Chapter 26 'Tearful Farewells' or 'A New Moon'
Afore Edie forgets folks that Eos Dawn XI 'Moon' is called 'Noxemian'.
It's a dead world but as soon as she's kissed by that 'All Sprakles' seed thingamabobby, it'll be teeming with oodles of life stuff!
Golly! If that lunatic Mr Oakentable (Zorin Oakenshield) and Mr Ghost ('Black Ghost') and that guy that iced Edie's Mommy (Sharon Jordan was assassinated many years ago shortly after Edna was born by Elliot 'King' Poe against whom Edie had sworn vengeance) had been allowed to have their own way, our home world ('Shimougou' in the 'Aquarian Galaxy') would have become a dead world teeming with a new evolution of life!
Now Edie will have a fit if I don't get someone to do the Disclaimer readin'! Any volunteers? OK Mr Dutch (The 'Black Lagoon' mercenaries' leader on Terra), you're elected! Just read what's on my PDO's vidscreen, OK? Fine. And away we go!
DISCLAIMER: OK Mr Dutch, you're on. That's all, little girl? I will gladly do so. We all want to say thanks to the fine folks whose creations we are permitted to use. We claim no rights to any of that stuff. However, we do claim rights to anything we ourselves have created. Anyone who wants to can use our creations so long as we get the credit for their creating.
A special thank you goes to Mr Haruka-San Takachiho who created our fabulous Angelic darlings Kei O'Halloran and Yuri Donovan just to name the two main heroines of our tales of derring do! How was that, mum? Shut up Benny! This babe is mine! You can have that cute redheaded Italian Stallion captain Gina Phillips!
Rio's MY woman! OK over to you Subby DelCroix! The Dutchman is signing off. Thank you very much for allowing me to read these documents for you, Love.
Thanks Dutch! Hullo folks. Edie here. Quite a bit has happened here since our last meeting at the end of Chapter 25.
We have rescued the 'All Spark' and sent it to Time Lord Land of Gallifrey for safekeeping. We've all had a nice blustery day and night stopover B&B at the Mortons' place on Pluto at the foot of Mt Ziggauraut, the highest peak on the planet. It would tower above Terra's Mt Everest by several hundred thousand metres!
There were many tearful bye byes and promises to 'get together again real soon' and 'be a good girl' and 'don't do anything I wouldn't do' farewells when it was learned that the Mortons' adopted daughter, our own Zoe Morton was using her accumulated leave time to visit with her parents, brother and expectant sister for the enxt half a solar year!
As soon as the Boss's 'Lovely Angel 2' starship had lifted off and cleared Pluto's outer markers a week later, I had been ordered to load up my 'crew' and head for Time Lordsville Gallifrey to reclaim the 'All Spark' genesis seed. Then we were to fly it back to the Chancelloury, the capitol on 'Eos Dawn XI'.
They would detonate the 'seed' in the lower atmosphere above their barren moon of 'Noxemian' and within a few hours, a once desolate, arid, dry and waterless world would be teeming with fresh life and life forms. Then the Dawners (AN to The Zorch: I told you we'd get in a plug for our defunct Dawn Radicals, didn't I?) would colonize this small yet vitally important moon.
Finally, barring any more unforeseen circumstances, we could 'turn and burn' and head for home, the Takachiho Academy in Furool (Foo-Lon) City on our own home world of 'Shimougou'!
Joining my band of merry misfits were Sister Trish who had wangled herself a ticket back home to her convent in our own Girol Mountains. She was overjoyed that the trip included two side junkets to Gallifrey and Eos Dawn XI. Mr Garner, out boss guy, was a sucker for sob stories and ya oughta hear the yarns that novice nun could spin; Han Solo who wanted to amke certain sure that neither Kiske Uruhara nor Mayuri Kurosuchi swiped in the former's case or appropriated for experimenting in the latter's case, his 'Flying Falcon' shuttle which Kiske had used to transport the soul reapers to my rig; Nami Richards because I had opened my big mouth about the rig needing a navvie or navigator; all of the soul reapers; Revy Roberts our own Lagoon girl and her Lagoony partner Rock Obajime because in Revy's case a security team (InuYasha, Kouga, Sango, kagome, Shippou, Naraku, Kikyo and Miroku) was coming along for the duration and in Rock's case because our 'Nikita' needed some fine-tuning; Revy and Rock's other partners in Terran crime (They were mercenaries) Dutch and Benny were on a little vacation and had decided to spend it with their compadres so I was stuck with all four of them and last but not least Sub-Ensign Rio DelCroix who had at last worn out her welcome on the Boss's mother Angel 2 starship and been demoted from Acting Subaltern to Subby for swiping a skysled for a joyride around Pluto! The Boss called just before Rio was beamed over to us and since our final port o' call was home sweet home, Rio was all mine and I was welcome to the little brat!
I had Margo and Dixie do a quickie head count and as soon as we were sure that ll hands and their baggage were accounted for, I ordered Will to lift off the Angel 2 while Niki laid in our course for the land of the Lords of Time and Space. Since the 'Adonis Arch' was still unusable (Thanks a bunch, Will! The Terran trucker had wrecked the Arch tunnel/wormhole when he and Sonny had arrived aboard the Angel 2 Kami knew how long ago now!), two days had now become a whole week!
Blackfire of Tamarand was my new chief engineer and a 2nd Lt as well. She looked really spiffy in her crisp starched dark uniform emblazoned with the 3WA logo and those shiny gold bars on her shoulder epaulettes took me back a few months to when I had first earned ny second looey bars!
Advancements and promotions come fast and unexpectedly in the 3WA or have I already mentioned that fact? I began at the Academy three years ago as an SE#3, a sub-ensign, third class (jg). I worked my way up to a full ensignship after six months. Then Acting 2nd Lt and finally just before we left for our first mission, I got the gold.
Acting first looey and then full first and the gold became silver on my shoulders followed by double silver railroad tracks and my captaincy. Finally I was appointed Acting Brigadier for this mission and given total command of the convoy! When I had visited the Boss on her Angel 2 flagship to report our newest newbies, I had been informed that I was now a real Brigadier and that as such I was co-third officer with Brigadier Angel herself!
Not only that but now I was considered an elite, the seventh Angel of the Savage Seven (Marshall O, Admiral D, Briggy A, whatever Kome Sawaguchi was these days, Keisie and Yuyu (The Boss's and the Duchess's AD 2140 alter egos) and I was the seventh of the seven, Briggy Edie! Not too shabby for a soon to be seventeen year old kid eh?
Suddenly I was jolted aout of my daydreaming by a massive thump!
"Wake up, Brig! A big old rock almost hit us but something 'ponged' it away before it stuck! Look out! Here comes another one!" yelled Will and my gut tried to head for my mouth! Damn! I knew exactly where we were! How we got there was something that Niki had some explaining to do to me!
"Niki! Why have you entered 'Bison Fields' dammit all? I ain't that all fired anxious to get to Rathy's Tower! Explain yourself, young lady!" I howled. Diana explained to the others that 'Bison Fields' was a massive asteroid belt between us and our destination but why we were in it was anybody's guess!
"I am sorry, Brigadier Jordan! I didn't steer us into here, Navvie Richards did it! Go ask her why darn it!" yelled our computer programming unit and I felt ashamed of myself for jumping to conclusions in advance of all of the facts. Bawling out our navigator could wait.
Right now, I needed a pilot who knew how to maneuver us through 'Smuggler's Ravine', a top secret but very safe path through these fields. I knew of only two pilots who could pull off this neat little trick- Gene Starwind who was Kami knew where and Han Solo who, as luck would have it, was aboard his own shuttle in my back bays yelling at two of our soul reaper pals.
"Jordan calling Falcon. Come in please. Han? I need you and fast! Please report to the rig's cockpit on the double. That's an order,s ir. Jordan out." I hung up the vidmike and helped Will avoid another disaster when a small asteroid particle the size of the Terran nation of Germany was blasted into smithereenies by my dead reckoning plasma burst! The portals burst open and in rushed the saviour of Kurestan and Alderaan.
"Jesus H Christ! Edie! Are we where the Hell I think we are? Move over, fella! Edie, ask this big lummox to go make java or something! I need total concentration to find 'Smuggler's Ravine' dammit!" yelled Han.
"Get up and give your seat to Han, please. Go below and make us some sandwiches and java. Better send Kiske Uruhara and Renji Abari up here too. Thanks, Will." I ordered as gently as I could.
"Why do you want Snake Monkey and Walking Stick, Edie?" growled Han as he dodged an asteroid the size of Krypton before it blew up the same way Planet Vegeta had done thousands of centuries in the past.
He referred to the powers of Renji's and Kiske's zampakutou or soul reaper swords. 'Sakimoru' meant snake and monkey and that was the name of Renji's weapon. I dunno what Kiske Uruhara's weapon's name was but it resembled a cane like an old duffer might use to get around when he got older.
"Duh! The 'Adonis Arch' is outta order and somehow and for some strange reason, Nami steered us into this place! (I found out later that under the pretext of repairing a toaster for Lady Rebecca, 'Black Ghost' had constructed a crude but working model of his 'controlling manipulator machine' and it was he who had put us in this field but he had used Nami's signature coding ID!) Anyway if anyone knows a quick way home, it's a reaper! They use reiche and know that flash step thingy and hado and stuff, right?" I reasoned and Han Solo burst out laughing so hard that he almost missed a small meteorite the size of California!
"Edie! These guys are great fighters and they move like lightning but they know zilch about navigating, star ships and the like!" he drawled.
"What are those things, Cap? Where the Hell are we? Hey Ichigo, Rukie? Ask Old Man Yama, Uki and Soi to get up here!" yelled Renji while the green-hatted fruitcake carrying a cane chuckled.
"What lunatic took this floating piece of space junk into an asteroid field?" Mayuri Krosuchi wanted to know.
"The 'Smuggler's Ravine' entry point is at SSE 227.3923 by NNW 227.2891. When you exit it, steer due South for two solar hours and you will see the roof of the Citadel of Gallifrey. Is that helpful to them, Father?"
The speaker was a short brunette of some thirty summers. Unlike the other reapers who all wore voluminous trousers as the lower portion of their 'gi' uniforms, hers was a very short miniskirt. It was even shorter than Margo Lane's 1920s 'flapper' minis!
"Thank you, Nemu. (Slap! Mayuri struck his 'child' across the jaw sharply) Never speak unless you are spoken to first and never speak without my permission. Understand? (The China doll nodded and did not even whimper. Kiske whispered to me that Nemu was an Android doll robot created ny Mayuri and not his real flesh and blood daughter at all! Nemu nodded and left the cockpit without another word) Nemu is quite correct, my friends. I suggest that you follow her instructions to the letter. My child is never mistaken." said the guy who looked like his face could give Ryuuk's a run for the money in an ugly pageant!
"Sounds like a plan to me." drawled Han Solo and he clamped a stogie between his teeth. More than ever he reminded me of General Hannibal Jones or Smith on that old Terran TV show the 'A Team'! Suiting action to words he steered the rig on Nemu's indicated course.
"Dammit! The kid was right! There's the entry to the Ravine dead ahead! I know my way through here OK. Due South for Gallifrey? Gene and I always went Southeast. Well, ours is not to reason why, I guess. She's been spot on so far. Up to you, Edie. Which way? That's the end of the Ravine up there, kiddo. (We'd been crusing for twelve long hours and I had fallen asleep with my head on Han's big shoulder) Do we head due South or not? Your call, Brig." drawled the former smuggler and rebel leader who was now hitched to the new Prez Elect of the New Republic at Kurestan, Leia Organa Skywalker Solo.
"Absolutely, Han. Straight on until morning on a Southerly course. Well, for two solar hours according to Nemu so let's give her the benefit of the doubt. She ain't been wrong yet, has she?" I said.
"She never is wrong, Brigadier. Mayuri got that right. By the way, he's taking apart the toaster in the break room if anyone is interested." said Ukitake who looked like death warmed over but we'd been told he always looked like that. He captained the 13th Squad where Rukia was his fourth sword.
"He could at least have let me use it before he started playing with it!" sulked SoiFon, the 2nd Squad's captain and a very pretty lady indeed. She had a loaf of whole wheat bread in one hand and a tub of 'I'm Almost Butter' in the other hand.
"Aha! She was right! I stand corrected, Madame Briggy. The exterior vidcams are showing Gallifrey's outer markers dead ahead of us. Two hours or less will see us at her inner markers and we can put down before nightfall. I suppose that Casterlain fella will put us up for the night? (I nodded) Good! I'm dog tired. Niki? Take over. The helm's all yours, Sweetheart." drawled Han.
"Certainly, Han. You look exhausted. Have a nice nap." said Nikita and George kicked in. Han headed for his Falcon's Captain's cabin and his bunk.
"We won't be able to reclaim the genesis seed from the Dead Lands until morning anyway. I wonder what Al and Merri will be making for dinner? Anything will be better than repped food. Right Di?" I yawned.
"My daughter would agree with you but she has gone to her bunk." said the shadows and I realized that I had gone to bed myself as soon as we had sighted those outer markers.
"This poor young lady is fatigued, Lemont. Tomorrow she will visit my tower and reclaim her bauble. I am sure that the Chancellours of Eos D will be very grateful indeed. See everyone tomorrow. 'Night, Edie. Come along, Lemont. This lady needs her rest." said that strangely familiar voice and then I ahd it! Lord Rathelon, the Father of the Time Lords!
"Night, my Lord. See you later, Shadow." I called into an empty room. The next thing I knew klaxons were blaring all over the rig! I leaped up, grabbed my flight suit and dashed for the door. I pulled on my flight togs as I ran through the break room on my way to the cockpit much to the amused astonishment of my crew! The Hell with modesty! This is serious business! That's what I told myself when I had finally strapped in beside Han.
"Those are Gallifrey's inner markers, kiddo. The comm is yours. I always wanted to see what you can do. Spike says you're a jim dandy pilot. Let's see ya prove it, Honey." drawled Han Solo amusedly and I went to work.
"Not bad. Not bad at all, kid. A four point touch down just inside the Citadel's walls is no mean feat. Congrats." said Han and then he saluted me. I was too stunned to return his salute. We all trooped back to the beamer station and I instructed Diana to beam us down, then set the controls and beam down herself. I debated whether or not to leave Rio aboard but decided against it. Instead I asked my new chief engineer Blackfire (Teen Titan Starfire's sister) to remain aboard and await my orders. She hated Gallifrey anyway and I knew she was itching to install that new warp core booster on the rig's engines. I left her as happy as a clam to play with her new toy and prepared to exit the rig.
"You will all please come with me, Madame." ordered the Citadel Guard captain who was covering me with a stasis pistol. I obediently surrendered Maggie and Aggie to him and signed the others to do likewise. This time Yachiru took Kenpachi's zampakutou from her partner captain and handed it to six of the Citadel Guardsmen who promptly dropped it! In the end it took a dozen of their biggest guys to manhandle the thing into the Citadel.
Sergeant-At-Arms Dennison collected and tagged all our weapons and stored them away in the weapons closets. Without a word Yachi and Kenny hustled Merri and Lady Al to the kitchens for a little snack meaning everything in the fridges!
"Welcome my dear friends. I do hope you can stay with us at least overnight, my dear children." said, of all people, Lady Catherine of the High Council!
Last time we were here she practically told us to get out and don't let the door hit ya on your posteriors on the way out only she chose the more vulgar terms! With this lady being so Goody Two Shoes to us all of a sudden, I smelled a big, fat Ligurian rattasaurus rex!
END of Chapter 26. Chapter 27 'Lord Rathelon Asks For A Favour' or 'We Visit the MATRIX' coming soon. We love all of ya so sayonara for now and R/R/S away. Let us have your feelings, tomodachi ours- Edie J from Gallifrey. Hey that rhymes!