Loonatics Unleashed:
"Silent Conspiracy"
(This story is post Season Two – after the cartoon series.)
Rated T for Intrigue.
Disclaimer: Loonatics Unleashed, Duck Dodgers in the 24th and ½ Century, Looney Tunes, and all related Characters and Elements are trademarks of Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. Other references, lyrics and quotes belong to their individual artists, authors, copyrights, or trademarks.
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Pink Triangle.
When Tech revved the bike, Lexi instinctively grabbed the coyote around the middle to keep from sliding off the back of the pursuit cycle. There was nothing else to hang on to. The bike looked as if a good half of it had been sheared away, giving the pink hued bunny the distinct impression that Tech's escape had been rocky. She didn't even notice when they left the wormhole and dropped into normal space.
With her hands on the coyote's waist, Lexi felt how terribly thin he was. She could feel Tech's ribs stick out even through his clothes and fur. "Tech? how long have you been out of prison?"
"3 hours, 18 minutes, and 42 seconds," Tech replied, checking his watch. The coyote turned and smiled, showing more sharp, canine teeth than anyone cared to face in a dark alley . . . or in a dark corner of the universe. " . . . and counting."
Only three and a half hours? Lexi's bright green eyes widened. What had happened to Tech in prison that even his molecular regeneration couldn't restore him? The doe bunny squirmed nervously, her rabbit instincts kicking in as she realized that she was out in the interstellar void sharing intimate space with a half-starved predator.
The two anthromorphs' wrist communicators crackled to life and Tech instantly turned on the music player full blast. He wasn't in the mood to talk to his ex-leader. The Loonatics didn't want to talk to him while he was imprisoned; he didn't want to talk to them now. Besides, there was no sense in Ace riling up Lexi. It would be easier if she didn't struggle just yet.
"Now I will tell you what I've done for you: Fifty thousand tears I've cried. Screaming, deceiving and bleeding for you, And you still won't hear me. I'm going under . . . Don't want your hand this time, I'll save myself, Maybe I'll wake-up for once. Not tormented daily, defeated by you . . . Just when I thought I'd reached the bottom. I'm dying again . . . I'm going under . . ."
Lexi clamped her hands to her sensitive ears, but since the music was broadcasting inside her enviro-suit, her action did little to block the loud noise. Lexi hastily reached past Tech to turn down the player. She couldn't hear the coyote's growl, but he clamped a vice-like grip around her wrist and turned her hand aside. Then he relented and dug out a pair of earplugs for the pink toned bunny. The loud music must be murder on her delicate ears.
The pink doe gratefully tucked the earplugs into her ears, reaching through the special transparent faceplate of her enviro-suit to do so. Tech's own design, the faceplate was invisible to an observer, giving the impression of the wearer being exposed to the harshness of whatever environment that he or she was in. In reality, it was an amalgam of solid and energy barriers that allowed the wearer to reach in while preventing their own atmosphere from escaping. The noise level dropped radically. It was a unique experience for the bunny to have the rhythm vibrating through her entire body without it blasting her ears. Now that her ears didn't hurt, she recognized the song, "Going Under," from one of her own, seldom listened to, collections. Effervescence, the same group that she'd been listening to earlier in fact. Tech must have snagged her music player before coming to free the Loonatics from the prison dimension. Lexi had to admit that Gothic Rock seemed uncannily apt, though she could wish for a better selection of travel music. Next in the play list, "Taking Over Me" by the same group started.
"You don't remember me, but I remember you . . .."
The earplugs were a waste. Snarling quietly to himself at his own soft-heartedness, Tech broke a connection in both his and Lexi's wrist communicators . . . opposite to what he had done before while escaping. He couldn't risk Lexi picking up transmissions through the music with her super hearing. There! Ace and the others could receive, and enjoy, the music; but neither Lexi nor he could receive transmissions from the Loonatics.
" . . . I believe in you. I'll give up everything just to find you. I have to be with you to live, to breath . . . You're taking over me. I look in the mirror and see your face, if I look deep enough. So many things inside that just like you are taking over . . .."
Kept from communicating with anyone by the loud music, including the taciturn coyote in front of her, Lexi watched the distant points of light that were the stars of the Clampett galaxy. A crease furrowed her brow. If they were still in a wormhole, wouldn't she be seeing the colorful nebulae and constellations closeup through the distortion of the space-time continuum? She wished she could ask Tech about it, but wondered if he'd answer her even if she could make herself heard.
The Martian armada came into view, a swarm of ships that blacked out the stars. The size of a small moon, the imperial Galactic Death Cruiser dominated the center of the fleet. Multitudes of small, gold and red spherical warships, each hooped with a stabilizer ring, buzzed around the mobile Martian base ship. The armada was still quite far out from Blanc, but even without traveling by wormhole, they would arrive before the pathetic planet's leader saw another dawn.
Weaving their way through the assorted battle crafts, Tech guided the pursuit cycle right up to the Galactic Death Cruiser without once being challenged. Using a subspace control pad, the wily coyote systematically programmed the Martian armada, not only to ignore the tiny pursuit cycle, but to lower its defenses as well. He also kept the Death Cruiser's impenetrable forcefield from going back up behind him. He'd recently come to appreciate exactly how important escape routes could be.
Looking over Tech's shoulder, Lexi watched the genius figuratively walk through the Martians' security. The pink hued bunny realized for the first time just how dangerous the green coyote was. Tech had the cunning to plot this scheme, the knowledge to implement it, and the determination to see it through to the bitter end.
Nervous and uncertain, Lexi nonetheless calmed herself as they slipped into the planetoid-sized Death Cruiser's forward docking bay. As far as she knew, the other Loonatics all went back to Blanc and she was on her own. She also wanted to give Tech the benefit of the doubt. The bunny sincerely hoped that her wayward friend really did want to stop an invasion. But even if he didn't, she had to keep a cool head and watch and wait for her chance.
The Martian's flagship was also docked in the bay. Dwarfed by the Battle Cruiser flagship, Tech parked his pursuit cycle by it nonetheless. Lexi took out the earplugs as Tech turned off the music and they dismounted.
"Intruders make me so angry!" Furious at being infiltrated, Melvin met the anthropomorphic aliens with Sergeant Sirius and a full squad of Centurion robots all armed and aiming at the intruders. "You SHALL be annihilated!"
"Greetings, Melvin, General supreme of Mars' fleet." Tech inclined his head slightly to the short Martian. The ebony, cannonball headed commander wore the same army green, Romanesque helmet and kilt hip armor as when the coyote first encountered him back during Acmetropolis' invasion. "I come bearing a gift."
"Nothing like the last one, I trust?" A dower expression settled in Melvin's blue-grey eyes. The last gift delivered him by members of an alien race had proved quite destructive. The Martian's mechanical dog, also wearing Romanesque helmet and armor, beeped and barked out a reminder. Melvin lowered his gun, but signaled his squad to remain alert. "True, Sergeant Sirius, even though this canid-person was affiliated with that group of aliens at the time, he didn't actually sneak aboard my battle cruiser with the Loonatics."
"No, no, no, nothing like a Trojan horse." Tech smirked, remembering the first Trojan horse that they had delivered to the loose cannon, a literal horse mock-up to smuggle several of the Loonatics into the Martian's ship. The second 'Trojan' he'd delivered was the computer code he'd used to hide his electronic tracks before his arrest. A Trojan was a program that replaced an existing program with it's own version, as opposed to a Worm; a similar code but one that targeted only networks and infected an exploit. Certain that the general was not interested in computer virus subtleties, Tech simply stepped back to reveal Lexi. Time to see if bringing a 'peace offering' was enough to gain him access to the Martian Death Cruiser. "This time I brought 'Helen!'"
"What!?!" The chain that loosely encircled Lexi glowed green and tightened around her. Simultaneously a set of power dampening cuffs, the same ones used to capture the genius in the first place, clipped themselves around her wrists. The doe bunny practically snarled as Tech handed her over to Melvin. The lousy coyote had planned this all along! He'd even painted the cuffs pink! The chain and cuffs forced Lexi's 'cooperation' as Melvin guided her and Tech out of the forward docking bay.
"Oooo, goody! I haven't had a decent game of Celestial Checkers for quite some time." Melvin was glad that the canid-person returned his playmate. Though he did instruct his Centurion robots to relieve the visiting coyote of his weapons . . . for safe keeping, of course. On the way to Queen Tyrr'henia's battle throne room situated in the main bridge, Melvin and Tech chatted about games and gaming strategies, but the stunted Martian's mind wasn't wholly on the conversation. Grannicus had indicated that the Loonatics were dead. It was good that she and her lackey were re-caught. The only one to double cross on a deal, was him!
"You've become quite a hot commodity of late." Melvin commented as he led the alien spy before the Martian queen. "You can tell the quality of a hero by the caliber of his enemies, I always say. It is an honor to have you aboard."
The threesome entered a spacious, red tinted room. A massive throne atop a dais dominated the circular chamber, while several large, vulture-like creatures attended the figure sitting there. Each of the green Martian creatures had the same pink feathered topknot and down-turned beak, making them all look like clones of each other. And each was playing music, fanning the queen, or offering her sweetmeats or other delicacies as befitted her station. Green metallic Centurion robots stood guard around the periphery. Seated on her vermilion throne, the Martian queen ignored the servants around her, more intent on a holographic projection of Mars' holdings. General Melvin stopped at the foot of the dais.
"You will await her majesty's pleasure here," the general instructed Tech. Melvin then motioned the bunny with his gun. He held no delusions; Lexi was here against her will. His Centurions would see to the queen's continued safety. He had a potentially hostile alien to attend to. "Come along, Helen."
"No, Tech! Please!" Lexi struggled against her bonds, but it was no use. "Are you friend or foe?"
"What's the matter, Lexi? Are you xenophobic?" Tech asked coolly.
"Tech! how could you?!" Lexi's voice raised, angry at the betrayal.
"How could I what?" Tech's chill voice turned downright cold. "Betray you? Imprison you with no explanation? Turn my back on you and walk away?"
Tech's words diffused Lexi's anger. She couldn't meet the coyote's eyes, green fire simmering in their depths. That was exactly what the Loonatics had done to him.
Tech's voice pitched lower, sounding as a growl. "I had very good teachers."
As Melvin motioned for Lexi to get moving, Tech's hand glowed green. The coyote recalled the chain binding his ex-teammate and re-wound it around his shoulder. He really ought to keep ferrous material about his person at all times. It helped in subduing adversaries over whom his magnetism normally wouldn't have much hold. Lexi could be Melvin's problem to keep under control. He would stay with the queen.
Tears fill Lexi's eyes and she looked back up at her one time friend. She stammered an apology, but Tech sharply cut her off before her tears could rend his heart. His voice grew rough with emotions that he'd thought dead. "Don't worry about it, Lex. You did what you had to . . . just as I'm doing what I have to now."
Mistaking Tech's gruffness for hate, Lexi lowered her gaze, her tears falling unheeded to the floor. She allowed Melvin to usher her out. After all the little twerp had a gun trained on her. She was still cuffed, and without her powers or her friends, what choice did she have?
Pink Triangle.
"T'anks, Slam." Ace stretched, feeling almost normal again. The ex-wrestler had expertly massaged out the bunny's kinks that he'd gotten in the prison dimension. The leader of the Loonatics turned his attention to the battle fleet before them. Following Tech and Lexi had led them here, but try as they might, they couldn't catch up. Their enviro-suits were just not as fast as the coyote's pursuit cycle. Luckily he'd thought to make Rev promise to stay with the group and not speed ahead. The Loonatic leader didn't want them charging separately into unknown danger.
Rev tapped his leader on the arm to get his attention, then tapped his own wrist with a questioning look on his face. Ace stifled a smile. Ever since Rev broke his communicator, traveling anywhere outside an atmosphere had become much quieter. Still he took the roadrunner's meaning and tuned his own wrist communicator back into Tech's and Lexi's frequencies. When the coyote cranked up the music on his end, the Loonatics had tuned them out for their ears' sake.
**Come along, Helen.**
**No, Tech! Please! Are you friend or foe?**
**What's the matter, Lexi? Are you xenophobic?**
"At least da music's gone." Relief that his ears were spared rapidly dissolved into anger as Ace clued in to what the overheard conversation was about.
Unable to hear what the others heard, Rev nonetheless became alarmed at the expressions of his teammates. What was going on? Man! the speedster hated being cut out of the loop. Especially when he was right there. It was driving him berserk not to be able to hear or talk to his friends. The roadrunner turned his attention to the Martian armada arrayed before them. Since the ships had not responded to their presence, Rev figured that Tech must have sabotaged their security and that it wasn't yet restored. That meant that the impenetrable forcefields that surrounded Martian ships were likely down as well. They could all just walk in.
"So help me, I'll kill him. And when Tech regenerates, I'll kill him again!" Fury blazed bright yellow in Ace's eyes. "He just kidnapped Lexi and turned her over ta de Martians! How could he betray us like dis?"
**How could I what? Betray you? Imprison you with no explanation? Turn my back on you and walk away? . . . I had very good teachers.**
The coyote's words coming over the communicator struck Ace like a slap in the face. His laser vision powered down and his shoulders slumped. The yellow bunny feared that he was Tech's best instructor.
Danger shook his head in disbelief. It was as he'd said before. No matter how you try, you could never really tame a coyote. "Well, I guess we all know which devil Tech is dancing with."
"Rrhhng ppptttt me." Slam garbled the response, then slammed one fist into his other palm. The Tasmanian devil was a forgiving sort, but Tech had no right to sell out Lexi!
"And Tech's devil ain't of the Tasmanian variety." But Ace was still conflicted between indignation on Lexi's behalf and guilt. "Okay, hold on here. First we rescue Lexi. Den we get da coyote and get out. We let Tech explain t'ings. And den . . .."
"And THEN we kill him." Danger finished for his leader.
Finally losing patience with his teammates, Rev jetted forward, following in his little brother's wake. He didn't know what was going on, but he was going to find out!
Red Triangle.
Tech stood at the foot of the royal dais intently studying his surroundings while he waited. The queen's throne room was actually set in the lower level of the Galactic Death Cruiser's bridge. It made sense enough he supposed. Aside from the engine room, the bridge was the most heavily reinforced section of any Martian warship. Tech looked up. Sure enough, almost directly overhead was the commander's platform where General Melvin could stand to oversee, and command, the entire operation. The genius learned more about the Martians in those few minutes of silent observation than he had in all of his previous studies of the race. The coyote learned their sight, their sound, and their scent . . . as well as their demeanor, motivation, and mindset.
A hologram depicting the planets under Martian rule, complete with their associated moons and rings where applicable, surrounded Queen Tyrr'henia. The Martian empire was greatly stressed to produce all the power it needed. The hologram planets were quite detailed. At a flick of her hand, all relevant data appeared by any given planet as well. Its resources, productivity, and expected useful life before it was depleted and no longer of use to the Martian empire could be instantly reviewed. Even with the highly advanced Martian science, it still needed raw resources to flourish.
The Martians employed nearly their entire populous in one form or another in the managing of their conquered planets. There simply were not enough Martian people to maintain the slave planets and man the army. As a result, most of said army was automated, utilizing Centurion robots. Only a very small fraction of 'real people' were generals to oversee the battles. Even General Melvin's officer, Sergeant Sirius, was nothing more than a sophisticated robot dog. The Martian army didn't employ automated destroyers out of consideration for the lives of their people. They did it because they needed their people to manage the necessary resources.
The queen waved her hand again, banishing the holographic report. Yes, it was a vicious cycle of conquest to gather power for more conquest, but she never had been daunted by viciousness. Tyrr'henia turned to the coyote awaiting her pleasure. "As you no doubt know, I am Queen Tyrr'henia."
"Tyrrhenia? Wasn't that the Pre-Roman, Etruscan civilization from which the Tyrrhenian Sea got its name?" Tech mused. This was his first time meeting any Martians personally. There were marked differences between the general and the queen. While both shared the same ebony complexion and features that only revealed eyes, the outward similarities seemed to end there. Melvin was short and Romanesque; the queen, slim and tall, was garbed as an ancient Egyptian princess. And her long, pure white hair complimented her wide eyes. "It seems that Mars and my home planet have had a long standing relationship with each other."
"One, I am sure, that you and I can renew now, my clever genius." Queen Tyrr'henia sat forward in her throne. My, wasn't the alien coyote the clever one! Though angered that the spy had brought the general a gift but neglected her, she still was willing to accept him into her service. The anthromorph was just an alien, after all, albeit an excessively intelligent one. With a little schooling to catch him up on Martian technology . . . and some obedience training to tame the anthropomorphic canine, he would make quite a valuable scientific advisor. He would learn proper social decorum soon enough. "I must admit, I am somewhat surprised that you have delivered yourself to me."
"I recently lived in a 'gated community,' but I found the lifestyle a tad . . . restrictive." Though cordial as befitted royalty, Tech detected a coolness from the queen. Although that also might befit royalty, the green coyote feared that he'd made a social faux pas in bringing the General a peace offering and not the queen. He hadn't known that she was here or he would have made different arrangements. "I found I needed a change of scenery."
The queen raised one elegant, white brow; intrigued at the coyote's euphemistic reference to the prison. "And that 'change of scenery' brought you here?" Though phrased as a question, it was really a statement of fact. Tyrr'henia knew that there was no other viable option for the coyote on the run.
"Indeed. Though this is just a visit . . . at least for now." Tech smiled, keeping it small to avoid showing too many sharp teeth. The queen was obviously displeased that he'd breached protocol in failing to bring her a peace offering. But he couldn't apologize. With such a domineering being as the queen, it would be seen as weakness . . . and he could ill afford to negotiate from a position of weakness. But perhaps it wasn't too late. He'd just have to manage to get an appropriate gift to deliver himself to her. The genius discretely checked his wrist communicator. Good, it was still broadcasting. The coyote knew from Ace trying to contact him earlier that the Loonatics had followed instead of returning to Blanc. They shouldn't be too far behind, and what better gift for the Martian queen than the leader of the Loonatics? "Though I must confess a certain embarrassment. Your gift seems to be late in arriving."
"Oh I do hope it's that cute Danger Duck!" Suddenly delighted, Queen Tyrr'henia's violet eyes lit up and she clapped with anticipation. Perhaps the genius wouldn't need much remedial training after all.
"Him? Why ever would you want Danger Duck?" Tech was surprised to discover that the Martian queen fancied the mallard. He didn't let the revelation faze him, though. With Danger's ego it shouldn't be hard to lure him instead of Ace. "He was nominated 'the greatest screwup action hero of all time.'"
"Who's a screwup?! Wait till I cover you in tar eggs then we'll see who's the screwup me or you!" Using his communicator Quack Finder as a guide, Danger quacked in pointing first to Tech, then to himself. Ace's voice carried over the mallard's wrist communicator, yelling at the duck to wait.
"Ah! Perfect." Tech deftly netted his ex-teammate with the neuron net ionizer. The electro-net interfered with the communicator as well as with the mallard's quantum quack. Ace's frustrated voice cut out. Bowing slightly, the genius handed over the net control box to the Martian. "Signed, sealed, and delivered, Queen Tyrr'henia. He's yours."
"Eeeek!" Danger squeaked as he realized that he just quacked into a trap.
Squealing with delight herself, Tyrr'henia flung her slender arms around her new 'rubber ducky' and hugged him tightly to her chest. Then her brows drew together in a frown. The net tingled uncomfortably. "Do I get to 'unwrap' my present?"
"I don't see why not." Tech shrugged and, taking back the controls, prepared to dissipate the net. "Just remember, Duck has a hard time quacking out of a tight squeeze . . . he always has."
Squeezing Danger even tighter than before, Tyrr'henia nodded to the canid-person. Tech clicked off the net. "Oh, that's much better, isn't it, Ducky?"
Danger glared at Tech. Quantum quacking was much more difficult than most people assumed. Being so great, he just made it look easy. It required a great deal of concentration and practice to end up where you wanted and not in a monitor, iceberg or other object, as he had on numerous occasions when he first got his powers. The orange and black clad mallard gulped when the dark beauty holding him began running her fingers through the unruly feathers on the top of his head. The Martian queen was VERY distracting, and the coyote was right, he couldn't quack out. "Tech, you're despicable!"
"Oh? Having troubles with your own 'hot villainess' are you?" Tech asked in mock congeniality.
Danger found himself alternately defiant one moment and seduced the next. Tyrr'henia was lovely in an exotic, alien sort of way, and wealthy to boot. The mallard's eyes riveted of their own accord to the wide gold bands encircling the arms that bound him. He vigorously shook the image of all that gleaming gold from his mind. He was Danger Duck, hero of the cosmos! He was not anyone's prisoner or slave! . . no matter how pleasant the captivity. Distracted as he was, Danger didn't follow Tech and the queen's conversation; just the passing of a remarkably large, sparkling gem from one hand to another.
"What do you make of this?" Freeing one hand long enough to remove the exquisitely cut gem from her purple and gold headband, Queen Tyrr'henia tossed the green crystal to Tech to test the canid-person's intelligence . . . and his motivations.
Tech ran his handheld scanner over the glowing crystal, raising his brows in surprise at the energy readings he got. "Unless I am mistaken, this is the core to Martian energy technology, this one crystal is capable of powering this entire station many times over. Tossing around such a power source is dangerous play, milady. If I hadn't caught it, our audience would have been cut drastically short."
Tyrr'henia nodded once in affirmation, but continued to run her fingers over Danger's handsome features . . . the noble brow, the fine curve of his bill. All the while she continued her interview of the alien spy. Tech was bright. Indeed he would make a most excellent scientific advisor. "That is a Gordovian energy crystal. The planet of Greater Gordon and its octopodal Reptilian inhabitants fell to the Martians several centuries ago, but the Greater Govdovian Principalities are still one of the richest sources of energy for my people."
"Interesting." Tech tossed the crystal back. It would take more than the elusive promise of power to persuade him. He'd passed the 'hard touch' of prison, he would not now fall to the queen's 'soft touch.'
Queen Tyrr'henia's violet eyes narrowed as she contemplated the spy. So the coyote was not motivated by power lust. She would have to dig a little deeper for his weak spot.
Danger caught the gem that Tech tossed back, admiring its shimming green glow. No doubt about it. He was in love!
Orange Triangle.
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A/N Certain Gordon references from "Duck Dodgers in the 24th and ½ Century" episode "Talent Show A Go Go."