Fan Fiction ❯ Jet Force Gemini: Armageddon ❯ Jet Force Gemini: Armageddon ( Prologue )

Jet Force Gemini:

Armageddon

By Megan Miller

Part 41

Northern Alaska

The Inuit chief led his tribe through the coniferous forest trees to the clan's common fishing grounds. Surrounded by the quiet wilderness, the men carried their primitive gear through the woods, their boots crunching in the melting, rough snow. All of a sudden, the chief stopped in his tracks and stared ahead in disbelief. The water had risen nearly twenty feet since they had last visited, and though spring was nearing, the clan had fished less than a week before. The cold water had washed up into the edges of the forest, covering the lower trunks of many of the trees.

"What's going on?" he asked in his native language.

An old wise man from the rear of the group spoke solemnly in return. "It is time," he confirmed.

"The time of what?" asked a younger Inuit.

"The time of the apocalypse," he whispered, and his voice echoed in the hissing, cold wind.

Part 42

Smack! Juno wiped the sticky snow from the back of his head and grinned. "You wanna piece o' me?" he grinned devilishly as Emang, giggling, quickly hid behind Nik. Vela, Nik, Juno, and Emang were taking an afternoon walk in the park.

Emang knelt beside the path and scooped up another handful of snow, packing it into a tight ball. She hurled it at Juno again. "Direct hit!" she cried as it pelted the front of his coat.

"Okay, that's it," Juno said under his breath. He ran at Emang and grabbed the collar of her jacket, stuffing snow down her back.

"Aah! No! Stop it!" she yelped, trying to get away.

Vela and Nik continued to walk as the two friends wrestled at the side of the path. "Gorgeous weather for March, isn't it?" Vela said to Nik casually.

"Yeah," he agreed. "With a temperature of 15.47Ëš Celsius, we might as well be in May already."

"So precise, Smarty-Pants," Vela said teasingly.

"That's Mr. Smarty-Pants to you," he smirked.

"How about just Mr. Pants?" Vela asked, beaming at her joke.

"Um, I think they're abandoning us," Emang said, struggling to pull herself out from under Juno. He immediately dropped her and sprinted off to catch up. "Hey, wait for me!" Emang shouted, smiling as she got up and brushed the snow from her jacket. She caught up to the rest of the crew and hovered around Juno as the group talked. It seemed like a normal walk in the park. Up in space, however, it was a different story…

Part 43

Slowly orbiting the Earth's sun, the Imperial Space Station seemed like a grain of sand compared to the great solar body. Within its metal walls sat Alcor.

Alcor sat upon his golden throne, all eight of his gigantic spider legs folded outward. The huge, bitter follower of Mizar was filled with the fury of the loss of his leader. Though he had never worked for Mizar, he still felt the burning anger aftertaste of the insect's death. Alcor was determined to avenge Mizar's death, but he had one problem. He was a coward.

Living in a perfect world, Alcor had always been filthy rich. The alien bug was terribly greedy ever since his birth when he was spoiled to the extent that he expected everything in life to be handed to him on a silver platter. And now that he owned the business responsible for hydrogen retrieval and distribution, he would make himself even wealthier than before.

Hydrogen was a very easy substance to retrieve. It was widespread about the universe, and the easiest way to obtain it was through the stars. With ships around the galaxy depending on hydrogen to fuel them, it was a completely essential gas to produce.

Alcor wasn't brave enough to fight a war over vengeance, but he had found another way to seek destruction. His station was deploying smaller units that were now harvesting the hydrogen from the sun that kept the fragile stability of the dependent Earth in balance.

"Alcor, sir," a drone confronted, bowing deeply to its leader. "We are receiving stress signals from one of the units. It appears they have been hit by a solar flare. They're going down."

"Not another expensive piece of equipment down the drain," he scowled in reply. "Oh well. At least that's one last employee to pay."

"I'm deeply sorry sir, but I must object to your statement," the drone answered nervously. "If the unit crashes into the sun, it will cause a large explosion that is quite likely to destroy other units in the direct vicinity."

Alcor's expression shifted to fear. "Well do something about it!" he spat. The drone ran off and took the controls of the station, aiming at the unit headed for the sun. A powerful blast erupted from the cannons and smashed into the craft. The impact sent pieces of the fiery unit hurtling away from the sun at top speeds, and the drone breathed a sigh of relief.

"We're clear, sir," it told Alcor. The spider-like creature leaned back on his throne, thankful.

Part 44

Juno, Nik, Emang and the crew lay on their backs in the snow, all except for Vela, who stood nearby, looking cold. "C'mon, Vela!" Emang giggled. "Make a snow angel!"

"I'll mess up my hair," Vela replied, but everyone knew that was a bad excuse.

"Since when did you give a damn about your hair?" Juno grinned, folding his arms behind his head and stretching his legs.

"It's freezing out here," she complained. "Are you guys about ready to head back soon?"

Nik sat up. "Yeah, I suppose," he agreed, looking over at Juno and Emang. "It'll be dark soon. What d'you say we start towards home?"

Juno looked a bit reluctant. He arched his back in an effort to sit upright. "Help! I've fallen and I can't get up!" he joked.

Emang grabbed his outstretched hands and pulled him into a sitting position. Wiping the melting snow from his pants, he stood up, the slushy substance sliding off his coat. "We're leeeaving," Emang called back to him as she followed Vela and Nik.

Juno ran to catch up. "Hah, ee, hoo, I got snow in my boots," he said as he jogged after them. Emang laughed at his funny walk and strange sound effects.

The team walked in silence as they headed home, the sunset's bright orange glare reflecting off their faces. Suddenly, Juno turned his head to stare up at the approaching darkness. Emang looked up. "A meteor shower?" she questioned him.

"No, it's something else," he muttered. "The way it's burning up is different."

"What is it then?"

Juno squinted hard, as if somehow he might be able to make out the distant objects burning in the sky. "I can't tell," he admitted. "Anyway, guess we better keep moving. Don't want to be caught out too long after dark."

Emang and Juno waved goodbye to Nik and Vela as they walked down the street to Nik's house. Emang stepped up on the front stoop and opened the door. She could smell the fire in the fireplace. "Come up here, you two," Mr. Lemril called from the upstairs living room. "You gotta see this."

Emang and Juno put their wet clothes in the laundry room and hurried upstairs. The news broadcast on the television blared the report. "Today the sky is falling, at least in Baltimore. Strange objects from some sort of unidentified spacecraft crashed into the city less than fifteen minutes ago," the reporter stated. "The damage is minimal, but it seems as though the ship must have exploded somehow and the shards, drawn by Earth's gravity, pelted the city with bits and pieces of what appears to have been a relatively large carrier. So far there are no reported deaths, however it is likely that there have been several, possibly even a hundred, injuries, mostly minor. We'll keep you updated on further information."

"So that's what we saw," Juno concluded.

"What do you mean?" Mrs. Lemril inquired.

"On our way home," Juno explained, "we saw strange lights in the sky. Like debris burning up in the atmosphere. Only it didn't look like a meteor shower. It must have been pieces of that ship. Funny thing is," he continued, pausing to tap a watch-like device on his wrist, "I didn't receive any stress signals. Whoever it was, they didn't send an S.O.S."

"Maybe they didn't have time to," Emang suggested.

"Could be," Juno replied. "The ship was already torn to shreds before it hit the atmosphere. Who knows when it exploded."

"Come and eat, guys," Mrs. Lemril called from the kitchen.

"Mind if I eat in the study?" Juno said in a manner of telling them more than asking them. He took his plate into the office and booted up his laptop.

Emang sat down with her family and made small talk until she had cleaned her plate, then wandered off to the office room. Juno was on the Internet, as he usually was when he didn't have all the answers to something. "You know, the `net isn't always a reliable source," she said matter-of-factly as she placed her hands on his shoulders.

"When all else fails," he answered. "If there were a better place to find more info, I'd take it in a second." He scrolled down the page and clicked on a link. "Great," he sighed. "Just great. Another loony still raving that little green men from Mars are invading."

Emang pulled up a chair and pulled a sheet of paper from the printer. Picking a pencil out of her jean pocket, she eyed him carefully and began to sketch.

Part 45

Juno yawned and stretched. He opened his eyes tiredly, gazing around the bright room. Squinting in the sunlight, he pushed aside the laptop that was resting on his stomach from the night before. "Emang?" he called, sitting up and rubbing his right eye.

The door opened, and Emang looked in. "Hey, it's already almost ten o'clock."

"A.M., right?"

She smiled. "Right. So get up, sleepyhead."

Juno stood slowly, staring at the wall behind her. "What's wrong?" Emang asked him.

"Don't move," he replied through gritted teeth, his eyes nervously fixed on the wall. He's dead, Juno thought fearfully. We killed him. So why is it back?

The wall quivered like a ripple on the surface of a pond, the currents flowing out from its center in an almost menacing manner. A Lacertial, no doubt.

It moved through the wall into the door and then into the carpet. Leaving the room for the hallway beneath the door, it disappeared. Relaxing just enough to comfort Emang, Juno closed his eyes and took a deep breath. All of a sudden, Emang screamed and Juno hit the floor, unaware of what had hit him. He instinctively rolled onto his back to see a pale green stare gazing into his own strange eyes. Before he had a chance to react, it was inside his body, in his mind, and he knocked Emang unconscious with one swift blow. She hit the wall and sank slowly to her knees, slumping over.

Now he had left the room and was starting down the stairs, headed for the front door. He calmly opened it and stepped outside, the unusually warm sunlight beating down on his face. The creature in his head spoke with an affectionate tone.

"It's all right," it told him. "I'm not here to hurt you."

"You take control of my body and knock out my best friend, and you want me to believe that you aren't here to hurt me?"

"I sense your anger," it replied. "And your fear. But I assure you I am here to help, for you have helped me."

"Then why are you kidnapping me?"

"What I am about to show you is completely confidential. It is important for it to remain classified for the sake of my clan." The Lacertial commanded him into a cloaked vehicle in the front yard and took the controls. The ship headed off into the sky, unnoticed. The creature then left his body and he fell into a restless sleep.

Part 46

Juno opened his eyes. He was lying on a cold, metal table in a windowless room. An immensely bright light shone in his eyes. Raising his hands to cover his face, he felt a surge of power flow through his body and a feeling of dread swept over him like a wave of heat. He looked at his hands. They weren't human. Looking down at the rest of his body, an appalling sensation of déjà vu hit him as he saw the clawed paws and sharp red spines protruding from his tail. As his eyes adjusted, he looked about the room.

In a dark corner sat a black figure. It rose and approached him. "How're you feeling?"

Juno jerked his attention to the newcomer. It stopped beside him and he recognized it as a Lacertial, but one whom he had not met. And this one was clearly a she. Embarrassed by his nakedness, he raised his tail between his legs and gripped the sides of the table fearfully.

"Don't be frightened. You're one of us; there's no need to fear." She ran her fingers through his hair, gently touching his cheek. "We need you. Earth needs you."

"What are you talking about?" he snapped in anger and discomfort. "What do you want with me?"

"Relax, Juno. You're safe here."

"I won't relax!" he yelled, suddenly surprised by how loud his own voice was in the small metallic room. "I can't relax in the presence of you! Lacertials are supposed to be extinct! I killed the last of your terrible species, so why the hell do you keep coming back?!"

"Terrible species?" she asked, fury in her voice. "How dare you speak of the Lacertial race with dishonor! We walked this planet of beauty far before you did, and we did many a great thing! You have no right to talk poorly of our kind, especially when you are a descendant of one of our greatest leaders. You ought to be ashamed." She turned away from him in anger.

"One of your greatest leaders? I descended from one of your greatest leaders?" Juno asked in shock.

"Yes."

"Who is this so-called great leader?"

"Aren't you even going to ask of my name first or do you have no manners whatsoever?" she questioned sharply.

Juno sighed. "Sorry. Who are you, then?"

"Reinelion Samusak," she replied, turning back around to face him. "But you can call me Rei."

"Nice to meet you, Rei," Juno said.

"Pleasure's mine," she answered.

"Great. Now that I know you and you know me, can I please have some privacy to get dressed?"

Rei laughed. "Of course. I'll be waiting for you outside." She left the room and quietly shut the door behind her.

A few moments later, he walked out, redressed and full of curiosity. "So who is this ancestor of mine? What did he do that was so great?"

Rei smiled. "Come and I'll show you."

Part 47

Emang came to and dizzily opened her eyes, holding her head in pain. Looking up at the clock, she could see that it had been only a few minutes since she had been talking with Juno, but now he was gone. There was a knock on the door and Mrs. Lemril walked in.

"Juno seemed to be in a hurry. Where's he off to?"

Emang was tempted to tell her everything, but she kept her mouth shut. Her mother had other things to worry about besides large lizard-like mammals taking control of people's minds. "Sorry, no time to talk," she told her, scrambling to her feet. "I gotta go catch up with him." She bolted down the stairs to the door before her mother could get in another word. Confused, Mrs. Lemril shook her head and went back to the kitchen to read the newspaper.

Part 48

Surrounded by a clan of Lacertials, Juno gazed around the comforting room. There were log walls and a fire pit in the center of it, and the room felt about 75 degrees. It was like summertime inside the area, and the Lacertials were all involved in friendly conversation, dressed casually when he entered in his soldier uniform.

Rei stepped forward. "This is the man you have all been so eagerly awaiting," she announced. "He is the one who can save our world."

There was much applause, and Juno looked around in interest. Gesturing for the group to settle, Rei continued.

"The young descendent of Cornelius has finally arrived and shall protect us all from--"

"Whoa, wait a minute!" Juno cut in. "Just who is this Cornelius and how am I connected with him?"

The Lacertials in the room appeared to be shocked. Some of them stared at him while some whispered to each other in pitied voices. "Hush," Rei called out, silencing them. "Cornelius is your great-grandfather, Juno," she said to him. "He was a brilliant man."

"Can I meet him?" Juno questioned.

Rei hung her head. "I'm afraid not. He has been deceased for millions of years."

Juno stared at her in awe. "But then how--" he began.

"We Lacertials live much longer than the average human," she explained. "But if you would like to see him…" She turned to the others. "Let's take him to the ancient ruins."

The clan looked at each other nervously, then nodded. Rising from their positions around the fire, they removed their footwear and stood near the flapping hide over the entrance to the hut. Juno watched them intently. "Remove your boots," Rei told him. "We are soon to tread on our race's holy grounds."

Juno followed her instructions and trailed the clan along a sandy path in a tropical forest. After a few minutes, the lead Lacertial parted the branches of a large fern to reveal a barren tundra of sand that must have stretched for miles in all directions. Awed by the sight, Juno stood rooted to the spot. Rei took his clawed hand in hers. "Are you coming or not?" she asked with a soft smile. He followed her in silence, the warm sand sinking between his three talon-like toes.

After a short walk, the gang stopped. Juno gazed around, but there was still nothing but sand on all sides. "What are we stopping for?" he whispered to Rei.

"You'll see," she said quietly.

The leader of the group squatted beside the ground and brushed the sand away from a metallic plate. He ran his fingers over a few risen bumps on the plate in a seemingly random manner, and then it began to move.

"A pass code," Juno commented. Rei nodded.

"You mustn't tell anyone where we have taken you."

"I don't even know where I am!" Juno told her. "You put me to sleep as soon as we got in the ship."

The plate had now slid over to reveal a descending staircase. The Lacertial who had opened the door now stepped aside as Rei cleared a path through the clan to lead Juno into the underground chamber. She looked back at him and waved for him to follow. He did so and they walked down and down into the deep bowels of the chamber.

Part 49

Torches sparked to life as they walked downward, spouting bright blue flame. Finally the two of them reached the bottom of the stairway and were faced with a maze of gigantic proportions. Juno looked at his guide anxiously.

"Don't worry, I know the way," she told him. "Just stay close. If you take a wrong turn, you could be lost in here forever." Juno nodded and stayed at her side. She swiftly continued through the labyrinth, the commander in tow. It seemed that endless hours passed as Rei appeared to lead them down one pointless corridor to another. Juno was beginning to worry that she didn't know the way and had somehow gotten them lost when a burst of glowing green, blue, violet and magenta light exploded from the end of the passageway. He staggered backwards, shielding his eyes. Rei walked on into the shimmering room.

After a few moments, Juno walked in after her, squinting in the area. "The colors…" he said in wonder. "They're so vibrant; they're nothing like anything I've ever seen before."

Rei was standing before an engraving on a wall. Juno approached her and looked up at the masterpiece. "Is that--?"

"Yes," she said. "That is your great-grandfather, Cornelius."

Juno stared at the image. The creature was a definite Lacertial. He wore a chest plate melded with some sort of jewel in the middle and black shorts with a golden belt. He had a small scar below his right eye. And he had…wings?

"He has wings!" Juno said in marvel. "Was he born that way? Or did he evolve?"

"You can't be born with wings," Rei said. "You must earn them."

"How do you mean?" Juno asked with amazement, still staring at the engraving.

"You must have a heart of pure integrity to gain wings," Rei told him. "Your great-grandfather was our leader for many thousands of years. He led us through both good times and bad ones. He helped this planet to become what it is today. Have a seat and I'll tell you our history." Juno did so and sat intently, awaiting the legend at hand.

Part 50

"A long time ago, a huge meteor hit this planet. It killed nearly every reigning creature on Earth. The sky became clouded and the sun never shone. Living in a world of blackness, animals began to slowly die out of starvation or other causes related to the impact and its aftermath. From our home world we watched the chaos. We watched as the planet gradually bled to death. And that is when Cornelius rose.

"He couldn't stand the suffering. He couldn't just let the planet die. And so he and a few comrades began to work together to raise the money and supplies to fly out to Earth and try to help. It took hundreds of years to do so, but eventually they cleared the skies of the great black cloud and aided the world back to life. Plants began to sprout again and the remaining animals went back to their daily routines. And Cornelius and his team of intrepid heroes remained on the planet, helping to take care of it and nurse the living. It began to thrive again.

"Soon thereafter, humans came into existence. They were more intelligent and learned quickly. We then began to leave them to themselves, staying out of sight. They soon began building structures and inventing new ideas, and it was then that Maximillian discovered something that all Lacertials regret to this day."

"He learned how to take control of another living being," Juno said.

"Yes. Max had actually been a young follower of Cornelius, but one day he became lost in the streets of a great city. In defense, he slashed and entered the bloodstream of another creature. He surprised himself quite a bit, actually, but he soon adapted to this new way of living. Being young and small, he had felt so vulnerable, but not anymore. Now he could become powerful. He began terrorizing the world, taking over whomever and whatever he pleased. The Lacertials had no choice but to interfere, as it was our fault that the chaos had begun. However, the humans did not understand. They refused to compromise. They refused to listen. Because of Max, they were determined to destroy our race. So our kind, rather than getting defeated, pulled our men off Earth and headed back to Mars."

"Mars?" Juno interrupted. "So the planet was once livable. That explains the irrigation canals and pyramid structures."

"Correct. But the humans saw our plans. They spied on us and followed us, and soon were on to our secrets. They attacked Mars and completely rendered the planet inhabitable. In the full-scale assault, they killed nearly our entire species. The only survivors, including Max whom went into trouncing, were left scattered about Earth, hiding from civilization.

"One day a bunch of children were out exploring our forest plateau and began playing around. One had a lighter with him and soon started a blazing fire. The group of children ran from the fire blindly, the smoke stinging their eyes and making it impossible to see. While we watched from our hideout in a cave cut into rock, Cornelius left the safe haven to try to help the children. He tried to scare them away from the edge of the plateau and back towards the towns, and most of them responded the way he had planned. But one young boy ran the opposite direction, hoping he could get past Cornelius to escape. He ran directly off the sheer face of the plateau, and without thinking for himself, Cornelius lunged after him, praying that he would catch the boy before he plummeted to his death.

"He grabbed hold of the child, only to be taken off the cliff after him. As they fell he pulled the boy close and told him not to be afraid, and as he told the clan afterwards, the boy turned to look up at him with a face unclouded with fear, and it was as if time stood still. Then a bright light shone upon him, and huge leathery wings sprouted from his back.

"It was a miracle when he flew up onto the plateau holding the child. But the miracle lasted only a moment. Townspeople had gathered to put out the fire and see what happened, and as soon as Cornelius had landed and released the boy, one opened fire. The bullet tore through his chest and put a hole directly through his heart, and he tumbled off the cliff to his doom." Rei stopped and lifted her head to look at Juno. He was sitting there, frozen stiff. There was a long period of silence, and then he spoke.

"He did that for that child? That human child whom he did not know? Whom had set fire to your home?"

"Yes, he did. Because his heart was pure. He had no thought of himself; he had no selfishness. All his life he protected and aided others. He is the only Lacertial in history to gain wings."

"And why do you think I am important because I descended from him?" Juno asked.

"You are strong at heart. You gave up your physical strength because you didn't want its temptation. You corrected your mistakes. You harbor great forgiveness. All of these are defining characteristics of integrity. You just may be powerful enough to take on the challenge ahead."

"And what is this challenge?" Juno asked.

"Come and I will show you." Rei started back into the twisting halls of the labyrinth, and Juno followed.

Part 51

Emang pounded on the door to Nik and Vela's home. Vela opened it, Lupus barking at her feet. "What's going on? Where's Juno?"

Out of breath, Emang could only mutter, "They're back…" She pushed past the two at the door and collapsed on the nearby couch. After a few deep breaths, she continued. "The Lacertials. They aren't all dead. One snagged Juno, and they've taken him prisoner. Or something worse. They could be controlling him now." Nik, who was standing close by, looked at Vela with concern.

"We'll find him," she said, patting a fretting Lupus on the head. "We can try to track him by his wristwatch. Then we'll go in after him."

"Wait, Vela," Nik cut in. "They're possibly holding him hostage as bait. If we just barge in, we could all be in a fix. This is a stealth mission. We must be cautious if we want to come out alive."

Vela tapped her wristwatch. "We have contact," she alerted the others. "He's…somewhere in South America?" She stared at the screen in confusion. "Emang, is his ship still docked in your backyard?"

"It is," she answered.

"Then how the heck did he get way out there? Well, no matter. Let's get prepared." She headed for the uniform closet.

"Vela, we can't risk getting caught--"

"We'll use the cloaking device on the ship and we can use these." She pulled several identical suits from the closet and handed one to Nik, Emang, and Lupus. Each was made of a black, stretchy plastic.

"How are we all supposed to fit into these?" Emang asked.

"They'll fit. Trust me." Vela walked into her room and shut the door. Emang shook her head. She watched as Lupus ejected his armor and nudged himself into the suit. Then the suit began to change.

It became almost a liquid, molding itself to the dog's features, becoming skintight. The suit covered him from head to tail. Lupus loosened his muscles and barked. Emang walked into another room to try hers on. Sure enough, it fit perfectly. She tried moving and was shocked by how flexible it was after being stiff only a few moments earlier. The suit covered her entire body except for her head. She stepped out into the living room where everyone else was waiting.

"Nice piece of equipment, isn't it?" Vela asked her. Emang nodded. "We aren't done yet," the lieutenant added. She picked up the black helmets lying on the chair beside her. "These will work the same way as the suits. They are made of unreflective material. This way no light will shine off them and make us visible."

"But they're black," Nik said. "They'll be able to see us easily in daylight."

"Which is exactly why we'll leave at night. Now let's all try to get some sleep so we can leave tonight. Meet us back here at ten," Vela told Emang.

"I'll be there," she said, then left for home.

Part 52

Standing on an observation deck, Juno stared up at the perfectly clear, starry night. Rei stood next to him. She spun the telescope lens over in front of him. "Now look at the horizon where the sun is setting," she instructed.

Juno squinted through the lens. Tiny white specks seemed to hover over the horizon, sparkling.

"What do you see?"

Juno tried to make out the shapes. "I don't know," he called back. "Little white, flickering lights."

"They're actually reflections bouncing off large space carriers. The carriers are circling the sun."

Juno looked away from the telescope. "What are they doing that for?"

Rei gazed at him gravely. "They harvest hydrogen. They are stealing it from your sun. Do you know what this does, Juno?"

He felt a lump in his throat and tried to swallow. His heart pounded harshly, and he nodded grimly. "It will die. First it will grow gradually larger, its rays penetrating our planet's ozone layer. It will destroy our barrier between life and death. Earth's temperature will rise. The oceans will boil and evaporate. Of course, we will all be dead long before that happens." Stopping for a moment, Juno lowered himself to his knees, shaking. "Yet the speed of the destruction all depends on how much hydrogen they're taking. How many ships are up there?"

"Many. That is all we can tell you." Rei turned her long face to the sky once more. "We have come to ask for your hand in assist. There is no way for us to fight them on our own. The great Alcor refuses to compromise."

"Hold up a minute," Juno said. "You never told me of this Alcor."

"He is the one who is leading them," she answered. "Alcor heads the hydrogen retrieval and distribution company. He won't back down."

"Why doesn't he use a different star? There are billions in our galaxy alone, and many don't have surrounding planets with life. Why did he choose to kill in the process?"

"He wants vengeance." Rei looked back at him worriedly. "He is another of Mizar's followers."

Juno held his head in his hands. "Not another one. How many are out there? Don't they realize that their leader was never really Mizar? It was Barry, and he made a mistake."

"The drones he created don't know that. Most of them don't know anything but loyalty to their leader. The ones that developed intelligence left him. The remaining will continue to try to avenge his death until they are all defeated."

"Alcor is a drone?"

Rei shook her head. "No. He believes he is following the ways of Mizar. He mostly just uses this excuse to control the spare drones for his ways, which are not as much pure evil as they are greed."

Juno nodded to show he understood. "So you want us to help save the planet because you aren't powerful enough on your own. And you chose me to help because you think I have a heart of integrity and because you figured I would side with you since I'm related to your kind."

"Now the only question is will you help us," Rei finished. "Well?"

"I need to find my team. We're going to have a lot of explaining to do." At that moment, Rei turned her head in the direction of the forest in the distance. Juno looked to her in inquisitiveness.

"I hear something," she muttered, her larger, catlike ears shifting. "Back in the woods. Something's coming. Someone's found us. We must warn the clan." She hurried off to notify her family. Juno sprinted after her.

Part 53

"It's his fault! He must have led them here!" an angry voice rose from the small crowd. "I told you not to mess with him! He's human at spirit!"

"Calm down! That's enough!" Rei yelled crossly. "The humans may not understand, but it doesn't make them terrible! Our senses are better than theirs. They won't find us before we're gone."

"They have their ways," another voice said. "They create machines to be their senses. They have the power to outsmart us. Don't ever underestimate their society."

"He's right!" a few others called out in agreement. Juno kept his distance, not sure of how they may react to his presence. He couldn't see how anyone could possibly be tracking them…the wristwatch! He looked down at it. A tiny red light was blinking on and off. Someone had locked on to him and was following the clan. But the only personnel who could be interfering would be the rest of Gemini squadron.

Letting out a sigh of relief, he approached the group. "It's not a problem," he said. The heads turned to him and watched intently. "We're only being followed by my family and friends. They're tracking my wristwatch device."

"Well for goodness' sake, get rid of it!" Rei yelped.

"No, wait, they'll listen to me. I'm their commander and friend. Just let me talk to them," he told the clan reassuringly. "I promise you I won't let them hurt you."

They looked from one to another suspiciously. "I promise," Juno repeated. "They can help us. With them we may have a chance of saving Earth."

Rei looked to her clan. "It may be our only chance. We're as good as dead sitting on our asses like this. Do we want to save this planet or not?"

A shot burst through the trees and hit a nearby Lacertial in the arm. Roaring in pain, he stumbled backwards, cradling the wounded arm against his chest. Another shot rang out, barely missing them. "Everyone get down!" Juno cried out. He hurried over to the wounded Lacertial and asked for his arm. Wincing, he held it out to him. Inspecting the wound, Juno could tell by the mark that it was of their Sniper Rifle pellets. It was definitely his team that had been firing. He scrambled to his feet and began to sprint for the woods. "Wait! Cease your fire!" After a few feet, he slipped in the sand and fell.

More bullets whizzed through the air. Rei stood up and hurried to Juno's side.

"No, Rei! Stay down!" Another cartridge flew at them, and Juno shoved Rei to the ground. Concentrate on the bullet! BE THE BULLET! his mind screamed. It hit him full force but he didn't feel a thing. Looking up from the ground was like looking up from the bottom of a deep canyon. Breathing a mental sigh of relief, he exited the object, brushing off and helping Rei up. "You okay?"

Back in the brush, Emang had begun to run towards them when she saw Juno helping the Lacertial to her feet. Her mind cluttered with fear and confusion slowed her and she stared, thousands of possible explanations racing through her brain. They could be his friends. But then again, they attacked him. Maybe this was a different group who had saved him. Or they could have him under control.

He turned to see her staring back through the darkness. "Emang!" he shouted, running off to meet her. "Tell them to stop! I need to talk to all of you! Believe me, there's a lot you need to understand!"

Rooted to the spot, she only watched his swift approach. He embraced her. "The sun is running out of hydrogen, and Earth's going to be destroyed if we don't do something. Get the others and I'll explain to all of you." He stepped back to inspect her skintight uniform. "Hey, you look great!"

"Thanks." She smiled. "Wait--Earth? Destroyed?" She looked to him with anxiety.

"Yes, I need to talk with all of you," he told her. Emang nodded and raced back towards the trees. She assembled the small group and they walked up to Juno, who was now bordered by several cautious Lacertials. "One of Mizar's disciples is avenging his death by harvesting hydrogen from our sun to sell as fuel. As a result, the sun will grow larger and larger until it engulfs our planet. Usually this takes trillions of years; however now that Alcor, this follower of Mizar, is stealing hydrogen from the sun, it will dissipate much faster. We must move in and stop him." He turned to the Lacertials. "These guys are on our side." Looking back at the team, he added, "You all gave me an idea on how to invade their squadron. Stealth. We'll cloak our ships, sneak through the clusters of harvesting carriers, and dock in the Imperial Space Station. From there, we can capture Alcor and try to create a compromise to suggest he finds a new star to produce hydrogen from."

"And if he refuses?" Vela asked.

"Then we have no choice but to put him under arrest due to charges of indirect invasion and destructive attempts. The Federation will be sure to convict and sentence him." He paused. "So do you have any more of those shape shifting outfits?"

"Yeah, they're at home," Nik told him.

"Then we must go back," Juno said. Looking to the Lacertials, he said, "I wish you all luck. We'll do our best to stop the annihilation. If we don't--" He stopped. "If we don't, be prepared for the worst." He left the center of the group, walking to the forest in the distance without looking back.

Part 54

Rei ran up to his side. "You can't take all the responsibility!"

"You asked for help."

"Yes, we asked for help. We didn't ask you to fight the war for us. It's our planet too." Her eyes met his in a cold stare. "We have a man who'd be more than willing to team up with you for this mission, and believe me, he's suited for combat. He knows what he's doing."

Juno thought for a moment. "I guess we need all the help we can get."

Rei slowed and moved back into the clan of Lacertials, selecting one from the crowd. "This is Gabe."

Gabe looked at Juno with a sort of smirk. The Lacertial stood only about six feet while most males were around eight to nine. He seemed a bit scrawny and poorly groomed. "Yo, `sup?" he grinned.

Juno did not look pleased at all. "I'm supposed to drag this scraggly lad around with me on this operation?" he said crossly.

"I promise you, he'll prove himself," Rei said. Gabe grinned again and pushed his square-lens glasses up on his long nose. He walked beside Vela.

"Hey, chick," he said, "what 'cha say we get together sometime and maybe even--"

Before he had the chance to finish, Vela had landed a hard punch right into his nose. "Maybe next time you should ask if the girl has a boyfriend first," Nik smiled, putting his arm around her.

"You're in love with metal man here?" laughed Gabe.

Nik turned to him, eyes flaming. "What did you say?"

"How did you know?" Vela asked quietly, staring down at her feet, her face flushed.

"Smell," Gabe replied. "We can always tell when a replica's around `cause they stink of lead and iron."

"He's not a replica," Vela said angrily. "You better watch what you say, you filthy lizard. He's got a mind of his own and as many feelings as anyone else."

"Right," Gabe grinned. "Artificial intelligence. Why do you think it's called `artificial'?"

"What about you? You're a giant lizard!"

"And who says you aren't? You know you have the ability to remain submerged underwater for a long time. That's a Lacertial trait, now isn't it?"

"Be quiet, all of you!" Juno interrupted. "Arguing will get us nowhere. There are plenty of things I could say about all three of you as well as myself that make us abnormal. Just drop the subject and let's move on." Lupus barked in agreement. The team headed back into the ships hidden in the brush to head for home.

Part 55

Nik sat silently on the bed in his and Vela's room, enveloped deep in thought. Vela seated herself beside him. "Are you still worried over the things Gabe said about you?"

Nik looked away. "I've just been thinking about what he said, and I realized…" He stopped in mid-sentence, then gazed into her eyes with a sort of shame. "There are so many experiences you'll miss out on because of our relationship. You know I can never be truly human. There are things we'll never be able to do together. I could never give you a child, or-"

"But look at all the things you can do," Vela cut in. "You're a great mechanic; you're intelligent. You saved my life, Nik, and I know you wouldn't have done so if you didn't have real emotions. There was a reason I fell in love with you," she said softly, putting her arms around him affectionately.

"What reason would that be?" he asked, returning her embrace.

She sighed and closed her eyes. "I just couldn't help it."

The android's eyes brimmed with artificial tears, but his feelings were real. Vela spoke to him gently. "You gave me your love. And that is the greatest thing you could ever give me."

"Are you two going to listen to the mission briefing or what?" Juno asked, knocking on the door and interrupting the romance.

Vela looked at Nik. He called back. "Yeah, we're coming."

Part 56

"Keep in check, everyone," Juno informed the team. He was standing in front of them in one of the slick black suits that each of them wore, looking uncomfortable. "This is a stealth mission, so no crazy raids or attacks." He eyed Vela scornfully. She grinned back. "Everyone is to be armed with only silenced handguns. We'll blow the mission if any guards within the perimeter pick up a disturbance. Move cautiously and watch your tracers for laser detection systems." He clicked a button on his laptop and a complicated diagram appeared. "Our Lacertial allies were kind enough to equip us with a full scale map of the main space station and the surrounding defense units that they generated using high tech radar technology. As you can see, the only way in appears to be the docking bay. If we landed there it would be like walking through your enemy's front door. However there is one other way in." He used his handheld laser to cause the diagram to rotate, providing a top view. "This hatch is the entrance to the cargo bay. The ships with hydrogen fuel enter here when they need to empty their tanks. As far as we know, no harvesting ship is outfitted with weapons, so we should be safe around them. The hard part is sneaking past the ships without them reporting on us. So I'm cloaking our ships-"

"Ships?" Emang questioned. "Don't we all go in one?"

"The size of the main cruiser is too large to slide by other ships without notice. The pod ships are too small for all of us to fit into. So we'll have to fly as individuals. Just follow up on my lead and you'll be fine."

Everyone followed Juno out to the ship and launched for the Gemini Space Station to select their pods.

Part 57

Looking out below the pod, Juno studied the shining surface of Alcor's lair. Glistening in the light of the sun, the team needed to equip their pods with special shields to reflect the immense heat and light. The team approached the bay doors and waited patiently for them to open. However, the doors remained sealed shut. "They won't let us in," he called to the others.

"We'll just have to wait for another harvester to come along and open it for us," Vela replied over the transmitter.

After a few minutes, one of Alcor's ships came up to the station and the doors opened. It flew into the bay and docked far below. Vela boosted to the opening, only to bounce away from it. "Force field," she reported shakily as the ship quavered absently.

Nik squinted through the windshield, his eyes centering in on the top of the station. "There's some kind of communications chip down there," he presumed.

"A code system," Juno muttered. "Nik, can you hack into it and disarm it?"

"I can try," he answered. Focusing on the little box planted on the top of the giant orbiting ship, he adjusted his vision and read the chip. "The code's `bigbucks'," he told Juno. He spelled it out carefully and turned back to the station. "But there aren't any letters on the communicator. It's full of these weird symbols."

"Lemme get a closer look," Gabe said, flying in as close to the magnetic field as he could. He pulled the zoom piece over his eyes and looked at the chip. "It's Greek," he told the others.

"Just great," Emang commented. "Anyone know Greek?"

"It just so happens I do," Gabe bragged. "We learned it in school about five thousand years ago."

"Then can you crack it?" Juno asked, irritated by the Lacertial's arrogance.

"I think…it's been a long time…" Gabe thought hard and stared blankly at the huge ship in front of him. "I got it," he told the others. "Now how do we enter it?"

"Aim your transmitter waves at the chip," Juno instructed. "Then input the code."

Gabe followed the commander's orders and the shield disintegrated. The bay doors opened and the invisible ships descended into the station.

A harvest ship approached the doors and watched in awe as they mysteriously opened to blankness. It inputted the code and kept the doors open long enough to slip in behind the gang, unnoticed.

"All right, everyone," Juno said to his team. "Shoot your climbing wire and make sure it latches onto the gutter then set your pods to autopilot and eject. We don't want any harvesters to enter and crash into our invisible ships."

The squad obeyed and each of them climbed out of the small pods, gripping their climbing wire in their hands as they climbed out of the ships. The members of the team dangled near the domed sides of the station's cargo bay, gently swaying back and forth in the near pitch-blackness.

"Guys, there's a harvester!" Gabe shouted in alarm.

"Just stay perfectly still," Juno said calmly. "He can't see us in this obscurity, and they don't have weapons." But he was wrong. The drone had watched the team enter the bay and leave the pods. The harvester knew exactly where they were.

A laser beam shot through the blackness and struck Emang's climbing wire. She screamed in horror, grabbing the gutter with both hands just in time. Another laser beam cut through the air, slicing Juno's wire. He leapt from the metallic cable and dug his claws into Emang's pant legs. She yelped in pain, the gutter digging into her fingers from the weight. Juno's claws tore through the black skintight suit, which then molded to fit his scythes. The commander had a good grip on her now, but the gutter was beginning to bend. The weight of the two of them was too much for the weak, poorly built structure. Juno thought quickly. He could try to climb up her to reach the gutter and move away to balance the weight, but he didn't want to risk slashing her skin. What else could he do?

Emang cried out again as the gutter started to crack. He looked up at her helplessly and tried not to visualize the five hundred meter void from which they dangled above. There was no other way. If he let go, she might have a chance. He could jump for the side of the dome and become a part of it. All he had to do was concentrate.

Another snapping sound from the gutter broke his train of thought. It was now or never. He bounded for the wall, reaching out as far as he could. Yet he failed to reach it.

Part 58

Emang cried out powerlessly as he fell down into the depths of the bay. Nik had climbed up on the gutter and had reached her. He pulled her up as the rest of the team hurried along the trough after him.

Juno struggled to reach the wall, extending his arm as far as he could, but it was no use. As he fell, the curved barrier moved further and further away. Plummeting to his death, time seemed to come to a deadlock, slowing as he neared the ground. It appeared to have nearly stopped, and then his back hit the cold cement floor. He heard the harsh sound of his back's ribs snapping inward and a sharp pain in his chest traveled through his body as the broken bones tore into his lungs and heart. His breathing came to a stop and he lay there, sprawled out on the ground, as his mind faded away.

Thousands of feet above him the harvester fought to get a lock on its target, the remaining associates of Team Gemini, but Nik was already a step ahead of him. With tremendous accuracy, he drew his silenced handgun and cocked it, firing into the windshield of the little ship. The pilot was hit and the pod spiraled down to the platform below. Nik rushed over to the remaining three climbing cables and began to climb down one. The others followed his lead and slowly made their way down to the ground.

Emang was the first to reach the bottom of the chasm and she ran to Juno's side, praying he would somehow still be alive. She knelt beside him and called to him fearfully.

"Juno, can you hear me? Please don't be dead…"

The team walked up to her, dread coming over them. Even though she knew he couldn't survive the fall, Emang desperately continued to try. "Please, Juno…don't die…"

She received no reply aside from the steady plinking sound of the blood that dripped from his mouth onto the cement, leaving a dark puddle that shimmered in the dim light. Vela turned away from the horrifying scene, her eyes glistening with tears. At a loss for words, Nik held her in his arms, attempting to comfort her.

Gabe stared down at the body before him. He sympathetically put his hand on Emang's shoulder, but she shoved it away. The unforgiving truth finally setting in, she began to cry, shaking with every sob. Frantic thoughts ran through her mind. If she would have tried to pull them up… If she would have only tried harder… But now he was dead, and she knew what had happened was really inevitable. Yet somehow she still blamed herself.

"Why did he have to die?" she cried out to no one in particular. "What did he ever do to deserve this? Why?" she screamed into the bowels of the dark, nearly deserted station. "Why was he taken from me?"

Of course there was no answer but the sound of her voice echoing off the walls of the chasm and the steady telltale sound of the dripping blood, a resonance that would forever be implanted in the darkest corner of her mind, lurking there only to rise again in nightmares of tomorrow.