

1 2 3

“HYIAH!” he screamed, as he turned the corner.

“YIAAAH!” she screamed, as she turned the corner.

Coros’s ax collided with Sel’s twin daggers. Both stopped, almost frozen, before both of them started to laugh about twenty seconds later as they let go of each other’s weapons.

“Oh man…I thought…I thought…” Coros took a second to breath.

Sel laughed, which was an unusual sight, to say the least. Sel hardly ever laughed.

“Don’t you have crazy mind powers?” asked Coros, “How did you not know it was me?”

“I just woke up…everything’s still a bit fuzzy”

“I know how that feels” replied Coros.

Sel looked down the hallway. “We’d better get going before someone spots us. With any luck, Ikia managed to make it to the launchbay without getting mugged”

“Here’s hoping” said Coros, as Sel started off.

…

4:25 AM

The centurion picked up the small silver wrist device off the counter. The professor had been here. Fortunately, he had forgotten the prototype module.

“Found it” he said, turning back to the entrance of Lab 12. The door had been smashed in by phaser fire. In the doorway stood another Centurion.

“Good” he said, “Now let’s get back to the boss”

“Not yet. First we have to make sure that everyone in this base is…taken care of” he pulled another small silver device out of his belt.

“A bomb?”

“Subspace explosive. When this goes off, this entire base…well, I wouldn’t want to be around for that. Everyone will think this place will have had an accident in dimensional physics. The government won’t even have known we were here”

“Awesome”

The centurion pressed a button on the device, and left it on the counter, to replace the transformation module…the “morpher”.

“It’s set for a minute. Let’s get out of here”

“HYIAH!” sounded a voice. Seth flew up into the air behind the centurion at the door, and slammed into him with a flying kick. Grabbing a small rod from his belt, Seth extended it into his Trident, and impaled the other centurion, as he landed ontop of the first.

“I win, bitch”

The centurion gurgled something, then fell to the ground. Seth grabbed the module.

“…What’s that beeping sound?” he asked to no one in particular. He zeroed in on it…a small silver device on the counter. “Uh oh” he said, as the beeping turned into one long beep.

Seth was surrounded by a flash of bright light as he was thrown back…and accidentally pressed the button on the module. His last thought was amazingly simple.

“Shit”

…

4:25 AM

The five members of Strike Force Alpha rushed into the launch bay. Standing there was Professor Ikia and several guards, all apparently loyal, as they were protecting him and the bay itself.

“Professor!” Sid shouted, as they ran over to him.

“Rangers!” he replied, handing Sid a small silver case. “The transformation modules are in there. Everything else is loaded onto the ship already. The Skyriders, your weapons, the tank, the shuttle, your personal possessions were transported onboard a few seconds ago”

“Awesome” Sid grabbed the case, and opened it to see all five wrist devices. He closed it. “So what now?”

“You know how to work everything on the ship. How to fly, maintain, fight, everything. The modules have been deemed safe for personal use. Get into orbit, then contact the government. All transmissions inside the base are being jammed, so you’re our best hope”

“Aren’t you coming with?” asked Xolin.

Ikia shook his head. “I still have some things I need to take care of. My apologies…but you ARE the best of the best. You five can take care of yourselves. Now go!” he shouted. The base began to rumble. “I’ll be fine! GO!”

The five nodded, and ran to the ship. It wasn’t standard Atlantian design. That was the beauty of it, as it would be harder to track down who’s it was. It was blue, with a red and silver trim, and lacked the normal blueish engine/weapon strips seen on most Atlantian vessels. From top down, it would almost appear like a circle, only with a front nose poking out of it. It rested on the floor with two engine-like appendages. The left one opened on the front to reveal a door. The five ran inside, and the door closed shut.

http://www.rangercentral.com/images/ship2.jpg

“Activate auto-evacuate emergency program for Astro Megaship!” Ikia shouted, activating a voice command. “Engage!”

The Megaship rose from the ground, causing a shockwave of wind to spread through the room. A hatch opened in the base’s ceiling, allowing it to clear the base.

Ikia realized the rumbling was getting louder…and harder. As the Megaship vanished from view, he turned around—and never saw again.

…

Astro Megaship

The five members of Strike Force Alpha raced onto the bridge. It was circular, with control consoles lining the wall with chairs. Several control consoles and more chairs took up the center of the room, facing a viewscreen.

http://www.rovang.org/wg/pics/megaship-bridge.jpg

Each one took a seat. Sid in the captain’s chair, Xolin at science, Trok at weapons, Coros at engineering, and Sel at navigation.

On the viewscreen, a horrific scene unfolded before them. The base seemed to…implode in on itself as they flew off.

“What…happened?!” Xolin gasped.

A small, green female holographic figure appeared ontop of the frontmost computer console, where Trok and Sel sat.

“Subspace weaponry” she replied.

“Deca, take us into orbit” Sid said, knowing this vessel’s AI program already.

“Already in progress” she replied.

Sid nodded. “Good. We need to have a nice friendly talk with the government”

Orbit of Roga, moon of Palta, Vitar system

The Astro Megaship shot through the outer atmosphere of Roga, through the exosphere of the planet.

“Can we get a signal yet?” asked Sid, “We need to contact the government on Cirrus”

“Everything’s still jammed” replied Xolin. She continued to fiddle with the controls, to no avail. “We’ll have to get further away from the planet”

The bridge shook.

“Please tell me that was atmospheric turbulence” Sid said, looking first at Sel, then at Xolin. Sel shook her head.

“Negative” replied Xolin. The bridge shook again. “Two enemy scoutships approaching from our rear. They’re opening fire”

Another shake. Deca changed the viewscreen to one of two Barracuda class scoutships, each about the size of the Astro Megaship.

“Arming weapons, raising shields” Trok said, fooling with his controls. “Ablative armor is online”

“Lock on and FIRE!” Sid ordered.

The Megaship’s two forward cannons swiveled around and opened a barrage of red pulse laser fire on the closest opposing vessel. The shots impacted across the energy shield bubble of the vessel, as it returned fire with a beam cannon, which likewise was absorbed by the Megaship’s shielding. However, unlike the Ascendancy ship, the Megaship’s shields were tightened around the hull of the vessel, vastly different then the bubble.

“Shields holding at 80%” said Trok.

“Do we have anything else?” asked Sid, as the bridge continued to shake.

“Only one way to find out” Trok replied. After a few seconds he added, “Arming disruptor cannons”

“FIRE”

Several more laser pulses were unleashed, except these ones were light blue. The first few impacted across the shields of the vessel, while the final few shot the hull directly. The enemy vessel’s shields were down.

“Firing Beam Cannon” said Trok. A red laser beam shot out from the Megaship’s backside, which sliced through the enemy vessel. A satisfying explosion erupted as the ship fell apart.

“Target the other one” commanded Sid.

“They’re veering off” replied Xolin. Sure enough, the other scoutship was shown moving away from the Megaship on the viewscreen.

“Hah!” Coros laughed, “They’re running scared”

The bridge shook yet again. Sparks flew as some of the computer consoles flickered in and out. The bridge continued to shake.

“An Orion class Battlecruiser has just decloaked a thousand meters above us” said Xolin.

The scoutship flew off, towards the battlecruiser. Sid stood up, surprised by the sudden turn of events. He was nearly blasted off his feet by the rocking forces on the bridge.

“Shields are down to 75%!”

“We can’t take on a full-on battlecruiser! Take us out of here to the closest jumpnode. Maximum Warp!”

The battlecruiser continued to unleash its barrage on the Megaship, as the small blue vessel engaged its engines and went to warp.

“ETA to jumpnode?” asked Sid, as he sat down. He took a deep breath.

“Well…” Coros pointed to the viewscreen. The moving starfield seen at warpspeed became stable, as the scanners picked up a node straight ahead. “About five seconds ago”

“…Five seconds?” asked Sid. Everyone looked at Trok. “How did we get here so fast? Maximum warp is 2”

“5” said Trok. “The maximum warp on this ship is five. It would seem the professor failed to inform us of some things”

Sid nodded. “Take us to Cirrus”

“You got it”