The BlackHawk Saga Part 9:
Dark History
a PSO Fanfiction by
MBlackHawk
Pioneer 2 Laboratory. 3 months before landing on Ragol.
Pioneer 2 silently orbited Ragol, sending down expeditions of hunters every so often, to discern the cause of the explosion at the Central Dome. However, in the area known only as the "Lab", there's something going on, that none outside of a small circle know of.
"Ok, Alicia," Prof. Mome tells his assistant, "prepare the hildebear cub for the procedure. If Dr. Osto's, and Principal Tyrell's notes are true, then if we implant this into the cub, then we should see a notable increase in its physical strength, mental prowess, and a good number of other attributes."
"I'm still unsure about this, Professor," Alicia Baz answers, turning toward the door, "Won't this severely disrupt the evolutionary process of the native creatures on Ragol?"
"Principal Tyrell wants this experiment done," Mome responds, "Ours, dear Alicia, is not to reason why. Especially since he's paying us a huge subsidy to our current grant for this."
"Great," the force thinks to herself, "We're no different than the hunters we hire to assist in our field research, performing experiments for money."
The procedure went without a hitch, as Prof. Mome implanted a small device into the cub's chest cavity, fusing it into the cub's ribcage with little trouble. The cub was then carried back to its cage by a group of androids, where it lay there asleep for a few more hours.
When the cub awoke, it felt strange. Like it had no control over its body. It felt immensely stronger, yet unbalanced. Strange thoughts came to the cub's mind, as if it had suddenly realized a new level of intelligence. What happened was the one questions that came to the cub's mind most often, as well as wondering how it was able to realize such strength and thought processes.
Professor Mome began to observe the cub the moment it woke. Realizing that his experiment was a success, he started to note the difference in the cub. He didn't notice anything strange right off, except for how noticably different the cub had been acting. Over the next few days, to his eyes amazement, he noticed the first physical difference, as the cub had grown to at least twice his original size overnight, and his body's features began to look more crystalline, especially in the large chest and arm muscles. It was as if that device they had implanted had been rearranging the hildebear's DNA.
The cub had had enough of the prodding on the 8th day after the procedure. With a fury unseen, even in a Hildebear, it lashed out at the steel construction of the cage, shattering the door, and lumbering out of the cage. Soldiers had been stationed at the lab's entrance, and when the hildebear knocked the door off its frame, the troops turned and opened fire on the creature. The photon bullets had no effect on the beast, as it flailed its enormous arms, knocking the soldiers into the walls, knocking them unconscious. The hildebear then found its way to the lab's teleporter, and down to the surface of Ragol, where it remained hidden for many a year to come.
Skyly Sector – BlackHawk Home – Current Time.
The sounds of practice can be heard throughout the entire BlackHawk home, as Jessica Lynn BlackHawk continues her daily training routine, honing her sword skills to near perfection. Today, she's sparring with her father and teacher, Michael, and it has become ever more apparent who has the advantage in these little matches, as Jessica has won each match for the past three weeks.
"I think that's enough for now, Dad," the young HUnewearl tells her father, "You've taken enough of a beating."
"And here I was just getting warmed up," Mike responds, "I sure don't want to be on your bad side, honey."
Jessica smiles at the compliment. "Thanks," she says, "With you and Mom so close to retiring, I have to keep my skills up to par with my generation. I've been training a lot at the academy's training grounds lately, too."
"What about that RAmar you were dating? What's his name? Xander?"
"I tried to call him last night, and got his machine. His message..well, let's just say that I won't be seeing him again any time soon. He took off with a RAmarl from Bluefull sector."
Mike looks kind of distressed over this news, but realizes that his daughter is a resiliant young lady. He watches her wipe her forehead with a towel, and then walk out of the training room, and into the kitchen for lunch.
Governmental District – Governor's office.
"What do you think that is?" Irene asks of her boss, the colonial Governor, "I've never seen an energy signature like that."
"Who brought this to you?" Governor Tyrell asks his secretary, "This looks quite interesting."
"Military Surveillance," she answers, "A satellite over the north pole spotted it first, and broadcasted the information to their monitoring station. They think it's genuine."
"I see," Tyrell thinks, "The military would only botch the excavation. Make a call to the Colonial Expeditionary Society. If I know those guys, they'll dispatch some hunters out there."
"Understood, Governor," Irene says, bowing out of the room, "I'll call the CES now."
Hunter's Guild Hall
Jessica, along with her sister, Rhiana, decided to go to the hunter's guild to check for a mission. It had been some time since they had had a job, and some hunters had taken to asking if they were even still needed in this day and age. However, incidents like those with Shade Stalker, and Master, had given those few the answers that they required.
"Good Morning, Jess, Rhiana," Miranda, the guild clerk says, "Been a while since you two were here last."
"Been busy," Rhiana answers, "What with Stalker, Master, and just trying to live a normal life in the midst of this chaos, we've just not had a lot of time to check in."
"I had heard about that," the clerk replies, smiling, "So, what can I do for you today?"
"Let's see what you've got on the quest board," Jessica tells Miranda, "We're job hunting today."
"Let's see," Miranda thinks out loud, "I have a few hunters on this search quest for a missing luxury yacht, and a bounty out on a rogue HUcast..that one's been taken, too. Wait, the Colonial Expeditionary Society has a commission for a group of hunters. Apparently, they want someone to check out an area of the north pole, and report back your findings."
"Sounds interesting," Jessie muses, "Let's get Galveris and Maya. They should be able to help on this one. What do you think, Rhiana?"
"Good idea," the younger FOmarl answers, "Mom and Dad aren't taking on too many quests these days. I think they're not far from retiring anyway. Galveris and Maya can still help quite a bit."
"We'll take the quest," Jessica notes, "We'll most likely have two others with us, so tell the CES to expect four hunters later today."
"Good luck," Miranda tells the two, "And good hunting."
Skyly Sector – BlackHawk Home
The girls had asked for help on their quest from the two androids living with them. The most interested of the two, was the prototype HUcaseal, Maya, who remembered working with the Colonial Expeditionary Society prior to the landing on Ragol.
"Back before we landed," Maya remembers, "The CES wanted more of the planet's surface explored before we started our colony. Since then, all the CES has done has been to further explore the forests outside of the colony for possible urban expansion."
"What do you think of this push up north?" Jessica asks, " Think something may be up?"
"I don't know," Maya answers, "But it would be best if we got our cold weather gear and got ready to go."
With that said, the group gathered their best fire weapons. Jessie and Rhiana also got out their cold weather survival gear, while Galveris and Maya checked their internal heating units to make sure that they could survive the intense cold of the frozen north.
Around 3pm, the four hunters made their way to the headquarters of the Colonial Expeditionary Society, nestled close to the edge of the governmental district in Yellowboze Sector.
"I'm glad you could make it," says president Micah Gregson, "We were told that there was something needing explored at the northern pole of this planet. Our source never did disclose a name, though. We feel, though, that the tip is genuine, and that's why we asked you hunters to take on this quest."
"So," Maya thinks out loud, "The Government asked you all to have someone explore this area of the north pole because the military would just botch the job."
"How did you?" Gregson asks.
"Simple," Maya answers, "When you said that the informant wouldn't reveal a name. That could only mean that the government found out something existed there and wanted to know what. Don't worry, we'll take the quest. But there is a condition. Anything we find there, we keep, got it? I don't want anything potentially dangerous falling into Tyrell's hands." Gregson nodded, and the four hunters left, finding a transport to the north pole.
Elsewhere, a young man stood in an office, awaiting orders. "I'm certain there's something up there," the shadowy figure behind the desk tells his young follower, "And, I want to know what, before it gets to the governor. Darias, you follow those hunters. Your monocle will transmit all the information you acquire there to me. Anything found there, will stay with the hunters."
The young man salutes, and leaves for the teleporter, intent on carrying out his mission, now knowing who he would be following.
Meanwhile, back at BlackHawk home, Lara gets a visit from an old aquaintance, Alicia Baz. "What brings you out here," Lara asks, "You don't visit very often, Alicia."
"I was meaning to ask you something," Alicia mentions, "The president of the CES called me and told me that your daughters took a quest for them."
"Yeah, they wanted to take on this quest without Mike and me. They took Galveris and Maya with them, though. What's on your mind?"
"Think back to when Jessie was a child. That strange illness she got before we landed. Do you remember anything about how she contracted it?"
"No," Lara answers, "All I know is that it hit her in the middle of the night. She was running an abnormally high fever, and it took some herb from the forest to cure it."
"Funny," Alicia thinks out loud, "Out of all the children with mixed human and newman genetics, she's the only one to catch it. As a matter of fact, she was the only person on Pioneer 2 as a whole to contract that illness. Lara, I've been doing some checking on this, since medical research is part of my primary duties."
"What have you found?" Mrs. BlackHawk asks, "Anything I need to know?"
"Just answer one more question for me, and I'll tell you," Alicia tells her, "How long has she been training in Mike's sword style?"
"Since she was 5," Lara answers, "She wanted to become a hunter for as long as I can remember. She asked Mike to train her with sabers at age 5 and she mastered it not long before the Shade Stalker incident. She and Rhiana were vital in saving Mike's life in that fight."
"Well, if I'm not mistaken," Alicia explains, "If she's trained that hard since she was a child, she's stronger than you and Mike put together."
"She has been beating Mike in training matches,"Lara notes, "What's this all about?"
Alicia looks Lara in the eyes. "I noticed something strange in Jessica's genetic structure," she tells the newman mother, "It's not fatal, but that illness must have set it off. The more she trains, she'll get infinitely stronger."
"Tell me more," Lara advises Alicia, "I'm getting more and more curious."
The frozen glaciers of Ragol's north pole reflected the sun's light into the eyes of the team of hunters. Jessica and Rhiana shielded their eyes with a pair of dark glasses, while Galveris and Maya simply recalibrated their optics to compensate. Walking along, they came across very few monsters, as the frigid temperatures kept animal populations to a bare minimum. Rhiana brought her field glasses down from her eyes. "There's some sort of temple about five kilometers away," she tells everyone, "looks pretty big."
"Rhiana?" Jessica asks, "Do you get a strange feeling about this quest?"
"Like what?" Rhiana replies, watching Jessica flare the blade of her gladius to life and bring it around to the neck of a red-haired HUmar with a monocle over his right eye.
"Like we're being followed," Jessica answers, "What are you doing here, Darias?"
"Can't sneak up on you," Darias O. BlackHawk II tells his cousin, "I was sent here to assist you in your mission. Your aunt, Riala, and our superiors don't want whatever's in that temple to fall into the wrong hands."
"Well, it's 5 kilometers away," Maya says, "We should set up camp soon, as nightfall isn't far off. We'll never survive out here if we don't get into our camp shelters."
The party gets the camp shelters set up, and climb in to talk about the current mission, and just why Darias is following them.
The hunters had set out early the next morning, making the five kilometer trek to the temple after breaking down their camp. Darias was making himself useful by using the technology in his monocle to get readings on the strange energies coming from the temple. Galveris and Maya's internal scanners kept the team apprised of the situation, as Jessica and Rhiana silently and cautiously continued on toward the ancient structure.
The temple looked like it was made of pure crystal, purple in color, and immense in size. The walls of the structure seem to radiate with power, and were marked with strange characters.
"Amazing," Darias thinks out loud, "One would think that the government had seen all this before. My Monocle is able to translate some of these characters."
"What does it say?" Jessica asks, "What kind of civilization created this temple?"
"An ancient one," the HUmar explains, "I can't make out the name of the civilization, but it says that this temple is home to a great weapon...a Cannon of some sort."
"Perfect, and we didn't bring a ranger along," Maya thinks, "Kirumi's too young to take on missions like this, and we really didn't have time to call in any friends."
"Anyway," Darias explains, "The crystaline architecture of this temple seems to radiate with the strange energy signatures that I was detecting earlier from outside, only stronger. My readings are off the scale. Whatever's in here, it must be powerful."
"Most likely," Galveris says, nodding, "I'm not picking up any monsters on my scanners, but these energy readings are amazing. If something happened to this temple, it could destroy the entire planet."
Rhiana thinks to herself, "Then I'll have to be careful which spells I choose."
Moving along, Darias' monocle proves to be more and more useful helping the team make their way down the pathways inside the immense temple. Apparently, the ancient characters that he is able to translate show the way to this mysterious "cannon" that was mentioned. The lack of any creatures inside the structure makes the party pretty edgy, especially Jessica, who was trying her best not to show it.
"Darias," Rhiana tells her cousin, "Get a look at these crystals scattered around in here. Notice the number of conduits coming from them, going into the walls?"
"I noticed that," he answers, "apparently, those crystals are power generators that supply this temple with the energies that I'm seeing all over the place. If one of them goes, so does this temple. Not only are they a power source, but could be used for a powerful security system. If all of them went at the same time, the whole planet could be destroyed."
"Wild," Jessie thinks out loud, "any idea what kind of weapon that this 'Cannon' is?"
"No," the HUmar explains, "I'm not able to translate all the characters in here, but it does explain that this temple was designed and created to house this weapon. It must be something, if that's the case."
Following Darias' directions, the party made their way further into the temple. The entire group of hunters realized quickly that they were descending further underground.
The last chamber they come to looks like there's another chamber floating in a bottomless abyss. Strange floating pads make up a walkway, leading into the floating antechamber.
Jessica lead her team across the floating walkway. The long floating walkway, at first sight, seemed unstable to the naked eye. However, when the HUnewearl stepped onto the first pad, it was as steady as if it were on solid ground. Jessica and her family finally crossed into the floating antechamber. The inside was an immense shrine, with a dias sitting in the middle of the room.
Darias hands his monocle to Jessica before they walk up to the dias. She and her party continue on toward the center of the antechamber. As they approach the shrine, they noticed a large crystal sitting on the dias. Jess noticed one strange thing in the crystal. Inside it was a sword. She then noticed several markings on the dias. The monocle was able to translate the entire runic line. It read, "Lavis Cannon".
"This must be the 'Cannon' the markings mentioned," Jessica thought out loud, "It's a sword. Looks small and fast enough to be used in my soaring heaven style."
"Can we even get the thing?" Maya asks, "I'm reading some strange energies in both the sword and the crystal. Reach out and see if you can get it."
"Ok," Jessica says as she reaches her hand out to the crystal. Her hand touches the surface of the crystal housing the strange saber, and it feels as if the crystal was made of water. She reaches her hand in and takes the saber from its crystalline housing. She pulls the saber out of the crystal, and slides it under her belt. At first touch, she could feel a powerful energy flowing through the saber in her hand.
"We sure don't want Tyrell to find this thing," Rhiana tells her party, "If it got into his hands, there's no telling what could happen."
"You've got a point," Galveris agrees, "We'll put it in our training room with Mike's katanas. It stays sealed unless being used. He's got this strange paranoia about the government wanting to steal his master's katanas."
"We could have Seifer store it at Angelus Manor," Maya points out, "The government wouldn't think to look there."
"Yes," Rhiana notes, "but we've got some tough security at home, too. It'll be safe with Dad's katanas."
"Well, either way, we'd better get back to the CES," Jessica says, not turning around, "Gregson will want to know what we found."
"And I need to report to," Darias started. He didn't get to finish his sentence, as an enormous monster appeared behind him. It reached back with one massive arm and hit the young HUmar in the back. Darias Owen BlackHawk II went flying across the antechamber, hitting a back wall. He falls unconscious as Rhiana, Galveris and Maya run up to check him out.
The Lavis Cannon glows as Jessica turns around to see a large, hildebear-like monster running off, across the floating platforms. She starts to run after the creature.
"Rhiana, Galveris, Maya," she yells back, "Stay with Darias. I'll deal with this alone. This sword should be able to do the job."
"Jessie," Rhiana thinks to herself, "What is it I'm sensing about you right now? Something's different."
Rhiana Michelle BlackHawk kneeled by her cousin, Darias, as she watched her sister run off, following the monster that had injured the young man. "He's hurt pretty badly," she thinks out loud, "If we don't get him some medical attention soon, he might not make it."
"What about Jessica?" Maya asks, "She went off after that monster."
"Maya," Rhiana tells the HUcaseal, "I want you and Galveris to take a telepipe and get Darias to the medical center in Pioneer City. I'll go after Jessie."
"Be careful, Rhiana," Galveris tells her, "We'll keep you in our thoughts while we're seeing after Darias."
"Ok," She says, nodding, "I'm off. Good luck." With that, Rhiana runs off after Jessica, while Galveris drops a telepipe, taking himself, Darias and Maya away from the temple and to the medical center in Pioneer city.
Jessica was running as fast as she could to keep up pace with the creature that had attacked her cousin. The sword at her side glowed with a faint light, which intensified the closer she got to the creature. She had made it past the floating bridge and into another chamber when the monster turned to face her. It swung with one massive arm, which Jessica was able to dodge. She drew the lavis cannon from her belt, using it to parry another swipe from the crystalline arm of the hildebear-looking monster. It was all she could do, just to dodge the monster's attacks, and counter with a slash or two of her own.
"My assumption is right," she thinks to herself, "This saber is able to hurt this thing, but not by much, and I'm fighting with all I've got. How am I going to kill this thing? This monster's tougher than a Hildetorr." She dodges a few more times before a swipe of the monster's arm knocks her back into a wall. Jessica Lynn BlackHawk falls to the ground, hurting.
"Oh no," Rhiana says, catching up to her sister, just as she gets knocked back, "Jessie! Are you ok?"
The creature turns around, spotting Rhiana. It opens its mouth and releases a blast of light that knocks Rhiana backwards into another wall. Jessica looks up, just in time to see her sister get hit by the light blast. She stands up from where she fell, anger driving her to greater power. Her eyes narrow, as she grips the lavis cannon with a firmer grip. A purple energy gathers around the diminuative HUnewearl, as she eyes the creature.
Galveris and Maya appear out of the telepipe at the front door of the Rico Tyrell Memorial Medical center, in Pioneer City. The huge HUcast carries Darias into the emergency ward, where doctors and nurses begin the task of treating his injuries. The number of years that hunters have been protecting the general population has taught the medical professionals not to ask how a hunter gets injured. They just do their job to save the young man's life.
Meanwhile, out in the waiting room, Galveris relays the whole story to the rest of the family. Lara seems more interested than anyone else about the fact that Jessica had run off to face the creature alone. Riala Mano goes through the doors to the emergency ward, where she stays at the side of her son.
The monster eyes Jessica, waiting to see what she does next. Jessica Lynn BlackHawk seems to disappear from sight, then comes back into view behind the creature, diving at its head. She delivers a punshing slash with the saber in her hand, finally able to hurt the creature. The hildbear creature is barely able to keep up with her speed, as she bounds off of one wall after another, crossing at one level or another, hitting with as many slashes of her sword as she can possibly take. She moves so fast that she doesn't realize that she had dropped Darias' monocle.
Rhiana starts to stir, finding the eyepiece. She puts it to her eye, and watches the battle taking place. She starts by scanning over her sister. "What's this?" she wonders, "Jessica's speed, even this thing can't keep up with her. That energy that she's emitting is almost exactly the same as that in this structure."
The massive creature falters, falling backwards, but Jessica isn't done yet. She holds the sword horizontally, at chest level. A strong light eminates from the blade. Jessica raises the blade, and swipes it to the ground, releasing a wave-form attack that pierces through the creature, causing it to flail even more wildly.
"That energy reading from the creature is off the scale," Rhiana thinks to herself, watching the thing through the monocle. She observes a brilliant purple glow coming from the monster as untold energies begin to charge within its body. "I've got to do something," she thinks, "If this thing blows here, then we're all doomed." She blindly casts a ryuker under the monster's feet.
The creature appears out of the teleport gate, and into the middle of space. Within a matter of seconds, the energy explodes from the creature's body in such a brilliant matter that it can be seen as far as Pioneer City.
Alicia Baz watches the explosion from the observatory in the central governmental complex. Thinking back, she remembers how that creature came to be, in the first place. "Another of Tyrell's failed experiments down the tubes," she thinks, "I wonder how it came to get up into space?"
"Woah, did you see that?" one man asks his friend, "Looked like a supernova."
"YOu're not joking," the other man answers, "Whatever it was, it looked cool. Maybe someone's shooting a new action vid."
Back at the temple, Jessca ran over to her sister. "I told you to stay with Darias," she says, "Where are Galveris and Maya?"
"I told them to take Darias to the medical center," Rhiana answers, "I came after you because I sensed something different about you."
"Oh? What was that?"
"Well, I noticed you were a lot stronger after I got knocked out," Rhiana explains, "But we'll save that for another time."
"We'd better get out of here. I sure don't want Tyrell finding out about this place. If we give a full report to Gregson, he'll probably report it all back to the government."
"What do we do then?"
"We tell him as little as we can get away with, and that's it. The Lavis Cannon will stay with us, and that's the end of it." That said, Rhiana casts another Ryuker, opening a teleport gate back home, where the two sisters go to get some much needed rest.
Elsewhere, in Governor Tyrell's office, a black-clad FOmar stands in front of the governor's desk. Tyrell has his back to the man, looking out the window. "So," the governor begins, "I hear you're looking for artifacts of immense power. Is that right, Zeira?"
After a couple of days, Jessica leaves the CES office, after having made her report to Gregson. She decides to stop by the academy training grounds for a quick workout, when a voice stops her in her tracks.
"Jessica," comes the voice of a young man, "I was wondering where you'd gone to."
She turns around to see an auburn haired Ranger standing there. "Xander?" she asks, "What's up?"
"Well, I saw where you tried to call me a few days ago," the RAmar explians, "And I wasn't home. Something wrong?"
"That depends," she answers, "What's this I heard about you going off with another Ranger from Bluefull sector?"
"Oh, that?" Xander thinks out loud, "It was a quest. Some guy in military intel wanted two rangers to help test his new VR simulator test for the riflemen in his squad. He needed 2, so we got the contract. Believe me, Misty wasn't the best of company."
Jessica stifles a laugh as she nudges Xander on, away from the academy, and into the center of town. "OK," she tells him, "You're forgiven..for now."