Everything seemed to be quiet and peaceful in the galaxy. The weather was beautiful at planet Xethé. Children were outside playing in the sun, mothers were working in and around the house, and the farmers were working in the fields.
In a small peasant home, a mother named Gloria Eudoll cleaned the dishes. She hummed a sweet lullaby, smiling, while her beloved husband worked out in the fields. Then the sound of a crying baby interrupted her humming. She put down a plate and her brush, and strolled to a room in the hallway. She opened the door carefully and slipped into a small, pink baby room and approached the cradle.
The baby that lay in the cradle swung around her tiny arms and kicked her feet, crying. The mother smiled as she raised her from the cradle.
"My, my little one," Gloria held her daughter close to her. "Why do you make so much noise?" The baby stopped crying, but continued to whimper, and grabbed her mother by the ear and jerked on it. The tolerant woman laughed at this, lowering herself into a chair and releasing her ear from the baby's grip. She started to rock her daughter, swinging her gently from side to side.
The baby yawned, gradually falling into a peaceful sleep. Her mother rocked her for a couple of minutes longer, then gently placed her back in the cradle. Walking back to the kitchen, she turned on the small television to listen to the news.
As she washed the dishes, the following news bulletin suddenly caught her ears: "To all people on Xethé! Our planet is under attack by the Evil Emperor Zurg! Everyone must hide in their homes, until more information- KGGGGGG…" Snow appeared on the television. Her body shaking, Gloria turned off the television and ran outside to look up at the sky. Big ships with a capital Z on them flew through the sky, slow and threatening.
"GLORIA!" someone screamed.
She turned to see her husband running towards her, all the color drained from his face. "Torrance!"
Torrance grabbed her by the shoulders. "Are you okay?"
"Yes, I" Then she heard screaming, and saw hornets fly through the air, firing on innocent people: women, men, and even children.
"Inside! NOW!" yelled Torrance, and he gently but firmly pushed his wife inside the house. They locked every door and window. "Get the baby!"
Gloria rushed to the baby's room, lifting Nida out the cradle.
"Quick, into the basement!" ordered her husband. Gloria rushed with her baby into the basement, followed closely by Torrance who locked the door.
"What do we do now?" Gloria's voice trembled, and she began to cry.
"I don't know, dear…" whispered Torrance. He stroked Gloria's head, holding her close. His eyes were filled with unshed tears as he looked down to Nida, his only child. She was gazing around, her eyes wide and confused. Unable to look at her any longer, Torrance grabbed the emergency radio. "Let's hear what the news is." He turned it on.
"To everyone on Xethé: the planet is surrounded by ships and hornets. Escaping is impossible! The planet is declared lost. I repeat: lost!" All hope faded from the family when they heard these words.
"Oh noohoo…" cried Gloria. Tears rolled down her eyes, staining her face. "Oh Torrance… Now we'll never see our daughter grow up!"
Torrance slammed his fist on the table, startling his wife. "We might not see her grow up… But someone else will!" he said through gritted teeth.
Running upstairs with the radio, he unlocked the basement door. His wife followed him carefully.
"Torrance, what are you doing?!" she asked frightened as he pulled all the furniture away from the front door.
"Go grab Nida's favorite doll and a picture of us. It's necessary!" he yelled before opening the door.
Gloria rushed to the baby's room again, grabbing a fluffy bunny doll out the cradle, then grabbed their wedding picture off the wall and rushed outside to her husband. She looked to the sky, and surprisingly enough there was nothing there. All the hornets who had just brutally murdered all those poor people, were nowhere to be seen. She remained alert, however.
"Torrance, what is all this nonsense?!"
He was busy pulling something huge out the barn. The strange-looking thing was covered by a filthy blanket. "We'll save her with this!" He pulled off the blanket to reveal a small spacecraft.
"Where did you get this?" gasped Gloria.
Torrance opened the shuttle, and inside was a small seat, with thick walls all around as protection for the cockpit. "I built it myself," he answered. "I hoped we'd never have to use it, though."
Gloria glared at him. "Surely you don't expect our baby to go in that!" Torrance opened his mouth to argue, but the radio interrupted him.
"This is the very last message we'll send, folks. Zurg has sent off a giant rocket towards Xethé's moon, and within ten minutes it will explode and the shockwave will devastate Xethé. There's nothing Star Command can do – they'll never get here in time. …I'm so sorry… Over and out…" The radio went silent.
Torrence looked with pleading, tear filled eyes at his wife. "Gloria, please… I'm begging of you!" he begged.
She gazed at him, stroking her baby's cheek. The child grabbed onto her mother's finger, looking up to her with her big orange eyes. There was no question of what she had to do. What they had to do. Gloria handed over the picture and the bunny to Torrance, and he placed them carefully in the craft, crying alongside his wife.
"I'll type in the coordinates of Jo-Ad…" he choked out while his wife placed the baby in the craft, fastened the seatbelt, and began writing a note for whoever found the craft. "Gloria, it must take off now." He grabbed her by her arm, and they looked at their daughter one last time before the craft took off and disappeared in the sky.
Shortly afterwards, an explosion was heard, and the shockwave hit the planet, leaving everyone dead.
Meanwhile, the tiny ship was flying away from the planet, headed for Jo-Ad, but the launch had been delayed too long. Before it could reach a safe distance, the shockwave struck. However, with its power now depleted from hitting the planet, the shockwave contained significantly less force, and although the ship rocked back and forth, it remained intact. Unfortunately, a subtle shift in its course occurred, sending it away from Jo-Ad and straight towards the giant purple ship looming above the decimated planet.
"The rocket hit its target, Evil Emperor!" One of the Grubs approached his evil master carefully. The purple overlord was standing beside a window, gazing out with evil glee. The position gave a perfect view of the explosion that devastated the planet.
"And you are sure that everybody is dead, minion?" He looked down at the Grub, who swallowed nervously.
"Y-Yes, your Highness! Absolutely p-positive!" he faltered.
Zurg grinned evilly. "Perfect!" Then he turned away from the window with a dramatic wave in his cape. "Everything is going as planned! The Galactic Alliance can't refuse my proposal now! They will fall before me, and I will rule the entire galaxy!" He started to laugh hysterically.
Another grub approached, coughing to get his attention. "Err, Evil Emperor-"
Zurg spun around to face him. "Who dares to interrupt my evil laughing schedule?!" he yelled furiously, looking down on the Grub that dared to ask for his attention.
The grub quickly hid his face behind the clipboard he held, his entire body shaking. "The B-Brainpods detected a s-small spacecraft that flies c-close to us." He swallowed, trying not to stutter so badly, but to no avail. "They are asking p-p-permission to take it in."
Evil Emperor Zurg cocked an eyebrow at the Grub, then rubbed his hands together. "My plan is getting better and better! Now I've got hostages to boot!" He grinned with his usual malicious smirk and waved in dismissal to the Grub. "Off you go now, go tell those lazy Brainpods they have my permission to take in that craft!"
The Grub bowed to his master and backed away. As soon as he was out of Zurg's sight, he began to run as fast as his short legs would carry him.
Meanwhile, Zurg placed his arms behind his back and strode to his throne. He sank into it and took out a microphone from the side, which connected to the speakers in the ship's kitchen. "I demand my favorite celebratory drink!" he yelled. "NOW!" He turned off the microphone and placed it back where it belonged.
Soon another Grub rushed to him, holding a plate with a glass containing a strange-looking beverage and tiny umbrella. The minion approached his master cautiously, and bowed down to him, offering the drink. Zurg snatched it off the plate and studied it.
"Ooooh! An umbrella!" he squealed in delight, taking it out and placing it on his head. Then he took a sip from the drink, and spat it out a second later. "This isn't acid! This is just green lemonade with bubbles!" He threw the glass at the shaking Grub, who ran for his life.
"I'M SORRY! IT'LL NEVER HAPPEN AGAIN!"
Zurg sat down again and took the umbrella off his head. "I'm still keeping this, though…" he muttered, fiddling with the small prop.
"Evil Emperor!" called a voice, and a Brainpod wheeled up to the throne. There was something in the way his eyes darted around and his voice quavered that gave the impression of fear – and more than the usual fear each minion felt in the presence of their master.
"What is it this time?!" snapped Zurg.
"We took in the space craft, like you asked us!"
Zurg's angry glare changed into a frightening smile. "Ah! The hostages have finally arrived! Brilliant!" Stepping down, he rushed out the throne room and headed for the launch bay where the captured ship would be.
"Yeah… about those hostages… There is just a little problem with that…"
Zurg stopped walking, and with a threatening tone he asked the Pod, "What. Problem?"
Nervously, the Pod explained.
"A BABY?!" The entire spaceship shook under Zurg's furious screaming. He grabbed a Grub by the throat and began squeezing it like a stress ball. "Didn't you stupid Grubs say that everybody was dead on that planet?!"
The Grub squeaked with the lack of air. "We were absolutely sure, Evil Emperor!"
Zurg threw the poor Grub through the room. "I never asked for a baby!" he yelled angrily.
The Brain-Pods pushed one of their kind forward. The Pod, named Number 406, was shaking from his bowl to his wheels. Zurg glared at him, his red eyes glowing dangerously. "Well, Your Highness, there are some very interesting things about these aliens, if you'll forgive me."
"Like what?!" snapped Zurg. He heard the Pod swallow.
"Well, Xethaniäns have the power to grow plants, create water and are able to bend that water. You can use these powers for your evil plans…" He spoke the last sentence with a slight nervous vibration in his voice
"Hmmm…" Zurg rubbed his chin. He said nothing for a few seconds, then he waved at one of the Pods. "Bring that child in here!" he demanded coldly. The pod rushed off, and came back with the child wrapped in a small blanket. Zurg knelt down to observe it, then stood up again, disgusted. "So you mean THIS…" he pointed at the innocent looking baby who waved her tiny arms at him, "Could be a murder weapon if I wanted it to?" All of the Brain-Pods nodded furiously.
Zurg suddenly started laughing hysterically. The Pods and Grubs did nothing, but the baby began to laugh as well, her voice loud and happy. Zurg turned around dramatically to face the child. She looked startled for a moment, then laughed even harder.
Zurg knelt down, his face dangerously close to hers, and he narrowed his eyes, which glowed furiously red. The child simply continued to chuckle.
Zurg began to jump up and down, waving his arms around like a crazed monkey. "OEGABOEGABOEGA!" he yelled in attempt to scare the child. But to no avail, for she laughed even harder.
Zurg stood up straight again, frowning. Then an actual, genuine smile came upon his face. "She's a tough kid!" he said with delight. "She'll make a good weapon. I like her already!" The Pods and Grubs gazed up at him in surprise. Zurg saw their expressions, and scowled at them. "Don't give me that look! I only like her as a weapon!" he snapped, crossing his arms.
Pod 777 bent down to one of the Grubs and whispered sarcastically "Yeah, right!" The Grub snickered. Overhearing, Zurg grabbed his laser and fired at them, causing the terrified pair to run away screaming. Nida squealed and laughed at this, clapping her tiny hands.
Zurg could barely hold back a smile. "Well. Now that we've set that straight…" He looked down on his minions with a warning glare, and they shuddered under his gaze, avoiding eye contact. "I have decided that she stays." continued Zurg. A Grub held up his hand, and Zurg groaned annoyed. "What?!"
The Grub took a step forward. "Who's gonna take care for it?"
Zurg nodded seriously. "A very good question! Let me think, uhm…" He rubbed his chin, sarcastically thinking. Then he screamed furiously, 'YOU ARE, YOU BUNCH OF DIMWITS!'
The Pods and Grubs widened their eyes at each other. "But-"
"No buts!" Zurg snapped. Then, imitating a small childish voice, he moaned, "Oooh, I'm a Grub, and I can't take care of a baby! Oooh, I'm a Brain-Pod, and all I can do are stupid science thingies! But I can't handle a baby! No sirreee! Bwahbwahbwaaaah!" He ran around in small circles, making crying noises. After that, he left the room, cackling loudly to himself. The Grubs and Pods groaned in unison.
The Pod holding the child, going by the name 57, lifted her up to his eyes, studying the baby with a frown. "You're not gonna be like you're step-dad, I hope?" Nida said nothing but looked with wide eyes at the Pod. Then her cheeks bowled up, and she puked on him, leaving green with brown and yellow pickles on the poor Pod's bowl.
The Grub standing next to him looked disgusted. "Eww, that's bad…"
His eyes drawn together in annoyance, the Pod wiped his bowl with a pair of windshield wipers.
"I also found these in the craft." Pod Number 325 held up a wedding picture of two very happy looking Xethaniäns, a small note and a bunny toy. "The note says: "Please take good care of our darling Nida. Signed: Gloria and Torrance Eudoll.""
57 looked down at Nida. "So your name is Nida, huh kiddo?" Nida squealed and tried to reach for the fluffy bunny.
"Ooh, you want this?" The Grub gave Nida the toy, and she started chewing on it's right ear.
"I guess these are her parents?" one of the Pods asked, pointing at the wedding picture.
The other Pod nodded. "I somehow feel bad for the kid." The others simply shrugged. "Let's keep a hold on this picture. I'm having the strange feeling we're going to need it someday." Said 57. The others laughed, but nobody threw the note or picture away.
"Eww, what's stinking so bad in here?" asked one of the Grubs with a grimace of disgust. 57 simply held Nida's bottom in front of the Grub's nose, causing him to go pale and faint.
57 sighed loudly. "Yep, this plan definitely stinks."
