Sailor Moon Fan Fiction ❯ An American Boy in Tokyo 2: The Return of Alex Simpleton ❯ Development ( Chapter 2 )

"General Shenlong...how did you get this frequency?"

"Nevermind that, Alex, I have a proposal to offer you." Shenlong's voice responded, he was whispering.

"What?" I asked. "Are you out of your damned mind?!?!? I will not bargain with the likes of you, Shenlong."

"Then both of us will be annihilated, and your world with us."

"What are you talking about?"

"The beings that ransacked my escape pod, Alex, they're massing an armada to move on your current position."

"What?"

"That's not all, they've...shit...I can't talk now, Alex, I'll be at your position in three hours...Shenlong out." The face went dead.

"First he tries to kill me, now he needs my help," I chuckled, "with friends like him, who needs enemies?" I shook my head. "Jackson, come in."

"What's up, sir?"

"Shenlong just contacted me."

"What? How did he sneak a transmission by us?"

"I don't know, but he's going to meet me here in three hours. He wants to negotiate some sort of deal. He says that the beings that almost killed him are massing an armada to invade Earth. He sounds like he wants to allign himself with us."

"Little wonder, that cloaking field, was surrounding his former home world. One of our specialist ships just docked for refueling, they told us about their studies on the sector, apparently about two years after your disappearance, a fleet of unidentified vessel swept in and completely destroyed both the Dark Agency and the Nega-Verse with one single assault."

"That couldn't be the Drixar could it?"

"I highly doubt it, they were skilled warriors, yes, but they're technology was nothing like this. We're talking technology that's light-years ahead of even our own."

"So, how much trouble are we in?"

"I don't know, fortunately, the specialist team found an abandoned vessel of the same origin, and tractored it into their docking bay, after a few years of study, they determined that the technology is incredibly powerful, but also very fragile. One thing that was learned was that their planet is one with very little light. A very exploitable weakness, however, they also wear armor completely impervious to laser weaponry, that armor includes a darkened visor for assaults on planets such as Earth."

"So how do we beat them?"

"The armor is almost paper thin and composed of an equivalent to steel." Jackson said. I smiled.

"Solid projectiles." I said. He nodded.

"We've already formulated a new cannon for your suit, the arm now has a combination laser cannon, and a projectile weapon that will match armor of almost any caliber. It's a magnetic bolter, it fires these." He held up a spike about six inches long and an inch thick. "They're made of aluminum, usually very breakable, however when you fire them at thirty times the speed of sound, they'll punch through just about anything without losing much trajectory or speed."

"Excellent, excellent." I smiled. "What else?"

"A vehicle, it's an aircraft designed to blend into your home world's environment. However, it will be fitted with a cloaking engine, and it's capable of speeds in excess of mach thirty. It's pressurized cabin and hull construction is sound enough to survive one atmospheric exit and re-entry. The life support system can sustain you for about seven hours also." He smiled. "It's fire power is second only to the IROG mothership."

"Oh yeah. Is that all?"

"No, but the rest is all waiting on the cloaking engine."

"How much longer?"

"With the research we've received from the specialist team, I'd say six or seven hours until the proto-type is completed."

"Oh man, I can hardly wait to see it." I smiled.

"It's been a while, hasn't it?"

"Alex, what do you mean you can't wait to see it?" Mina asked.

"Huh? Oh...gotta go, Jackson, stay in touch."

"As always." He replied before powering off the comm-link.

"I can't wait to see it." I replied. "Mina, the technology we're using is fantastic, it's absolutely amazing."

"Alex, please tell me you're not gonna go and get all gung ho over this stuff."

"Mina, honey, come on, these guys are just like any other bad guy we've ever faced, they have weaknesses..."

"So do you...or have you forgotten what happened last time?"

"No...I haven't." I replied quietly. The memories of Mina's abduction washed back over me. "It's not going to happen again, Mina. But if I don't stand up to them, who will?" I asked.

"Son, you've changed quite a bit." My dad said. "And from where I'm standing some of it wasn't for the better."

"What?"

"Alex, I know that we, as parents, didn't do as good a job as we should have." My mother said. "It took losing you to make us realize that, but listen to yourself, you're excited about facing death and destruction."

"No, Mom, I'm not. I'm excited about seeing a brand of technology that I grew up believing I would never live long enough to see in action. I'm excited, because I have become one of the most powerful beings in the universe, me, a lifelong computer nerd." I sighed. "And I'm even a little excited about the possibility of fighting Shenlong again." I looked away and my hand strayed to my belt buckle. "You haven't been there, you wouldn't know, but when I'm out there, in that suit, there's no feeling quite like it. It's terrifying, but then, when you walk away having defeated your enemy, you don't think of the few lives lost, maybe as much as a dozen or so. All I could ever think about was the billions of lives that were possibly saved." I shook my head. "I miss that feeling, even though I wanted to never feel it again, for me, combat was addictive."

"Son, I was in the Marine Corps for five years before I met your mother. Vietnam gave me a back injury that took me out of the corps. For years and years I've missed the combat high, but I was never excited about going to battle."

"Completely different kind of battle, dad. When I fight, there are no hidden enemies, it was usually just me versus a handful of goons with big muscles and a little extra hardware. There's only one person who lived to tell about that engagement other than me, and he'll be here in about an hour or so."

"So that's it?" Mina asked.

"What do you want, Mina? Do you want me to say `No, sorry guys, I can't save the world anymore, find someone else.' Is that it?" I asked. "I would have thought that you, of all people, would be vouching for me on this one. You've been winning battles for about three times as long as I have. Some of them, even against the same people."

"Yes, Alex, and I've seen what happens to the friends that were consumed by them. Trust me, it's not a very pleasant experience."

"What do you want from me, Mina?" I asked. "I mean, tell me what you expect me to do, because if you're trying to provoke something that requires an advanced feel of common sense, it's not going to happen because I don't have any."

"Sir, if I may?" Jackson said from behind us.

"What is it, Jackson."

"I would like to introduce our latest creation, field test was completed five minutes ago." Beside him were four copies of my suit of armor.

"Okay, so...what is this?"

"These are suits of armor similar to yours, complete with cloaking mechanism, which was finished much sooner than anticipated."

"Excellent."

"Indeed, however, unlike your armor, these suits are entirely automated, and are programmed to mimick your every move."

"That won't help too much in hand to hand combat." Mina said.

"Maybe not, but only one of these suits is empty right now."

"What the...Jackson, what did you do?" I asked suspiciously.

"You look pretty good over here in the real world Alex." Lita's voice responded from one of the suits. "Even a little on the buff side."

"Yeah but you still talk like a nerd, uh, no offense Amy."

"Okay then, Mina, does this console you a little?"

"It's a start." She said. Then the four suits disappeared, and Jackson handed both Mina and myself a fancy styled wristwatch.

"Get those suits customized." I said. "Take into consideration, planet of origin, color schemes, and insignias, okay?"

"Got it, consider it done." Just then the doorbell rang. I walked over and answered it, a man in a cloak stood in front of me.

"May I come in?"

"Of course..."

"Don't say my name...they're hunting me." I pulled Shenlong inside the house and down into the basement where the others followed me.

"Jackson, I want a forcefield around this house, nothing gets in or out until I say so, got that?"

"Done sir."

"Okay, now then, Shenlong, what is going on?"

"These creatures have been around since the dawn of time, longer than than the Earth, longer than the Moon, longer than the Nega Verse or the Dark Agency...I hacked their databanks and downloaded starmap data, and I found something rather scary. These creatures are primarily passive, but once in a great while they find a being or two that surpasses them in might or intelligence, and when they do, they feel the need to hunt that being, to prove themselves, then they destroy that race's way of life, reverting them to the stone age and making them start all over again. Apparently Earth has a long running with these guys too. The first one happened over fifty eons ago. Ever since then, it's like clockwork, every two hundred million years another one surfaces." He said. "This time around they have two targets."

"Huh?"

"The cycle is up Alex, and you're it." He said. "They know every last aspect of your life. Including your association with the IROG, which puts them in danger as well."

"Okay then, we need some RECON data on these guys, Jackson, is the black ops team ready?"

"I don't know, Alex, are you?"

"What?"

"Alex, this mission will be one that requires resourcefulness, explicit knowledge of the weaponry and equipment, and most importantly of all, someone who can get around technology, your Grandfather and I have agreed that you and your friends are the only ones who have a chance at pulling this off."

"Nice of you to inform me."

"Anytime, sir."

"Okay then, modify the laser cannons to include and EMP burst weapon of some sort, then, shield the armor from it."

"We thought of that, it's already done."

"Excellent, when can we begin?"

"Beaming you up now." I turned to my parents.

"Sorry the visit was so short, we'll be back in a little bit, okay?"

"Do your thing, son, be careful." I saluted him as we disappeared in the beam of light, and headed up to the ship.