A/N: This takes place concurrently with the story "Drastic Measures", and both take place after the movie The Last Starfighter.

Xur Checks In

Alex Rogan, an 18 year-old human from a little trailer park near a California desert had a record high score on a video game as his only notable accomplishment in life. Through some amazing adventures he left Earth and went on to save the hundreds of worlds located within the Star League's area of space. His story has already been told.

Centauri was an alien, and disguised as a human designed and distributed a video game that was really a test for the skills necessary to become a pilot of a gunstar, the chosen fighter of the Star League. After Alex's success, he went on to develop more games for other beings in order to recruit more pilots. His story has also been told.

Xur was the son of Enduran, the Star League Council member. Banished from the worlds of the Star League after he and his followers attempted to formulate a takeover of Rylos, he aligned himself with the war-like Ko-Dan and with their armada penetrated the Frontier energy barrier that kept the League safe from those who wished to conquer the peaceful assembly of worlds. The invading armada was destroyed by Alex Rogan and his navigator Grig shortly after Xur fled in a small escape pod.

This IS his story.

"Fools!" Xur paced across the room as he vented his seemingly endless rage. "It was the perfect plan! I alone held the secret to penetrating the Frontier. We succeeded, but their gross incompetence doomed the attack. The loss of Commander Kril and his armada was the price the Ko-Dan emperor paid for not allowing me complete control of the operation."

Xur's Rylan assistant and audience of one listened nervously. It was he that had planted the explosive that destroyed the Rylan's defensive computers and allowed the Ko-Dan to wipe out all the Star League's squadron of gunstar ships save one, which Grig had been working on in a separate section of the base. Yurin knew that the report informing Xur of the existence of one last starfighter pilot had been interrupted; in his haste Xur had assumed the report would conclude with the pilot's death. Yurin also knew that Xur's zeal often caused him to act rashly instead of with complete planning and care.

Mostly, Yurin knew that he had best keep these thoughts to himself lest Xur find a new assistant after the demise of his current one.

"It is unfortunate," Xur went on while fondling his scepter "but at least we still have people sympathetic to our cause. The Ko-Dan were chosen because they were powerful and our interests were...related. Now we shall have to continue the struggle internally. And the first order of business is to repay the last starfighter for his interference. Do we still have the location information the Zando-Zan hitbeast relayed?"

Yurin responded "We do; this Alex Rogan came from an uncivilized planet called Earth. We have the coordinates of his housing community, and therefore the location of his closest family and friends. Earth is a non-member of the Star League, and it hasn't even achieved serious spaceflight yet."

"Excellent. All the advantage is ours; let us impress upon Alex Rogan that delaying my coronation as Emperor of Rylos has consequences." He touched a stud on the scepter and a spring-loaded spike thrust from the end. "Let us see where this so-called mighty warrior comes from."

...

Louis Rogan was nothing like his older brother. Even accounting for the age difference, the 10 year-old was loud where his brother was quiet; rude instead of polite, short even for his age, and claimed several friends while Alex was known as being more of a loner.

Early in the morning Jane Rogan, Alex's mother, arose and looked out over the Starlite, Starbrite trailer park where she lived and managed the community. Her gaze went upward to the sky, wondering how her son and his girlfriend were doing out there somewhere. Sighing, she went back in and sat down on her sofa. Reaching over to the low table in front, she pushed the button that still had a note stuck to it that read "push me". The button was part of a small circular metal ball about the size of a basketball. Two panels swung open as they had the dozen or so times she had already initiated the process. A recessed screen lit and started playing a video recording. The face of her son filled the screen.

Hi Ma. Things are going great here! I wish that we could talk real time but Earth doesn't have the technology to be able to hook up on your end. Maggie says hi to everyone

At this point the young woman's face pushed the boy's out of frame while she waved at the camera.

and we want everyone to know we miss them very much. Grig says hello to everyone too, but he's not here right now to do it in person. We're still getting the school organized, and in the meantime I've been seeing a few of the other planets out there. Mom, you would not believe it unless you saw it with your own eyes. I may not have been able to go to the university, but this is an education I couldn't get anywhere else. I better wrap it up; I have a meeting with some potential instructors in a few minutes. Can you imagine it, me running a school? Anyway, hello to everyone there and I hope Jack Blake got his truck replaced after Beta blew it up; show this to everyone that wants and I'll send another later when I get more time. Love you all!

The camera pulled back and Alex and Maggie waved while they said their goodbyes. The video ended and the screen shut off, followed by the panels swinging shut again.

Jane held herself tightly. My son the astronaut, she thought to herself. Or whatever they call them up there. She heard voices from outside and looked out the window. Her younger son Louis and his friend Wil, along with another boy she couldn't remember the name of, were walking along the road back to the trailer park while talking excitedly among themselves. Louis split off from the others and made his way to the front door.

"Louis, where have you been?" Jane asked as he walked through.

"Nowhere. Why, how long have you been looking for me?" he evaded.

"I haven't been looking for you…yet. How long have you been gone nowhere?"

"Not long."

"Louis Harold?" Jane asked as she as she drew out the name. When mothers use the middle name, they mean business.

'Me and Wil and Snapper went for a walk."

"Snapper? You mean George?" Now she remembered the other boy's name.

"No one calls him George, Mom. We went to go see something."

"What something?" Talking to Louis was like donning the robes of an inquisitor; you had to define, refine and confine the questions or you didn't get any useful information.

"That crash we heard last night. We got an early start to go see what it was."

"How early?"

"Uh…eleven."

Jane looked at the clock. It showed six fifteen in the morning. "You snuck out of bed last night?"

"Never went to bed 'cause I know that's against the rules. We just waited until everyone was asleep and then we left. It was just down the road anyway, over by Benny's Hill."

Benny's Hill was down the road all right…four miles. "You went all the way to the Hill and back again in the middle of the night?"

"Ah, it wasn't the middle of the night; the sun was already up before we got back. Besides, we didn't get to see much anyway. Mr. Hobson ran us off when he saw us."

Mr. Mark Hobson was a government man. Just what part of the government no one had found out for sure, but ever since the incident with the alien bounty hunters and Alex making a quick visit in the gunstar the man had been hanging around the area. The trouble was he didn't know what to believe. Two young people missing along with a cop, a burned out hulk that might have been a ship and whose hull the metallurgists still couldn't identify and a big melted spot in the trailer park's parking lot. The scant evidence seemed to match the testimony of the residents, but he sensed there was something they weren't telling him.

He was right. The residents hadn't mentioned the communication messenger yet, knowing that the government would seize it and they would lose their link with Alex. The included instructions on the sphere told how to record a message and initiate a return trip to Rylos which they had done once already.

"So what did you see in the dark anyway?"

"It wasn't really dark; they had big lights over the whole area. You know how they have the whole hill covered in green tarps right now for killing bugs? It looks like a spaceship tried to land on the side of the Hill and rolled down until it got all busted up on the bottom and there was a body they pulled out that had bones on its head and everything then they put a sheet over it and we tried to get closer but Snapper dropped his canteen and it made noise and we tried to move but Mr. Hobson found us and had us escorted to the road and then while he was going to have somebody drive us back we ran off and then walked the rest of the way back and I think Snapper needs a new canteen now."

Outside, a door slammed and someone saying "Gonna be a sparklin' day" could be heard coming from another trailer. Otis Davis had come out, and was calling his hound dog to come get his breakfast. The hound dog, called Mr. President although no one knew what administration was being honored with the name, lumbered from under the porch and stretched before putting his face in the bowl. Since the departure of Alex, the retired Otis was now the official repairman for the trailer park. He listened carefully for any calls for help shouted out of windows. With a patchwork electrical grid and a plumbing system just slightly more advanced than the Roman aqueduct, any morning could bring anguished cries for emergency repairs. Most of Otis was glad Alex had found a calling away from the trailers, but a small part still wished the boy was around to work his wonders on the utilities of the residents.

…

Xur could not believe his display. Yurin had reported that his landing craft was heading for a large green field to set down and prepare for Xur's arrival in a few hours after everything was checked out. Communication was interrupted, followed by complete loss of telemetry. Using the scanners, Xur searched the landing area and found the crumpled craft a short distance away; the imbecile mistook steeply sloped terrain for flat.

No matter, he would just announce himself by landing at the cluster of buildings before he took care of business.

Having given up on Yurin, Xur made preparations for landing. He examined his assault suit made especially for him by the Ko-Dan. With the helmet on it could be used in vacuum or the most noxious atmospheres; he was confident the hyper-metallic plating could withstand any projectile weapons this planet had to offer short of a cannon. . This plating was at the cost of agility, but he would not be running after the landing; it was the natives who would be running and his particle weapon would be enough to find their backsides. Suit batteries were at full, his hand weapon was charged, and all ship defensive functions were normal. If for any reason he failed to return to the ship within three hours of disembarking, it would seal up and fly back into orbit to await his signal.

…

Clarence Boone tried another cast into the bucket in the parking lot. An avid fly fisherman since his retirement, he was trying a new technique Bill Porter had told him about. He had told his wife Jessie he was going out to practice; with her Walkman thumping she waved goodbye as she continued to weed a flowerbed. He hiked up the slope to the parking lot adjacent to the general store and set up his equipment. After a few tries he got better, and shortly after had to admit it was an improvement over his old technique; he might thank Bill later, and then again he might not. As he was ready to try and hit the bucket for a third consecutive cast, the wind rose suddenly and his bucket fell over as a roar came from the sky. Looking up, he saw a spaceship landing and ran back under cover of the store's patio.

Others came running as well, crowding together under the patio's awning. The ship was a different design than the one Alex had arrived in, and they hesitated to rush toward it. After several minutes of hisses, cracks and pops a door opened in the side of the craft. Xur walked down the ramp and stood at the foot of craft.

Louis ran toward the craft. "Alex, what the hell have you…" but never finished the question as Xur raised his weapon and fired. The shot landed in front of Louis, digging up asphalt and throwing bits toward him, peppering him and the crowd with pavement.

"Shit!" yelled Louis as he turned and ran for his bedroom. The others variously yelled and screamed as they ran for cover as well.

"Hear me, Earth people! Alex Rogan may have stopped the Ko-Dan armada, but he will never stop me! I Xur, the mighty future ruler of Rylos, will take pity upon any who wish to pay tribute to me now; I promise I will be merciful and kill you quickly."

Nobody took him up on his offer, but from the distance he heard a woman's voice. "Alex took care of your friends, and he'll take care of you too!" boasted Clara Parks out her window. She had pulled her .38 special from the top drawer of her dresser and waited; her late husband had showed her how to care for the weapon, and although she hadn't fired it in fifteen years it was well cleaned and oiled.

"Then I shall hunt you all down and kill you one by one. The hero of Earth will have no home to come back to" Xur vowed.

"You'll have to catch us first" taunted Wil from downhill. He ducked into an old building that was used as a common restroom just in time to dodge a shot from Xur, who moved down the slope toward the building. As he entered, Wil ducked out the back and kicked the pipes, which rattled the plumbing and broke the rusty fitting in the line that led to the septic tank.

Vapors from excretions past filled the room, driving Xur from the building. "You cannot poison me," he coughed "but it will be nothing compared to the stench of your defeat." His eyes continued to water as he tripped over Mr. President. The hound dog, who ironically had no sense of smell, was unaffected by the odor of the sewer and had been napping nearby. He ran off as Xur stumbled over him, leaving the alien to look around for a target.

He heard a squeaking sound and trained his weapon, firing. A little windmill turning in the breeze took a direct hit, exploding into pieces. Xur continued in that direction, and when he stood beside the decoration a head popped up out of a window across the way. "My late husband made that!" Clara yelled as she fired her .38 at the alien. She had postponed her cataract surgery for the third time last week trying to find a doctor that "knew his head from a hole in the ground", and as a result her aim was off and the shot glanced off Xur's shoulder and took out a line leading from a hot water solar panel. Hot water poured out of the broken pipe, showering Xur in near-steaming liquid.

"Argh!" he yelled as he stepped aside. "Good try, but I've had hotter winters on Rylos." His newly red skin and blisters suggested otherwise.

Suddenly his weapon flew out of his hand. As it skittered down the street, Bill Porter reeled in his prize. The inaccuracy he showed during Vietnam bombing runs was gone as he expertly snagged the weapon and drew it down the drive. Xur followed clumsily down the way after his gun. He caught up to it and stepped on it to halt its progress; Bill pulled hard but the lighter weight fishing line snapped. Xur snatched the weapon from the ground and quickly dusted it off; checking the settings, he prepared to level it at Bill.

"Leave him alone you hooligan!" Granny Gordon yelled. Maggie's grandmother was reliant on no one, and didn't take guff from anyone. Anyone who called her by her given name of Grendil earned her wrath and a thorough chewing out.

Invading aliens really pissed her off.

With a click she pulled back the hammer and fired. Both barrels of her 12 gauge shotgun emptied, blasting into Xur. No fool, Clara had thought to brace the stock against the wall to keep control of the gun. The Rylan reeled back from the force of the blast even though the slugs impacting his armor caused no damage. His momentum carried him into the electrical box of resident Elvira Hartford.

Elvira's electrical box was considered by Otis to be the eighth wonder of the world. Patched and repatched for the better part of thirty years, rarely a week would go by without a spark and the smell of ozone emanating from the miracle of creative maintenance. Elvira would start hyperventilating at the thought of missing her soap operas, initiating an emergency response from the maintenance staff bordering on a natural disaster reaction.

The electrical field of the control box embraced Xur's hyper-metallic suit with all the vigor of a person whose spouse has just returned unharmed from the war. Currents wrapped themselves around the Rylan, playing across the surface and down into the suit where his water-soaked body and clothes waited. The entire grid of the trailer park joined in the reunion, and lit Xur up like a Christmas tree for a short time until finally the system overloaded and burned out a transformer along the roadway. Xur no longer looked confident and smug; the look frozen on his face was not of rage, but surprise for possibly the first time in his life. It was also the last time of his life, as most of him could only be described as 'well-done'. It was ironic that the only part that remained identifiable afterward was his unprotected head.

…

Alex and Maggie relaxed in their quarters while listening to some music and watching a Rylan sunset through the large picture window when the communicator chimed. "Excuse me Starfighter Rogan, but the message drone from Earth has arrived. Would you like it sent in now?" a voice asked.

A message from home. "Sure, bring it on in" he responded. He turned to Maggie. "I hope everything is okay at home. Sometimes I worry if the place can get along without us."

"Oh Alex, they'll be fine. It will be good to see a familiar face though."

The door opened and a secretary entered and deposited the drone on the table and left. Alex and Maggie sat in front of the device and started the video.

Hi Alex, it's Mom. Everything's great here. We had some plumbing and electrical issues recently but I think Otis has it figured out now. Louis is okay, although he's given up wanting to be a pilot and is talking about being something safe like an accountant. We had a little trouble with a visitor from another planet, but Granny took care of him with her shotgun. I think he had the same name as that guy in the video game, Zoor or something. Anyway, the diner's been really busy the last few days with all the reporters and government people showing up so I better go. Love you kids, Bye!

The video ended and the two stared at each other in disbelief.

The End

A/N: I took care of Centauri's actions after the movie, but I still needed to tidy up Xur's whereabouts. I thought I could take care of the Louis character (who I really disliked) and at the same time show the trailer park community working together. I wanted to call it "The Battle of Starlite, Starbrite" but didn't want to give too much away and "Xurlite, Xurbrite" would have been too much a pun on his ending.