-20:10, Hawai'i – Aleutian Standard Time-
By the time 626 lurched out of the bathroom the authorities had already begun the process of picking through Hämsterviel's ship, and Bubbles had already booted up the ship's central computer in the hopes of accessing information, which, judging by the curses and faint bangs 626 heard as he staggered up to the cockpit wasn't going well. Sure enough, when 626 entered the cabinet he found the man looking supremely irritated and kicking at the computer every few seconds.
"Damn Federation script." He muttered. "Why can't this thing have a frigging auto-translate or something?" He poked around a few more buttons and only managed to get the computer to say 'hyperspace jump not possible on the ground' for his trouble, which led to him slapping the machine and groaning rather irritably.
626 cleared his throat. "Would you, uh, like some help with that?"
Bubbles finally noticed that he wasn't alone, but when he spoke again his teeth were still completely gritted. "Yes. If you wouldn't mind. Maybe you can actually read the damn thing."
626 shrugged and hopped into the pilot's seat, pulling it forwards until he could comfortably reach the computer terminal. "So what is it I'm supposed to be looking for?"
"Anything. Hämsterviel's flight history, location of his base, black box recordings, whatever you can find. Hell, we'd even be happy to get his social security number."
"His what?"
"It's a joke. Don't worry about it."
626 rolled his eyes and got to work. Thankfully the ship's operating system was more or less the galactic standard, and everything was neatly ordered into nice, comprehensive files, as it had been back in Jumba's lab. Honestly, it probably was Jumba's handiwork, now that he thought about it, seeing as him and Hämsterviel had been in cahoots. Regardless of if that was the case or not it made finding his way around the ship's files easy enough, and after only a few minutes 626 managed to find some interesting things. Probably the most interesting of these was a photo gallery: for some reason, the ship had this feature where it recorded the surrounding terrain whenever it took off. Why it would have this he had no idea, save maybe to serve some purpose in identifying a home spaceport or something. It was a big galaxy, after all.
626 sifted through the photos. Some were of locations he knew, like Jumba's lab or Gapra III, but others were less familiar. Two of the latter group were especially prevalent: one showed a run-down and dirty landing bad on what looked like the slope of an active volcano, while the other showed a cliff running about a thousand feet above the ocean.
Bubbles hunched over the screen. "Are those Hämsterviel's bases?"
"Probably. The one with the volcanoes is definitely somewhere in space, but I have no idea on what planet." He squinted at the photos of the cliff. "I think these might actually be from somewhere around here. It looks like similar, at least."
"Well, if it is, it's not somewhere I've seen."
"Me neither." 626 frowned and thought a moment. "Is Nani still here?"
"Should be." Bubbles raised his eyebrows. "Think she might know?"
626 shrugged. "Can't hurt to ask." He popped his head back outside in order to look for Nani. When he found her, she still had a death-grip on Lilo, but hopefully he could pry her away for a moment or two. "HEY! NANI!" He shouted.
She looked over at him, startled. "Is everything alright?" She asked.
"Can I borrow you for a second? There's a place in the ship's logs that we can't recognize, and we're wondering if you can help us."
"Are you sure? I haven't exactly let the islands."
"Bubbles and I are pretty sure it's somewhere around here."
"Well…" Nani mulled it over. "Fine. I'll do it." She gave Lilo another quick squeeze. "Don't. Go. Anywhere."
"I won't, I promise."
Satisfied, Nani stood up and walked over to the ship. 626 led her into the cabin and pointed out the computer. "It's the pictures with the cliffs. They look like the areas around here, but we don't have any specifics."
She bent over and examined them. "Huh." She exclaimed. "That's actually not very far from Kauai'i."
"You know where it is, Nani?" Bubbles leaned in.
"Yeah, actually. I'm pretty sure that's Mount Pani'au. It's the highest point on the island of Ni'ihau." Nani shook her head and smiled. "You know, I always wanted to go there."
"Well, nothing's stopping you." 626 chimed in. "And if any of Hämsterviel's kidnap victims happen to still be alive there having someone along besides a rather intimidating adult male might help calm them down." He glanced up at Bubbles. "Uh, no offense, sir. You're just a little…" He wasn't sure how to find the right words. Bubbles just stared at him from behind his sunglasses, so 626 let the matter drop.
"You're right." Nani shrugged. "As long as you don't mind taking Lilo with us. I'm not letting her out of my sight."
It was settled then, and all those present promptly squeezed aboard the ship while Nani remained in the cockpit in order to give 626 directions. They arrived at their destination in short order, and after a few minutes' searching Bubbles managed to locate the telltale seams in the rock that disguised the entrance to Hämsterviel's base. Then it was just a matter of sending out the right signal to open the doors and roll out the welcome mat, and once that was out of the way the ship landed without issue.
Everything was dark inside the cave, and once the doors closed the ship's headlights were the only thing piercing the blackness. 626 gazed out into the dusty gloom. "It looks deserted." Apparently Hämsterviel had been running a one-gerbil operation. Nevertheless, the possibility remained that there were some sort of defenses engaged, not to mention the slight possibility of Leroy, so when they disembarked to explore it was in a standard defensive formation. 626, the most durable of the group and the most familiar with intergalactic technology, took point.
Almost the moment he stepped outside of the ship, his nose curled up as he smelled some sort of tangy, metallic smell. Whatever it was, it smelt vaguely familiar…
He edged forwards into the darkness. As he went the smell got stronger, and stronger, until he could pinpoint exactly where it was coming from. And, more importantly, what it was.
"Is that blood?" Nani asked when the smell hit her too.
626's throat tightened. "I think so."
They hurried towards the source as Bubbles flicked on his flashlight. Reaching the back of the cave tunnel, he waved it around. He could see the bars of a cage set away from the wall, a secured observation area, and a computer.
Inside the cage was a body. "Nani?" Bubbles fought to keep the disgust and grief out of his voice. "Don't let Lilo see." He walked up to the cave and kneeled down, examining corpse. "Jesus Christ." He muttered. "It's like some sort of…beast did this."
626 assumed that 'Jesus Christ' was some sort of expletive along the lines of 'Blitznak', considering that that was what he said when he took a closer look as well. The young girl had been ripped apart by the looks of it, her chest completely torn open and her throat crushed. When Bubbles shined his flashlight along the edges of the chest, 626 noticed the teeth marks. "By the Gods. He ate her." Whether it was from the horror of the state of the body or the overpowering stench, he felt like he was going to vomit again.
Bubbles went beyond merely feeling like it. After he was finished retching and when the cave smelt of sick just as much as blood (which was almost an improvement, in 626's eyes), he turned to the experiment.
"Do you know what did this?"
"Not for certain, but I have an idea." 626 forced himself to look away and walk over to the computer. Fortunately it still had power, so 626 was able to access it. The first thing he noticed was a logbook, which he clicked on and pulled up the entry entitled test number 3.
LOG ENTRY: 25
DATE: 9-14-3623
EXPOSED LEROY TO A THIRD VICTIM. THIS TIME THERE WAS NO HESITATION; HIS KILLING OF HIS TARGET WAS BEAUTIFULLY VIOLENT – IN TRUTH, PERHAPS A BIT TOO VIOLENT. EATING VICTIMS MAY BE A BIT TOO NASTY EVEN FOR ME.
NEVERTHELESS, IT IS CLEARLY CLEAR THAT THE BLOODWRATH PARADIGM HAS TAKEN HOLD, AND LEROY SEEMS TO COMPLETELY ENJOY DESTRUCTION AND DEATH. JUMBA WILL BE VERY HAPPY, AS AM I.
THAT REMINDS ME – I NEED TO WRITE HIM A MESSAGE ASKING ABOUT LEROY'S POST-ACTION CONDUCT. THE POSSIBILITY REMAINS, HOWEVER SLIGHT, THAT HE MAY FEEL SOME REMORSE ONCE THE ADRENALINE RUSH CLEARS.
ONE MORE TEST OUGHT TO BE ENOUGH. I SHALL HEAD OUT TWO DAYS FROM NOW TO PROCURE ANOTHER TARGET.
P.S.: SENSORS PICKED UP ANOTHER SPACECRAFT HEADING FOR THE ISLANDS. IT MAY BE THE GALACTIC ALLIANCE! I MUST BE CAUTIOUSLY METICULOUS ABOUT COVERING MY TRACKS FROM NOW ON!
626 turned to computer back off and started shaking. "So it was him." His voice was hoarse. "It was Leroy."
"Leroy?"
626 looked at Bubbles. "Did the Grand Councilwoman tell you anything about Hämsterviel and Jumba's genetic experimentation?"
"Nothing besides that they had created a sentient life-form, which I'm guessing is you." He scratched his head. "Was there another one?"
626 nodded. "There is. Leroy. He was just created a little while ago. He's basically a do-over – he's got all the same abilities as I do, but this time they actually managed to create a life-form and engineer it to be as destructive as they want." Truth be told, a part of him was really surprised. After all, when he'd fought Leroy, the other experiment hadn't been able to kill Obrea even when it had him dead to rights and a gun to his face, and 626 had sensed that it was conflicted.
Evidently, though, that was no longer the case if Leroy had taken up cannibalism of its own accord. Whatever Hämsterviel and Jumba had done to their experiment, the whatever had caused it to hesitate on the World Ravager was probably no longer there. It's that damned Bloodwrath Paradigm. If the Federation hadn't started up that program, then Leroy wouldn't…
Of course, if I didn't exist in the first place, there wouldn't have been any impetus for the program in the first place.
He gave a tiny shake of his head. No. You've got bigger fish to fry then feeling guilt over something you have no control over. He turned away from the cage and the computer both and started walking away.
"Where are you going?"
"To look around some more." There was nothing to be gained by staring at the mangled corpse, but there could be something else in the lab that might prove more informative.
The search of Hämsterviel's base took another five hours, by which time The Grand Councilwoman and Obrea were helpfully on hand to take stock of all the information. As the Federation Army did so, 626, Bubbles, Lilo, and Nani explained the situation.
"…so from what we can tell, Hämsterviel was using this island as a springboard to test out Leroy's destructive programming and the effect of the Bloodwrath Paradigm." 626 concluded. "My guess is that he figured that if Leroy could kill little girls he wouldn't have any moral compunction about doing the same to soldiers."
Nani hugged Lilo tighter. "Then Lilo was nearly…" She couldn't even say it. "I guess I really can't thank you enough, then."
"And what of Dr. Hämsterviel?" The Councilwoman asked.
"Presumed dead."
"Only presumed?"
"Well, milady, considering that he hit the surface of the ocean at terminal velocity after falling a good thousand feet, I'm pretty sure he didn't walk out of it alive."
Apparently, that satisfied her, because she let the matter rest.
"And Jumba?" Obrea asked. "Any sign of him?"
626 shook his head.
Bubbles shifted in his seat. "The only items that may pertain to him are some of the log entries Hämsterviel created. They gave the impression that Dr. Jumba's hiding out with some mutual allies of theirs." He produced a data pad containing some of the images 626 had obtained showing the volcanic planet. "From what Airman 626 was able to discern, they are hiding out on this planet."
The Councilwoman took the data pad, looked the pictures over, and handed it to Obrea. After he was finished the two exchanged a significant look.
Bubbles raised his eyebrows. "I take it this place is known to both of you?"
Obrea answered him. "Well, not certainly, but there aren't all that many planets that are both inhabited enough to host that sort of landing platform and still that volcanic. We've also received reports from our spies that suggest a large number of crafts and weapons tied to the Jitos syndicate have been on the move towards a planet of that nature."
626 gave a start. "Jitos? Weren't they the ones that attacked Gapra?"
"Exactly. So, between that and those photos, it's fairly clear that Dr. Jookiba, Leeroy, and the Jitos Syndicate are located on one planet: Saiccano."
"Captain Gantu is already en route as we speak, along with the better portion of the Galactic Armada." The Councilwoman's voice was grim. "I intend to make an end of this before it can continue to get out of hand." She stood up. "Colonel Obrea, Airman 626, be ready to disembark tomorrow morning."
She made to leave, but when she got to the doorway the Councilwoman stopped and turned back to address 626. "One more thing: your exploits this afternoon almost defy explanation. You showed real courage and initiative rescuing young Pelekai and defeating Dr. Hämsterviel." She favored him with a rare smile. "We'll have to see about promoting you, I think."
She walked off, leaving them all to gape. "Well, uh, congratulations, I suppose?" Nani ventured.
"Yeah…thanks."
True to the Councilwoman's word, they left bright and early after a last round of ice cream and some goodbye hugs between 626 and the Pelekais. It pained 626 a bit to leave them, he wasn't going to lie, but duty called, and he was needed elsewhere.
Just as the Grand Councilwoman's ship began to begin the process of retracting the ramp in order to disembark, a small, brown girl ran out of the undergrowth and hopped up, barely making it in time for the doors to close.
Oblivious, 626 sat with Obrea on the bridge and tried to quash his nervousness about the oncoming battle. There was a sense of finality in the air, but whether that portended his own death, that of Jumba, or that of the entire Federation he was unsure.
All he could do would be grit himself for the oncoming battle.