I do not own any Disney characters named herein, and am only borrowing them to tell a nonprofit tale meant for entertainment purposes only.
Kim Possible: When The Wind Blows
By LJ58
6
War-Hammer was standing on the bridge with Kim and Captain War-Stone, who had still not stopped staring incredulously at the small woman of late.
Of course, to be honest, he had been more than astonished that the Great Blue had managed to return not only a hand to the captain's mate, but an eye. He had heard the tales of Warmonga being healed, of course, but as they said; 'Seeing was believing.'
They could have been claiming anything when Warmonga came to them at the start. But knowing Bludclaw, and knowing the woman's long, and bitter shame after their defeat, it was stunning to see her hand replaced, and a very real eye where none had been before meeting the small Flame-Hair.
The Great Blue.
Of that, War-Hammer no longer had any doubt.
"So, you've never been on a true hunt, then," War-Hammer was asking Kim as they stood near the view screen that showed the expanse of stars that were growing thicker and thicker as they neared the inner quadrants where more life existed in their galaxy.
"Well, not a Lorwardian hunt," Kim admitted, knowing Warmonga had been trying to get her to go hunting with her for years, and every time they landed on a new planet.
"Well, that is not good," the warrior told her with a grin. "You must be blooded at least once before you can call yourself a true warrior. I jest, of course," the big man grinned, strangely relaxed about speaking with her in spite of the fact the captain, and his crew continued the bellowing of their names without pronouns for the most part.
"Warmonga keeps telling me that, too," Kim admitted. "Only we've yet to find a quarry she deems worthy of me."
"I understand," War-Hammer grinned. "A warrior's first hunt is more than ritual, or rite. It's a memory that lives with them forever. It is when a warrior finds their true name, and their place before the emperor's court."
"Well, I already have a name…."
"I happen to know that, and understand not all peoples of our Great Maker follow the same path, little Flame-Hair," he grinned at her. "Still, when you eventually come to stand before the emperor himself, don't you think it will be made easier if you stand before him as a true Lorwardian, in name, and manner?"
"You've been talking to Warmonga," she suspected.
"No. War-Hammer just knows his little blood-beast is a good Lorwardian. So I know what it is she would be teaching you," he grinned.
"Right. So, why do you call her…..that," Kim asked. "Is that some kind of….pet name?"
"Something like that. It is an amusing story, too. Perhaps…."
"Kim," Wade shouted from the navigation station just then. "We've got trouble."
"Define trouble," Warstone demanded. "The Claw is more than capable of….."
"Asteroid field. A big one! And this ship doesn't have shielding over the engines, which means one hit….."
"We simply go around such obstacles. Not through," the captain huffed.
Kim stared at the screens before her, saw the approaching mass of debris they were headed toward, and something glittered in her green eyes, turning them golden for a moment.
"No, we stay on course."
"Kim!"
"Great Blue," the captain frowned now. "Surely you understand the warning your escort has voiced? Even the Claw cannot safely….."
"We stay on course," Kim stated bluntly, and Wade grimaced, but turned back to his current station as the captain clenched the arms of his chair.
"I assume you have a reason for this apparent madness?"
"Vacation is over. It's time we got to work," Kim told Wade.
"Man, I hate when she says that," Wade complained when Kim simply turned, and left the bridge.
"This is…..trouble," War-Hammer asked him, glancing after Kim.
"Trust me, Big Guy," Wade told him, working with the ship's controls he was still learning after several weeks of comparing them to the salvaged tech that had helped build their own ship. "When Kim says it's time to go to work, it's always trouble."
Warstone eyed the screens, and the navigational readouts, and then barked, "Full frontal screens, and activate all energy guns, especially on the stern, port and starboard sides. Collision alarm," he shouted even as huge boulder rolled right across their view screen, narrowly missing the nose of the ship.
The klaxon filled the ship with sound as the crew reacted instantly. Those less familiar with the sound could only react more slowly, but Shego, having been counting the days as she tried to make herself relax after Kim's earlier warning a few weeks ago, only dropped her head, shaking it.
"Shego," Ann asked as she caught sight of her, and ran up the corridor from the medical bay. "What is going on? What happened?"
"Trust me, Ann. You don't want to know. Seen Kimmie?"
"She's on the bridge," Ann told her.
"You better get back to medical. Something tells me we may be needing you guys soon."
"Shego….!"
Shego ran for the bridge, and wondered just what was coming this time. Because if she had learned anything, it was Kim still tended to understate things. Usually right before something huge blew up right in your face.
KP
He almost vomited in pain and nausea as the escape capsule tumbled unchecked through the void of space as the explosion blew it even further from the expanding wreckage of his doomed ship.
Johan DeMenz had barely had time to hit the button that sealed, and ejected his life pod before the entire ship had exploded around him. Whatever the former buffoon had used, it had been powerful. Powerful enough to short out half the systems in his escape pod, which left him tumbling blind, and helpless through space.
Ordinarily, he would have seen that as simply another challenge for his monumental intellect to overcome.
Likely with ease, he felt, confident in his innate superiority.
Still, he was rather handicapped just then, as he still had that annoying ninja's knife buried dangerously close to his spine in his lower back. His current jostling did not help him as he sagged in his chair, the straps just tight enough to keep him from flailing any more than he had.
First thing was first. He steeled himself, and reached behind him, fumbling until he found the hilt of the blade still extending from the back of his chair.
He grimaced, and taking a deep breath, jerked it out.
His howl of pain would have deafened anyone had they been there to hear it.
He woke sometime later, still strapped to his chair, and eyeing the blade still clutched in one hand. He had not even realized he had passed out, but obviously he had.
The long, slender dagger was honed to a fine point, and he imagined returning it to Stoppable some day, with interest.
Still, if nothing else, he now knew that the former sidekick was no longer interested in prisoners. He wanted him dead.
Who knew ninja took things so personally? Honestly, it was all just business. Couldn't that buffoon see that? He swore again, then focused his attention on the panel before him.
Enough time had passed that the auxiliary systems had rebooted, and he quickly tapped in override codes, and restabilized the pod before he took his bearings. Whatever else, he needed to get medical attention next, or he was still going to be in trouble.
He checked his navigational array, and frowned.
"Not good," he said, seeing he was just about to Mars, and very far from any other help.
He put his current circumstances from his mind, and considered his options.
"Not good," he said again.
He felt the blood pooling behind him in the seat, and grimaced as he considered his rapidly dwindling options.
He considered a failsafe he had brought along just for an extreme emergency, and realized just then it might well be his only chance to survive. Only first, he had to get to Mars, and stay alive long enough to activate his ploy.
He shifted in his seat, tapping a button on his flight suit that tightened around his torso, creating a near pneumatic seal around his body, and prayed it would keep him from bleeding out. At least, long enough for him to reach his destination, and put his failsafe into operation.
For now, all he could do was fight the pain nagging at him, and hope he could live long enough to reach Mars.
Just then, it was, ironically, his only chance to survive.
KP
"Impact," Warstone tried not to shout as the ship shuddered violently, and a klaxon went off as the people on the bridge shared a grim look.
War-Hammer said nothing, and just clung to a rail on the side of the bridge, waiting to see what would happen.
"Multiple breaches," Bludclaw told her battle-mate, her big fingers dancing over the controls as Wade just looked grim, and continued to work at his own station.
"Raising interior force screens now," the young genius reported as Shego came onto the bridge, and almost ended up thrown off her feet when the entire ship suddenly seemed far less stable. "Hopefully, they'll help."
"We're now passing through the heart of the debris field," James turned to tell them. "If we can last the next four minutes, we will be through the worst of it," he reported.
"Seal all interior bulkheads, and reinforce the airlocks," Warstone ordered. "Small one," he called Wade. "Can you extend your screens throughout the interior bulkheads?"
"Working on that one now," Wade told him. "But we lost one of the main fusion generators, and we're already down to half power. It's going to be hard….."
The entire ship shuddered again, and Shego rose to struggle over to Kim's side who had just returned, and rasped, "Your mom is back in medical."
"She's okay," Kim told her. "I'm just not sure about the cargo hold."
"Who…..?"
"I sent Warmonga back with three warriors to secure our ship," Kim told her as War-Hammer glanced her way without comment.
"Direct hit on the port side of the cargo bay," Wade reported just then. "I have no cameras, or screens down there," he admitted. "So I can't pinpoint any damage. Trying to reroute power through the ship's sentry-bots now," he said.
"Princess," Shego rasped.
"I don't know," Kim hissed, Shego only then noting the sweat that drenched her brow. "I'm just trying to keep us all alive," she told her.
"You said…."
"I said you'd be fine. I can't be sure about anyone else just now," she admitted. "But we had…. Have to do this," she said. "It was necessary."
Shego looked grim, and said nothing as she put a hand on her slender shoulder.
"Should I go check….?"
"You should stay with me," Kim told her. "Right here. With me," she echoed, and kept her eyes focused ahead on something only she could see.
"Major asteroidal body directly ahead," James suddenly shouted. "And we don't have enough firepower to destroy it."
"Turn us….."
"No," Kim told the captain, clenching her fists. "Straight ahead," she countered the captain. "It's the fastest, and safest way out of this mess."
"But, Great Blue….!"
"Continuing full ahead," Bludclaw said, glancing back to nod firmly at her.
Warstone eyes his mate, and nodded back at her, still shocked at seeing that perfect eye back in her face, and the hand that seemed so astonishly real on her wrist.
"Full ahead," he echoed.
"Kimmie-Cub," her father rasped, "I know they fixed my heart, but right now….."
"Dad," she hissed. "Fire all remaining canons at the upper right corner of that rock… Now," she told him.
"Firing," James shouted, and tensed as the blazing bursts of light flashed out to focus on the side of the tumbling stone.
To everyone's shock, the burst sent it tumbling to their right with just literal inches to spare as they scraped past its lower left horizon.
"Good gravy, that was close," James Possible exclaimed with feeling.
Warstone simply stared, his eyes round, and incredulous. War-Hammer even actually looked paler than usual.
"Two more minutes to clear the field," James reported.
"Okay, I've got the cargo bay insulated, but I still don't know what happened down there," Wade told them. "With the sentry-bots focused on generating force screens to seal the breaches, I couldn't spare anything for video."
"Focus on the hull," Kim told him somberly. "Whatever has happened, has already happened. "Captain, twenty degrees to port, and head for the planet you see just ahead."
"Planet…..?"
The captain gaped as the ship cleared the maze of asteroids, and stared at the huge, brown planet that was now just to their left. Around it, two massive moons circled, and they were just as brown. Only one looked as if it were surrounded by a haze of gray clouds.
"They already destroyed one of their own lunar colonies," Kim murmured more to herself than not. "This may be trickier than I thought."
"They," Shego asked.
"The people we came to help."
"Who need to help us," Shego reminded her.
"Yes. As I said, this may be tricky. Dad, see the central continent?"
"Yes, Kim," James said, Wade working on keeping the ship moving, and in one piece as he and Bludclaw now focused on getting them down in one piece.
"Ignore it. We want to orbit one half turn, and land on the larger island off the eastern coastline of that continent."
"How can you be certain where…?"
The captain trailed off as he realized Kim's eyes were literally glowing with white light.
"I just know," she said in an eerie tone. "This will be a rough landing. Alert everyone on board."
Warstone glanced at her, and saw Shego looking even paler than usual, too.
"This is Captain Warstone," he quickly barked into his ship's COM link, hoping it still worked. "We are going down. All crew, prepare for emergency landing now," he ordered as War-Hammer took a seat now, and strapped himself down.
"We should get to the emergency suits…."
"We can breathe the air," Kim told Wade. "Just get us down in one piece," Kim urged him.
"Let me guess. You are seeing things again?"
"Yes," she told Wade, who had yet to look back to see her glowing eyes.
"Then why did we not just avoid…..?"
"This step is necessary," Kim said in her eerie tone again. "From here, the Great Blue either rises, or fails."
"Here," Shego asked, still holding onto her shoulder.
"Here," Kim said, and kept staring ahead of her without seeming to see anything around her.
"Here we go," James said, the ship bucking and lurching as they pierced the brown world's upper atmosphere.
"Missiles! Someone is shooting at us," Bludclaw exclaimed.
"They dare fire on an Imperial…..?"
"Ignore them," Kim said, and even as the crew gaped, the missiles seemed to explode long before they reached the ship, or just flew past them to keep going.
More missiles came up from the surface, and again they flew by them, or exploded too soon.
"They may be missing," Wade exclaimed, "But the concussive waves are not helping," he complained.
"Just keep the shields in place," Kim told him, her voice sounding more strained.
"Princess…..?"
"Fighting…..a lot of…probabilities just now," she hissed, and Shego only then realized that now Kim's hands were glowing white, too, and they were clenched so hard her knuckles looked white even without the glow.
"I don't want to know, do I," she grimaced, and put both hands around her former rival, offering the only support she could.
That Kim didn't answer told Shego all she didn't want to know.
"We just lost the starboard engine's main reactor," Bludclaw swore. "Port reactor isn't working too well, either. We're on one quarter power!"
"This is it," James spat. "We're going down!"
"All crew, brace for impact," Warstone shouted just before the ship nosedived abruptly.
To Be Continued….