Episode 28: Battleship Mutrad, part 1
DISCLAIMER: ALL CHARACTERS MENTIONED IN THESE STORIES ARE COPYRIGHTS OF CARTOON NETWORK. I HAVE NO AFFILIATION TO SYM-BIONIC TITAN OR ITS CREATOR, GENNDY TARTAKOVSKY. I AM SIMPLY TRYING TO EXPAND ON HIS EXCELLENT WORK, NOW THAT THE SHOW, WHICH HAD SO MUCH POTENTIAL, HAS BEEN CANCELLED.
T
At the King's desecrated palace, hundreds of thousands of Mutradi foot soldiers(The grayish-brown ones that look like dinosaurs) stood at the ready, along with several human troops, as well as a few peasants in the local area that had been forced by the General himself to show up to this gathering as proof of their loyalty. Upon seeing their glorious general stepping out onto the balcony, they saluted him in one synchronized motion. Modula made his announcement:
"We have made progress in our two-front war, my troops. On this planet, we have completely surrounded and overcome one of the three major divisions of resistance. After gathering his followers, the individual formerly known as Lucius, the King of Galaluna, thought it would be wise to divide his troops into three armies, accompanied by civilians, so that they would not all be captured and killed at once. The three armies have constantly been changing positions underground, and it has been a long and difficult search to find them. Whenever our forces attempt to subdue them, they show heavy resistance, than retreat like cowards to new positions when we recover from their surprise attacks. We have reduced the once proud Galalunan military to mindless guerilla warriors."
"Look who's talking," muttered a peasant in the crowd.
"And now we have found the positions of one of their so-called "armies" and are now surrounding the military personnel on all sides. They are being slaughtered as we speak. When they are all dead, we will take civilians as prisoners."
At this, the Mutradi cheered, while the loyal Galalunans gasped in shock.
"And that's not all," Modula continued. "The new Battle Station is complete. It is incredibly powerful, and it is guaranteed to kill Titan, Edward, and possibly the entire population of Earth. We need to strike at the defenseless king's family and friends before we can finish him off," the General explained. "If it succeeds, all hope will be lost for the King, and we will easily flush him out of his hiding place. That is why this mission must not fail. You will not return home until you destroy everything there that can be used against us. You all have been training to work on this Battle Station for months now. It is time you see what you will be using to destroy a city, perhaps even an entirely planet."
At this, Modula pressed a button on the wall from inside his/the King's palace. A giant, 3-dimensional hologram was displayed in front of his audience. They stared at it with awe. It was a massive ship, and five times as long as Titan was tall. Modula knew he could easily wipe out the King and his forces with it. But that would be far too easy. Like Lance, the general enjoyed the thrill of real battle, having never faced the bitterness of defeat in combat. He had always wanted to go out with his troops and fight alongside them, but should he be killed, all would be lost. He had to stay put for his own safety. But that would change eventually. As for the ship, it was equipped with over 400 laser cannons which covered the top, sides, and underside of the ship. It had four large fuel jets the size of elephants, each spouting blue flame. Giant spikes were located on the bow of the ship, protruding about fifty feet in front of it. These would serve as horn-like weapons with which to pin Titan against a wall or building. 24 giant missiles were stored on the underside of the ship. And finally, its massive laser cannon resting between the front spikes, capable of firing enough energy to annihilate a city, provided that the blast was concentrated long enough. And then Modula instructed the Mutradi to follow him to the hanger, the same one from which Lance, Ilana, and Octus left their beloved home. All the Mutradi present-all 600,000 of them-entered the deadly ship, which was waiting for them there. A few Galalunan troops arrived, including one that all too familiar to Modula.
"Baron! I'm appointing you to command this Battle Station!" The General declared as he and the others were embarking.
"I'll do my best, General!" Baron replied, saluting. "So, which soldier will I be gunning down to get to the Princess, anyway?" He asked, his heart racing to meet the beautiful princess face to face for the first time, and to crush her assumed suitor.
"Oh? Did I not tell you?" Modula asked. "My apologies, Baron, I don't think I've told you until now; the tracking devices I placed on some of my creatures showed that it was Lance who-"
"LANCE IS ON ANOTHER PLANET?! WITH ILANA-I MEAN, THE PRINCESS?!" Baron cried. "I won't fail you, General!" Baron shouted with a smile on his face, an expression he thought he would never wear upon hearing Lance's name. He ran inside the ship as Modula called out, "Yes, lieutenant! Go fulfill your lust for the princess and your hatred for Lance at the same time! Just make sure to bring the Princess back alive!"
Baron nodded, indicating that he understood as the ship's hatch closed, and the Battle Station took off. "This is gonna be fun! I'll get to win the princess, and kill my rival!" Baron yelled to the Mutradi and other humans on board, who could really care less.
"The young," another Galalunan traitor said to his Mutradi comrade, rolling his eyes.
"I don't get it," the Mutradi replied.
As it took off, Modula wondered if he had just sent everyone aboard to their deaths. Or was he bringing the death of his enemies to them on a silver platter?
And where were the three teenaged aliens who brought hope to this world and the next? Why, at the mall, of course! They had split up in pairs upon their arrival: Lance went with Kristen, Ilana went with Jason, and Octus went with Kimmy. Our heroes and their dates were shopping, eating, or just hanging out. Similar thoughts went through their minds: The satisfaction that they were indeed, normal-at least by Earth standards. Who knew what the others back home would have to say about all this? But they gave that little thought. They enjoyed themselves here. Provided, of course, that there were no Mutradi, as they would soon encounter today...
Lance went with Kristen to the music store. "Y'know, normally I just buy songs on my iPod, but sometimes I just want to listen to something in a different way than I usually do," she told him. "You want anything? I've got enough money for both of us," she continued.
"Nah, I'll just look," he said. Lance grabbed albums of various rap, heavy metal, rock, and adult alternative bands he never heard of. It was difficult to find something that didn't have a "Parental Advisory" sticker on it. Lance tried listening to as much as he could. By listening to Earth's music, maybe he could learn more about them-or himself, or something like that. Lance failed to understand the words of the rap and heavy metal, but he could understand what the singers-rather, speakers- were feeling. The rappers seemed to be frustrated with life, desperately wanting to do violent crimes just to vent out their confusing emotions. Lance wondered if that was how they really felt, or were they just paid to make songs like that? When he tried the heavy metal, he found that a number of the songs of this genre had excellent electric guitar performances-which Lance seemed to like-but it was all just electric guitars and amplifiers, no drums or keyboards whatsoever. And the singers weren't singing at all, just yelling out things, sometimes with no real meaning behind it. He tried the rock. He found the rhythm to be to his liking, and he could understand what the singers-who were actually singing this time-were saying. But he tried the adult alternative, just to see if he liked it. The lyrics of most of the songs were interesting, but they all talked about love and relationships. After listening to all that music, Lance decided that there was no genre for him. It was all great, but if he wanted music he that could really feel like it came from him, he would just have to make his own. He just couldn't truly feel the same messages that the music produced. After feeling somewhat unsatisfied with his results, he told Kristen what he had been thinking.
"Well, you know how music is: There's so much to choose from, but you're not gonna like everything," she said. They left the music store and went over to Mrs. Field's cookies. Whoever this Mrs. Field was, she was an excellent baker, Lance thought. "Lance! You gotta try one of these! Kristen begged. She bought him just a regular chocolate chip. When Lance took a bite, he felt as if he were in a sugary sweet heaven. "Great", he said, trying to hide his bliss. When Kristen ordered her own cookie, she sat down with Lance at a nearby table. "Hey Kristen", said Lance, "Do you really think that there is such thing as 'soul mates,' like you said we were at the party?"
"Ok, I was actually trying to be a little flirty there. But just a little. As for the question, well...yeah. I think that there might be someone out there for almost everybody." She smiled at Lance sweetly, "Maybe we really are soul mates for each other, like I said at the party...what do you think?" she asked jokingly.
"Well, I guess...we won't know unless we keep doing this," said Lance. "I've gotten to know your personality a little better since our first date, and let's face it; we seem to agree on things. But... I feel like there's something I don't know about you. And we can't have secrets if we're gonna be soul mates, right?"
"True", said Kristen, keeping her calm. In fact, she did have something to hide. Something that turned some guys off. Something that she didn't tell them unless she could trust them and get them to join her. But none of them had done that yet. They never understood. Would Lance? She wasn't quite so sure yet. "But I was thinking the same thing about you, Lance. Could you tell me a little more about how you came to America?" she asked. "If it's not too personal."
OH, CRAP! Lance thought. He couldn't just tell her he was an alien! He had to think fast. He hadn't been trained for situations like this! "Well, I..." he began his long, made-up story of his parents who raised him in Canada, touching briefly on the fictitious journey his family made from Ottawa to Vancouver. It seemed like that worthless project he had to do on Canada in Social Studies the week before would be useful after all! Kristen knew nothing about, though, since she had a different Social Studies teacher. As he monolouged, he thought whether Ilana and Octus were in situations like his own...
Speaking of Ilana, she and Jason were over at GameStop. His idea, of course, but she just couldn't say no to him. He hadn't listened to her when she said she wanted to try on scarf she saw, and the whole time he kept talking about a bunch of things called Pokémon that she had never heard of. Jason was sweet and nice, but he just didn't feel like the one. Any other girl would do fine for him, she figured, but why did he pick her? Then Ilana remembered: because she was probably the only girl who was ever nice to him. He had probably never gotten farther than a second date. Had other girls been thinking exactly as she had? Ilana felt a little sorry for him. She didn't want to spend the rest of her life with him, but she didn't want to shatter his already broken heart. If only Jason knew how to act around girls, maybe she could give him some self-confidence, and he could ask a different girl out. One who would like him despite his clumsiness and flaws. Ilana knew she had her own flaws, too, but Jason's were just more obvious to everyone. She knew she couldn't try to change him, but Jason would have to act a little differently if he wanted to keep dating her...
"Hey, Ilana! Wanna watch me play this?" He said, whipping out small device with two screens and a pen tucked inside it. And so she had to watch him play for a few minutes until...
"Jason, can we talk?" Asked Ilana.
"Sure. What about?" He asked.
"Look, I...think that maybe...you shouldn't be playing video games on our date. I mean, let's do something we can both have fun with."
"Well..." Jason's tone turned serious. "I would, but...we can't agree on anything. Let's face it; I think we're gonna just...have to be friends." He took a deep breath. "Ilana, there's something I want you to know," he began. "The real reason I wanted to date you was...I wanted a cute girlfriend. It...It's not fair how guys like your brother can pick and choose who they want, and I'm just stuck with nobody. Ilana, do you realize you're the only girl who hangs out with me, ever? I kinda broke up with Mirabel after the dance, by the way. You see, Ilana, without a girlfriend like you...I feel like a loser. Girls don't like me because they only look at me from the surface, not at the heart like you do. When they look at Lance's...uh...physical appearance, they're just attracted to him and don't give a second thought about me!" he complained. "In case you haven't noticed, Ilana, there's kind of a social ladder in high school, and the way I've seen and heard people talk about you, and from the way they talk about me, we're pretty much on the lowest rung of the ladder possible. I figured it would be easy to date a girl at your level because people always fall in love with people who are in the same social class. So really it was only you are or Mirabel, and you're prettier and she wasn't interested in me, so...I chose you," he said somberly. "Ilana, if you leave, I'll have no one to love me. So please, just...try," he said.
"Jason…" Ilana sighed, pondering her words. She couldn't do it. "We can still make this work, I think."
"You'll still be my girlfriend, then?" He said. "Oh, thank you, Ilana! I promise, I'll try to be a better boyfriend for you! In fact, I'll start by ditching this video game and go do whatever you want to do, ok?" He said.
Octus, meanwhile, was in a cosmetics store on the other side of the mall. Kimmy was spraying various chemicals on the palm of her hand. She held up her hand to Octus. "Check out this one!" she said.
So Octus analyzed. His visual sensors failed to pick up any useful data, but his olfactory receptors (or as the Earthlings said, his nose) was filled with the aroma of various chemicals. "This compound produces a fragrant scent, therefore qualifying as perfume," he said to Kimmy, thought she knew that already. "The scent is produced from a tree that only grows in three distinct regions of..."
"No, Newton!" Kimmy laughed. "I mean does it smell nice?" She always thought it was cute when Newton "analyzed" something instead of just looking, or hearing, or smelling whatever the object was. But this time she needed a real answer. Why was that so hard for him?
Why is giving her an adequate answer so difficult for me? Octus thought to himself. Octus inhaled the scent from the perfume. He collected the same data as before. But he couldn't say the same answer twice.
"Do you not like it?" Kimmy asked. "It's okay if you don't, just tell me."
Octus thought to himself. Did he like the scent of the perfume? Well...the chemicals, upon being perceived by his sensors, seemed to calm and soothe him. So the answer had to be yes. "I do like it", he replied.
"Okay...how about...this?" she washed off the perfume sample and sprayed a new one on her hand. Octus "smelled" it. This one produced an aroma similar to those he had registered on various exotic fruits. The scent was refreshing, but nearly overwhelming. His sensors had difficulty in storing so much data and stimuli. "It's a bit too strong," he replied. After smelling more perfumes, Octus found one that would be perfect for Ilana to use on herself. It seemed to produce a scent that male humans seemed to be stimulated by. Octus himself found it to be somewhat altered by it as well. Fascinating, he thought.
Afterwards, they went over to a clothing store. Octus didn't see the point in buying clothes for himself, seeing as his only set were holographic and never needed to be washed. But Kimmy insisted. Lance, he recalled, just had a bunch of purple shirts and jeans that looked alike. Ilana, however, had all sorts of outfits. Octus found it difficult to categorize them all. She had something different for every season, occasion, and mood. But Octus knew this information was simply trivial. He picked out some shorts and t-shirt. Summer was coming fast, and according to Ilana, he couldn't dress like a scientist every day. He analyzed the fabric of the clothes and copied them. When he came out of the dressing room he had been analyzing in, discomfort overtook him. He pulled Kimmy aside and presented himself. "Does this make me look...obese?" he asked. "You can be honest," he added, expecting her to be so.
"No! Not at all! It's gorgeous on you!" Kimmy lied. Really, everything made Newton look fat. But he could detect a lie, unbeknownst to Kimmy. "You shouldn't lie, Kimmy," he said. "Especially not to me."
"Well..." Kimmy thought. "Newton, you're sweet, but you have all this...width," she said, spreading out her arms to show him how wide he was. "I know it's tough being...plus-size, but it's better than being...me," she said. "You could wear whatever is out or in, and no one would care."
"What do you mean?" Octus asked.
She sighed. "Newton, do you know how hard it is to be me? I have to have this perfect body all the time. And I've got to do something and get recognized. That's why I'm cheer captain. Because my family is kinda rich, I'm gonna be popular no matter what. I've gotta have or wear whatever's trendy, this month and the next. And that's not the only price I have to pay for being popular." Octus scanned Kimmy's emotions. She was...sad, he noticed. "Remember how I used to make fun of Ilana's outfits?" She asked him.
"I do recall that," said Newton. "That wasn't very nice of you."
"No. It wasn't nice at all. Well, I mocked her because we popular people have to assert our authority over the low-class people, and sadly, Ilana's one of them."
"I theorized that after everyone called her a 'doofus' that first day of school," he said. He turned and placed his hands affectionately on Kimmy's shoulders. She didn't back away. "But like I told you when I tutored you in Geometry, you don't have to live to any of the world's stereotypes. If you want to, you can set a positive influence for other people," the robot suggested to his girlfriend. "Just because you're popular doesn't mean you have to be mean."
"No, see, that's not how it works," she replied. "Besides, my reputation is already at stake just for hanging out with you. You see, popular people can only date other popular people. I really like you, Newton, and I've learned to put up with you and your 'bathroom' thing. But...I don't think my friends understand. They see all this as a joke. And they'd never let it down if they knew I was serious about you."
Octus thought about what she had just said. Then, suddenly, an emotion washed over his circuits. Confidence? Inspiration? Whatever it was, Octus was ready to tell Kimmy something reassuring and important.
"Kimmy, who cares what they think? If we're happy together, even if we are not on the same social class, if we love each other, we can date. And I've grown to love you, Kimmy." And it was true. Octus remembered when he, Lance, and Ilana first arrived at Sherman High. Octus tried to classify everyone there into categories, such as "jock" and nerd", but when he got to know Kimmy better, he placed her into a class all on its own. She had a special place in his memory banks. "Kimmy", he continued, "If you were looking for happiness in popularity, you were wrong to look there. True happiness is when you are with people that care about and love you, like me. And if your friends ever abandon you because you do or say something unpopular, I won't care. I will always be there to understand you."
Kimmy was stunned. She took Octus and kissed him on the cheek, not caring who was watching. Octus' computer systems nearly crashed, almost overcome with stimuli. Or was this what the Earthlings called...affection? Whatever it was, Octus was unsure of its strange power. But it made him love Kimmy more. And then...
The Rift Gate opened. He told Kimmy he had somewhere important to be, and it wasn't the bathroom. Octus ran as fast as his holographic nerd legs could carry him, grabbing Lance and Ilana as they were talking to their dates. The teens said their brief goodbyes and left the Omega Mall's interior, leaving their dates concerned until a loud speaker announced some news to all shoppers:
"Attention! There is level 10 hazard approaching the city! Everyone head to the shelters immediately! This is not a drill! The Sherman Police Department and the mayor of the city have just issued an order for all citizens to evacuate the city. The giant aircraft outside is of unknown origin. But your main priority now is to follow the police and evacuate to the disaster shelters." The message was repeated several times, making sure everyone heard the dire news. Kimmy, Kristen, and Jason were lost in the sea of people who were desperately leaving the mall almost immediately after the message was broadcasted several times. When they got outside, they got in their cars and left in the opposite direction that the "hazard" was moving. After everything Sherman had been through, no one would dare invent a hoax disaster. They all parked their cars at the shelter, a small, one story building with several underground floors made for disasters like these. Our heroes' dates met up with each other shortly afterward.
"What do you think happened?" Kristen asked the others as they headed inside and proceeded to the underground floors of the shelter. People were hurrying all around them, and most had a look of panic in their eyes.
"I don't have a clue!" Jason cried over the sea of people that were fleeing deep into the shelter.
"Yeah, me neither, but why did Newton and the others leave so quickly?" Kimmy asked nervously. Kristen and Jason, realizing what had happened, became just as alarmed as she was.
"What do we do?" Jason asked. "Should we look for them?" As soon as was done speaking, General Steel, of all people, burst through the door, his troops swarming the facility with food, aid, and other supplies.
"We're sealing the entrance! There can absolutely be no entering or exiting this facility until the disaster has passed!" He cried.
"Our friends are in danger!" Kristen protested. "You gotta let go find them!"
"Don't defy my orders! Get down to the lowest levels of the shelter possible!" Steel said, handing each of them a supply of food, water, and various other goods. Then, he shoved them towards the sea of people still fleeing down the stairs of the shelter.
"Newton!" Kimmy cried. Her boyfriend was in danger, and she didn't even get to know why? Kimmy felt like screaming in frustration. This was all Titan's fault! She thought. If he had never come here, all these monsters would never be here! And then maybe Newton would stop leaving her right before every-Kimmy realized something.
Edward stared in shock and horror at what he saw. "Solomon! Come see this! It's a battle station!"
Solomon was taken aback by the size of the ship appearing on radar. It was as five times as long as Titan was big! "What in the name of...was this some sort of Galalunan-Mutradi joint project?"
Edward nodded. "It would appear so," he replied. "I had a feeling that Modula would ally himself with the Mutradi, as we've seen with all these monsters he's been sending, but I didn't think he could arrange for something this massive to be made!"
"Right then," Solomon replied. "I'll arrange for your evacuation from this facility. Where do you wish to go, sir?"
"No, I can't evacuate and leave you and Titan to fight them alone while I hide like a coward," he replied.
"But sir," said Solomon, "If our airship tries to fight them, we may all be in danger. Including you. And once they realize that you're on here, they'll kill us all!" he said.
"True. But it's either they kill Titan and they win, or they kill us, so that Titan has a chance at winning. It's a risk we have to take. I know I told you that I wanted to stay hidden until we finished working on the Rift Gate duplicate. That way, they and the Mutradi would only find out I was alive when I was ready to take them back home. But now we should do everything necessary to help my son and the princess. If I don't, they may die. And because of me, the Earth will die with them," he said sadly. "And I will not allow two planets to succumb to Modula's reign of terror. And I certainly won't allow the Mutradi to kill my son! Take us to Sherman," he commanded. "And Solomon... if things get bad, keep fighting to the end! For your planet! And for your children and your wife, my first interplanetary friend," he said. "If we succeed, then we have saved many lives. And if we fail...you will see your family again," said Edward, heading off in the direction of the aircraft hangar.
Solomon watched Edward leave for the hangar, probably to debrief the troops, which was usually his job. But he could tell that his Galalunan friend felt like he had to take charge this time. Solomon had always been against having Edward reveal himself to Lance until he had completed his Rift Gate duplicate, and so did Edward himself. Solomon remembered when Edward had repaired Octus for them in secret, back when Steel tried to attack G3 in the Hammer, and when those three Mutradi all showed up at once. When Octus was revived and everything had returned to normal, Edward had ordered for G3 to leave the area. Surely the three Galalunans still curious as to who revived Octus. That would be the case no more, Solomon thought. These were desperate times. Besides, Lance needed to see his father after five years. If only his wife were here, Solomon thought as he followed Edward into the hangar.
"I hope you know what you're doing," he said to himself.
Octus grabbed his friends and flew up to the rooftop of the mall, not caring if anyone saw them. "What's the big deal, Octus? If it's some Mutradi, can't we wait till-" Lance began.
"No; it's no Mutradi," he said. "I brought you both up here you so you can see the starship I detected emerging from the Rift Gate. I couldn't pick up much data on it, but we need to be ready to form Titan, immediately as it shows up."
"How bad can it be?" asked Ilana. "It can't be that-" she began. But then a small shape appeared in the distance. The three of them watched as the ship got closer, until it was just a five miles away. They saw its cannons, its lasers, its missiles which could almost break Titan's outer armor in one shot, the powerful rockets, the spikes, and the machine gun turrets. There was also a disc-like shape further off behind the Battle Station. Was it G3? It didn't matter. Octus grabbed the two teens, still in shock, and placed them on the ground in the parking lot of the mall. Most of the people who hadn't evacuated already were fleeing the city in a panic in all directions.
"Should we form Titan yet?" Lance asked.
"No, not here; we should relocate in area that the Battle Station has already passed over, and form Titan behind them there. Perhaps we can intercept them," Octus said.
The trio flew off from the top of the Omega Mall and traveled across town, the giant ship hovering over their heads.
Baron was inside the captain's seat of the ship, looking pleased with himself for being in charge of the thing.
"Baron, we've detected armor signals almost directly below us," one of the Galalunans said. "What should we do?"
"Just drop a bomb on them; if it doesn't kill them, we can least wipe out a few of these ugly-looking Earth buildings!" He replied.
Steel, meanwhile, was barking orders at his troops to get ready for one hell of a fight as they "secured" the shelter. Steel turned on his portable military radio, or walkie-talkie, as those hooligans called it-at least, that's what he assumed they called it- to contact Steve "Babyface" Stevens, the soldier that had once infiltrated Sherman High. "Private Babyfa-I mean, Stevens, come in!" Steel called.
"I read you, sir!" Babyface said as the troops he was with were sealing off the exit to a different shelter at the other end of the city. He walked outside and surveyed the sky. The Battle Station was getting closer. "I've checked with the other troops, and according to them, almost everyone is accounted for in the shelters, save those kids."
"You mean the aliens?" Steel cried excitedly. "Great! Maybe the thingy killed them off for us!"
"Unconfirmed. The troops are currently on standby, awaiting your orders. The foreign aircraft should appear in-holy cow!" Babyface cried.
"Whadaya see, Private?"
"G-General, the aircraft is right over the city faster than expected! And it's huge!" Babyface cried. "We don't stand a chance!"
"Oh, it can't be that bad?" Steel asked.
"See for yourself, sir!" Babyface cried as Steel stepped outside. Steel raised his eyebrows as the machine passed over the downtown districts of the city, less than a mile away. But he wasn't intimidated.
"It'd be terrible all right, Stevens, if we didn't have the Hammer, that is!" He laughed into his radio. "Tell the boys to send a chopper over here so they can drop me off back at the base to go get it!"
"General, don't you remember? The scientists building it said it would take months, maybe a year, to rebuild the Hammer. We can't use it now; otherwise it'll just get destroyed again!" Babyface answered.
"Aww...but I wanted to use the Hammer!" Steel cried in a somewhat whiny voice. "Looks like we're just gonna have to do without it! Babyface! Mobilize our boys!" Steel ordered.
"Yes, sir!" He answered. Turning on all channels, Babyface announced, "I've just got word from Steel! We're movin' out!" Soldiers from all of the shelters immediately went outside after leaving behind a few troops to secure the civilians. It wouldn't be long before they could get the tanks and aerial support to arrive from the nearby Army base. The remaining soldiers set up a TV which picked up feed from news helicopters flying over the city. They were at a safe enough distance to look at the Battle Station.
"Folks, I have no clue what exactly we're looking at, but this giant Battle Station is unlike anything I've ever seen! Perhaps Titan can help us once again." The anchorman stated.
"Yeah, but where are you, though?" Kimmy asked herself as she watched the TV from inside the shelter.
"It's gonna release a bomb!" Lance cried as he grabbed Ilana and Octus as they sped through the city. Lance was going as fast as the Manus armor could allow, but as he was flying away, Ilana broke free of his grip.
"We can't let that thing hit the city!" She cried as she watched a hatch from below the ship begin to open. Before Lance could stop her, she sped back below the Battle Station as it dropped its bomb. Ilana stood right in its path and fired her powerful white laser.
"Ilana, wait!" Lance cried. He went to the scene of the explosion, worried that Ilana wouldn't be there. But as the smoke cleared, he and Octus saw that she had, in fact, destroyed the bomb before it could hit.
"Are you crazy?!" Lance shouted at her.
"I couldn't let any innocent people down there get destroyed, or have their homes demolished!" She cried.
"What about our plan of regrouping behind the Battle Station?" Octus asked.
"I don't think it'll work now!" She said. "Let's just form Titan and make our stand!"
"If you insist," Octus said. "Initiating Sym-Bionic Titan!" The TVs from inside each of the shelters picked up Titan forming, seeming to appear from midair, in the perspective of the viewers. When Titan had been completely formed underneath the ship, Baron was shocked as it charged its Alpha Cannon.
"What? I thought we blew them up!" He cried.
"Sir, the bomb didn't even hit the ground. We believe that Ilana destroyed it in mid-air," answered one of his subordinates.
"No matter! Titan can't hurt us!" He said, snickering as he thought of how he would finish the giant robot off.
Titan prepared to fight for its life and those of the other humans. First, it immediately ran out from underneath the Battle Station as it tried to fire its guns at it. Facing the ship's starboard side, Titan fired its massive Alpha Cannon, which had just finished charging. But then...the blast seemed to hit the ship, cause no damage whatsoever, and reflect back at Titan. It had no time to react, and the Galalunans faced the full intensity of their own attack. Buildings were crushed as Titan collapsed to the ground.
"AGGGGHHHH!" Cried Lance. "What just happened?"
"The blast apparently was reflected back at us," replied Octus. "The Battle Station may have some sort of powerful force field around it."
"Of course it does," said Lance, sighing.
"Okay, let's try-" Ilana began. But then the ship turned on a dime, and its bow was facing Titan. It fired its guns and 4 of its giant missiles. All the individual blasts hammered Titan. Lance, Ilana, and Octus felt as though they were being pelted with millions of large spears, with four deadly, explosive punches thrown in for good measure. "Outer armor has shattered," Octus reported.
Indeed it had. All of the clear plating that surrounded almost all of Titan's body was gone. It was as if someone ripped off its "skin". And before Titan could move again, the jets from the ship's stern fired up. At rapid speed, the battle station used its massive spikes to pierce its mechanized chest. Lance and Ilana seemed to share the pain together. But it didn't stop until Titan was slammed against a building, its body still jammed in the battle station's spikes. And then...
"It's firing a massive laser cannon!" cried Octus.
"We're gonna die!" cried Ilana.
"No, we won't! Power down!" yelled Lance.
Titan obeyed. Our heroes found themselves on the ground near the building they had been pinned up against. They were now Manus, Corus, and Octus now. Before Ilana and Octus could so much as breathe-or in Octus' case, reboot his systems-Lance started issuing his commands:
"Okay, guys, they've gotta have some shield generator thing protecting them from all of our attacks. It's probably inside the ship, so we're just gonna have to break in and blow it up. Ilana, you look for the shield generator of the ship, Octus, you take out anybody in the control deck if you can, and I'll go find the power source for the rockets so that they can't move! Understand?" he said frantically.
"Yes, I do!" she replied. She was frightened. But she couldn't show that to Lance. He had given her a job to do! Suddenly, the knowledge that her people needed her more than ever sunk in. If they hadn't destroyed Galaluna with this thing...there was no way of knowing, but she had to stay positive. "Let's go!"
"Affirmative," replied Octus.
"Baron, they've powered down, and they're heading underneath the ship!" one the men in the control room cried.
"What?! Uh, okay, uh...send some troops to cover the area where they're gonna break through!" He cried.
"What about the Earthling military that have fired at us?" A Mutradi asked in broken English.
"They are of no concern, since they can't hit us. Focus your efforts on killing Ilana and her allies!" Baron commanded. At his words, several Mutradi that had been waiting for orders ran out of the control room.
And so they flew up to the underbelly of the ship. Ilana raced up first, providing a force field that blocked the dozens of turrets firing at her. From behind her, Lance used his own machine guns and missiles to take out several of them. The explosions of destroyed turrets didn't faze the rest of the ship. After about two dozen were wrecked, he unsheathed his axe and flew ahead of Ilana. Octus, meanwhile, fired enough electricity at a small group of turrets. The electricity was used to shut down the power to a good portion of the turrets, rendering them useless. When Lance reached the underbelly of the ship at last, he used Manus' axe to strike at the hull repeatedly. Eventually he made a small hole. He kept hacking away until the whole was big enough for Manus to fit through. He could see a few surprised Mutradi troops standing inside. "We're goin' in!" he cried. "Get ready!" They each flew into the hole at that Lance had made, ready to face their first wave of enemies.
Baron, meanwhile, was growing panicked, unsure of how to deal with this sudden predicament.
"Baron, they've entered the ship!" A Mutradi cried.
"I know that!" He replied. "Uh...You and the others stay here and defend the control deck if they come in here, and I'll go see if I can't take any of them out!" he shouted, running down the corridors of the Battle Station.
"I'm coming for you, Lance," Baron said under his breath. To him, settling an old score was more important than ensuring that the Battle Station was defended.
Upon arriving inside the ship, the trio discovered that dozens of Mutradi foot soldiers were waiting for them. Some of the beasts fired their guns, others tackled, and still others used their fists. They piled on our three Galalunans like flies to a corpse. Ilana fired as many lasers in the crowd as she could; delivering kicks here and there on the occasional Mutradi which dared to ambush her. Lance swung his axe left and right, hoping to slash at whatever came his way. But then he remembered that the princess was the one they were going for. Or were they going for all of them? Octus did his part, too, wrapping his gel around as many foes as he could and firing his powerful electric blasts. He realized they were getting nowhere. Time for a solution, Octus thought. He wrapped his gel around Manus and Corus like a bubble, ejecting out any Mutradi that he accidentally caught in with them. Lance and Ilana were surprised to see Octus' "head", along with their robots, inside a twenty-foot blue bubble. He had formed "gel bubbles" to protect them before; they didn't know he could make one that big. Octus connected his cables on the inside walls of the bubble, sending electricity coursing through its outer edges. Octus then moved his bubble along with Lance and Ilana. The electrified sphere dashed through the corridors of the ship at breakneck speed. The Mutradi had no time to react. Some were smashed against the front of the bubble, their bodies being fried with so much electricity. Ilana turned away from the charred bodies, but Lance looked on indifferently, his eyes trying to process the rapidly changing scenery in the hallway. As Octus moved along the hallway at blinding speed, Lance thanked his robot ally, straining his voice to be heard over the sounds of crackling electricity.
"Thanks, Octus! Now that you've taken a good portion of Mutradi, could you drop me and Ilana off at the main power source of the ship?" he asked.
"That would be right...over...here," said Octus, suddenly coming to a complete stop. They were next to the entrance of a door. Octus spat them out. "You two have fun," he joked, speeding away to the control room, still an electrified bubble. Lance and Ilana turned their armors back on and burst through the door. They found a large, silver room, along with plenty of Mutradi waiting for them. They attacked, and Lance and Ilana fought them off. Lance fired his missiles and guns on Mutradi at a distance, while simultaneously hacking away others with his axe at close quarters. Ilana fired her laser blasts at every position in the room. She formed a force field around herself to charge her white laser. She turned off her force field as it fired itself at her foes. Mutradi were killed instantly. But they continued to stream from the door at the far end of the room, showing no signs of major loss of numbers. Lance and Ilana used their robots' jets to fly to the other side of the room. Mutradi attacked and slashed and shot at them from all sides. But our teenagers didn't give up. They fought through, struggling to get to the next door. They fled down another hallway, the Mutradi at their heels. Ilana turned on Corus's targeting computer. "The shield generator's on the next door on the left!" she said.
"Great. I'll help you get inside, and then you're on your own. I'll hold off the Mutradi around here before looking for the power source for the jets, but only for a little while. You be careful, ok?" he warned.
"Don't worry, Lance," she said. "I'm not just some damsel in distress. I can take care of myself," she replied. Was she smiling underneath the Corus armor? Lance couldn't tell. He thought briefly of how their relationship to each other had changed in the past: before, he only cared about the mission, like he usually did now. But then he had discovered some of the nicer things on Earth: girls, music, and how to keep hope alive when all seemed lost. He recalled that once, waking up at 2 am one night, he had dreamt about her. But he couldn't remember much of it. Kristen wasn't there, he remembered, and neither was his dad. All he remembered was that Ilana was there, smiling.
Then he and Ilana opened the door and encountered the Mutradi inside the small, ovular room. It had a few panels with random flashy buttons, but the main thing there was a small yellow orb suspended by some weird energy flowing into it as it floated inside a metal tube. Ilana fired her white laser at the Mutradi in the room, sweeping it across the walls and floor. The generator was unfazed, but the Mutradi fell like a house of cards. Lance turned off his armor and watched from just outside, admiring that the princess could clear a room of enemies by herself.
"That was pretty cool," Lance said casually, slightly embarrassed by speaking his mind.
"Thanks," she said as she turned around, turning off her armor briefly. Lance stared at her smiling face a few seconds, then, remembering his objective, gave a salute to Ilana and ran down the corridor, activating his armor as he left her presence.
"Good luck," Ilana said when he had gone. For reasons that she wouldn't understand until later in life, she added the words, "My soldier."
Lance flew with his jets over to the rear of the ship. That was obviously where he could cut off the jets, the engine, and maybe the power generator. If he could do that, the ship would be dead in the air. As thoughts and ideas raced in his brain he fought off the hundreds of Mutradi that swarmed him. He fired missiles into the crowd, hoping to kill a few before they even reached him. But they still came. From other hallways, from rooms, some caught him by surprise. How many are here, he thought as sliced away at as many as he could with his axe. They leapt at his armor from all sides; Lance could barely shake them off. He just had to keep moving, flying through the corridors with jets until he reached the end, firing his machine guns to brush off the ones that had attached themselves to him. Then, he saw it: a medium-sized door at the end of the hallway, with strange characters on it. Lance assumed it was written in Mutradi some Mutradi language. He had heard a few speak in their strange language before. Lance crashed into the door, ignoring the Mutradi that were in the room, operating the jets and maintaining the engine. Lance used his axe and the guns of Manus to kill them all in seconds. Lance knew he didn't have much time. Mutradi would be pouring in here in minutes. Lance checked his surroundings. The door he had entered from led into a small platform that served as a control deck for engine and the power generator. A mass of bizarre devices, switches, and buttons were just in front of him. The platform itself that was supporting him and the panels with all the strange buttons and switches overlooked a network of conveyer belts, which were carrying some clumps of weird rocks to a massive furnace in the back of the room, which cast an orange glow. Lance quickly realized that whatever mineral was being burnt here was being used as fuel for the Battle Station's jets. He fired a few missiles at the conveyer belts, rendering them useless. The ship's jets should stop working eventually, he thought as he smashed the control panels on the deck. Everything gained an eerie silence the moment he finished. Lance suddenly grew suspicious as he realized that the Mutradi should have apprehended him by now. They were certainly aware of his location, along with Ilana's and Octus'. Then, his armor began to flash as he received a message from Octus. He answered it.
"Octus, what is it?" Lance asked.
"Did you shut off the jets of the Battle Station?" He asked.
"Yeah, but how come it's not sinking?"
"I checked into that. The ship has anti-gravity chargers housed inside its outer hull; we can't destroy those without taking down the entire ship, so we'll have to destroy it using Titan after Ilana takes out the shield generator."
"Okay," Lance replied. Then something struck him as odd. "Wait...those anti-gravity things you mentioned...the Mutradi don't know how to make those. That was invented by Galalunans just before the coup," Lance pointed out.
"Yes, I was going to inform you of the analysis I have gained from the ship's computers," Octus said. "I have concluded that this could have been a joint project between them and any Galalunans that betrayed the King," Octus said. "Therefore, I advise you to be on the lookout for anyone on this ship wearing a Galalunan uniform. There is a high chance that they will be hostile."
"Would they...hurt Ilana?" Lance asked, dreading the painfully obvious answer.
"...We must take it under consideration," the robot replied. Before Lance could respond, he turned off communications. Refocusing on the mission Lance whipped out his axe to destroy the control panel in front of him. But then, a voice spoke behind him:
"Now Lance, we can't you have destroying everything we've worked so hard to achieve, can we?"
Lance turned off his armor and turned around in shock. There stood a white haired young man who had grown a small beard since Lance last saw him. "Baron?!"
"Surprised? We haven't seen each other in so long," Baron said in a bitterly sarcastic tone that made Lance briefly considers spitting in his face. "You've grown quite a bit, it seems. How's your dad? Still dead, I hope?" Baron continued, his face a hideous grin.
"Shut up, Baron!" Lance yelled, taking a step forward. He remembered to restrain himself. If he was too angry at him to think, he'd have no chance against his old rival in combat, which they both knew was inevitable. "What are you doing here, anyway?"
"Guess".
"Are you...with the Mutradi?" Lance said, his voice wavering. Baron nodded. Lance growled quietly before giving his response.
"I knew you were a total jerk to me, but this is just low, even for you! Joining the Mutradi!" Said Lance disgustingly. No wonder he hadn't seen Baron during the coup! Lance had a feeling that he wasn't the mastermind behind this. But Lance couldn't think about that right now. He had a score to settle. "Alright, Baron, talk; who do you answer to now?"
"Okay, I will," he replied, chuckling. "I proudly serve the man who controls the Mutradi; the man who was abandoned by our own so called 'king' several years ago. The same guy that busted us for fighting in Manus robots. Have I given you enough hints yet?" Baron asked, still grinning maliciously as ever.
"General...Modula?" Lance asked. "But...he's been dead ever since he, the King and the others went on that expedition to Mutrad! The King told me that he saw him die, and..."
"Wrong!" Exclaimed Baron. "Our General has been the one sending you those Mutradi Mega-beasts- the giant monsters-ever since you came here! I'll tell you the progress we made so far: After taking the castle, the King and all the people who stayed by him-that is, everyone still alive-all ran and hid underground. His so called 'Majesty' divided what was left of his people in three different armies, each accompanied by a few tenacious civilians. When we took over pretty much the whole planet, they held out in their cute little 'resistance' areas. Well, it wasn't long before we overran one of the 'armies', which we greatly outnumbered, by the way, and we took all the civilians as prisoners. The General needs people to serve and obey him, after all. We haven't found the King yet, but it shouldn't take us too long. So, tell me, how's Ilana doing? She still single?" he asked mockingly.
"The princess is none of your concern!" Lance shouted, turning on his armor. Baron responded by doing the same.
"It's too bad that neither your dad nor precious little princess are gonna get to watch as I kill you," Baron said nonchalantly.
"Enough talking, Baron!" Lance said, unsheathing his sword. And so their battle in the engine room began, with the only witnesses a small unit of Mutradi that had just appeared from the doorway to watch the spectacle.