Mere Acquaintences
The forest was beautiful, it smelled of wet leaves and blooming flowers. The sunset created a romantic feeling, it refracted the light off the leaves that were wet from a light rain. A slight wind rustled the leaves and the short grasses that grew under the mammoth trees. Animals of all kinds scurried throught the dead leaves and up trees. Birds sang their songs and filled the air with a hypnotic melody, the bugs joined in, creating a sweet symphony of nature.
"To bad I can't be out there." 327 muttered as she stared into the screen of the computer. She was supposed to be filing the notes and observations Jumba had made on 626. She paged through the notes. '626 has just awoken, it took sometime for the pre programmed lessons to take hold, but when they did he was acting like he had always been like that...' on entry read. She sighed, "I wish he'd give me a break so I can see 626." She'd been cooped up in the controll room filled with dust and super computers since 626 was born, she began to think Jumba was trying to keep her away from him.
The pink alien hit a button that toggled the cameras, she now watched the supply ships unload, the stocky short workers unloaded the supplies and food for the week. A thin scientist in a white lab coat and black under shirt watch in the corner, he had wire rimmed glasses set up on his long head, he pulled aside the foreman, handed him an envelope, whispered some thing into his ear, handed out some credits and dissappeared into the shadows. 327 watched this, 'Something is going down.' or some thing, 'Never seen that before, I think I'll get Jumba.' She leapt off the high chair that faced the computer and ran to the door.
626 was walking down the hall, whistling a tune from a far off planet he'd heard sometime, someplace. He stopped at the controll room door and started to think what he should say to 327, heck Jumba advised he go and meet her, he'd never seen her before. He was uneasy about this. 'What if she doesn't like me?' he thought. 'What if I don't like her.' he paused,'What if....' The door hissed open and 626 looked up from the floor, he was clobbered by a pink thing running at him.
The two experiemnts tumbled for a few feet, and some how 626 landed ontop on 327. They both stared at eachother, 626 felt some thing different when he looked at the pink alien, 327 shared the experience. They both didn't know how to react, they just stared. 626 broke the silence "Sorry." he apologized, he got off of 327 and brushed himself off. "No no, it was my fault." 327 said, she giggled. "What's so funny?" he asked. "Nothing, you must be experiment 626, am I correct?" she asked. "Who wants to know?" he raised an eye brow. "327." she told him. "Oh well in that case, yes, I am." "Well i'm 327," she said shyly. "I know a palce where the drinks are free, care for one?" 626 asked. 'Jumba was right' 327 thought, 'He's cute too.' "Why not?" she grinned.
The two experiments sat at a low table in the corner of the kitchen that Jumba had built for them, both had cups of Turian tea. Both experiments felt untalkative and unsure of each other. "What do you think about Jumba ?" 327 started off simple. " Hmmm.... He's there." 626 said flatly. "...And 625?" she tried to liven the conversation up. "He's ok, just a little diffucult some times." 626 yawned. This conversation was going nowhere interesting. "Any thing...." 626 was cut short. 625 entered the room, a dumb stare upon his face as he picked his nose. He spotted 626 and 327 sitting at a table. He blushed as he pulled his clawed finger from his nose, the gaze of 626 and 327 upon him, he grinned. "I hope I'm not disturbing any thing." 327 stood up, "Yes you've just disturbed my lunch for the past week, excuse me while I go throw up." She walked out of the kitchen. "Ouch." 625 said. "Tough as hell to get to huh?" he said to 626. "She's a little overactive sometimes, like now for instance."
626 was in another world, dreaming of the beautiful 327. His thoughts were interrupted by 625. "Hello?" he yelled, "Turo to 626? is anyone home?" 625 said noisily. 626 turned arround and gave 625 and evil grin, all his teeth bared. "Quiet, or I'll sucker-punch you." 626 got up and walked toward him, hissing as in an attack. "No harm meant, I just.....I....." 626 was getting closer. "Abandon Ship!!" 625 yelled and turned to flee the kitchen. 626 grinned the evilest of grins.
626 was crawling on the ceiling later that night when he spotted 327 under him. He decided to drop down onto her and give her the spook. He let go and fell, 327 moved a bit, offsetting his suprize. He hit the floor, perfectly level with it. 327 cringed when she hear the "WHAP" as 626 hit the floor, she could tell by the sound that it hurt. When she realized it was 626 she rushed over to him. "Are you o.k.?" she started to pick him up. 626 recoved from the stun and stood up on his own will. "Yea, just remind me to tell the good doctor to put in rubber tiling." he joked. He brushed away a tingling feeling arround his nose. "You're bleeding." 327 observed. "It's nothing." he rubbed his nose, that only made it worse, more blood came out. He produced a cloth remnant from his pocket and held it against his nose. He sniffed. "Don't do that! You'll get a mouthfull of blood." 327 scolded him. "Too late." 626 gurguled. 327 sighed.
327 escorted 626 to the lounge area of the lab, it was really the library. Wall to wall of the twenty by tweny area was filled with books, hundreds or even thousands were linned up, cover to dusty cover. There was a lowered area of the library with furniture and a coffee table piled high with subscription magazines in several different languages. 327 laid 626 onto one of the couches. "Lay still untill the bleeding stops." she instructed. "Sorry about 625, earlier today." 626 apologized. "No, it was my fault. I don't like being arround him. Things happen when I am." 327 explained. "Like what?" 626 inquired. "He is annoying, and overall detestable. He usually winds up with bloody noses." 626 chuckled. "I've never had a problem with him." "Oh, trust me, you will. He has a way of getting under your nerves. I can't tell if it's his, out of the universe perspective or what. It just irks me." "Hey, it stopped bleeding!" 626 exclaimed.
"Speaking of which. What were you doing in the hallway, on the roof anyway?" 327 asked. "I was poking arround, looking in rooms that were un- occupied at the moment. I was in the middle of going to another door when I saw you, then decided to drop down and scare you. But that didn't work out as planned." 327 smiled. 626 suddenly jumped up. "I want to continue exploring the place." he announced. "You can come with me if you want." he told 327. She shrugged and followed him out of the room.
626 reached the door he hadn't been behind yet. "That's the medical storage." 327 said. "Thanks for ruining the suprize." 626 hissed. He pushed the door open and entered. 327 turned on the light. The small room had a rack of liquid filled medicines along the wall. There were several boxes stacked in the corner, marked with different black writing. All along one wall was what appeared to be restraints of some kind. "What are all these?" 626 asked picking up a set of tubular handcuffs and examined them. "They're restraints. Back when the Council was funding Jumba's work they required him to keep all his genetic experiments tranquilized, restrained and under lock and key, just for safety reasons. But when the council pulled his funding and passed a law that enstated he couldn't use genetics to create anything, he just kept them." 327 told him. "Yea, but these look pretty recent." 626 noted. "Jumba swiped several pairs of the newer handcuffs several days ago. He tells most of us that he'll put them on us if we don't behave, but I think he's bluffing." 327 informed him. "One heck of a bluff though." he remarked, setting the cuffs down. "Whatever works for him." 327 shrugged.
"It's getting late, I should be getting to bed. All that training takes alot out of you." 626 said. 327 nodded, "I know how you feel. I went through the same hell." 626 headed for the door, "Later." he blinked. 327 was left the the room all alone, a huge grin spead of her face. "I'll have to thank Jumba later." she thought outloud.
*
Over the next three days 626 and 327 became close friends. They spent time together whenever it was available. Jumba noted this, which he thought was strange because 626 wasn't programmed like that. He took a closer look one day and figured out that 327 had most of teh affection toward 626 and not the otherway. He most likely resoned that 626 thought 327 was just a tag- along, or someone to follow.
Occasionally 626 would take 327 over to Zri's to use the holo feature in the gym. Jumba didn't think that was a good idea, he had noticed Zri was eyeing 626 in a rather suspicious manner. He let them go, at least untill he got wind of what Zri found so intersting about 626. He also noted 626 was advancing well in his training, now if only he could get out there and find some place test him.
*
The jungle was quiet, that spooked him. The morning steam was beginnign to fade, making it easier to see through the thick underbrush. He gripped his riffle tighter, she was out there somewhere, waiting for him. But he had to get her first. He crouched down lower on the flat stump of a tree. He pulled a huge branch over himself, making him invisible to the naked eye. But then again he wasn't fighting a primitive species. He breathed quietly so she couldn't hear him.
A rusling in the bush caught his attention. He pointed the riffle in the dirrection of the sound and double checked to make sure it was on stun. She came through the bush, riffle in hand, crouched down low. He watched her slowly slink across the leaf covered ground, he grinned, she hadn't seen him. Slowly he pulled the trigger of the riffle. Before he could finish the pull, she turned toward him and fired blindly into the bush where he was and ran to the nearest tree to hide behind.
"Give up, you'll never win!" he shouted to her. "Ha, come and get me!" a female voice shouted back from the safety of the tree. Things got silent, too much for her. She feared he had moved and was now closing in on her. He poked her head out from behind the stump. The bark right by her eye exploded after the laser round hit it, she pulled back before any debris could get into her eye. "That's a real good way to get your head blown off." she heard him chuckle.
She heard him move out from his cover, this was it. She jumped out from behind the tree hoping to find him with his back turned. She met the open jungle, nothing. She looked up into the trees, then franticly everywhere else. She heard something in the bush, desperately she began a three hundred sixy degree dust off of the jungle.
Slowly he came up behind her, riffle at the draw. He knelt down and aimed the sight right to the center of her back. He fired. The shot hit her and forced her to the ground, she gasped. He smiled. "Simulation ending..." a scratchy electronic voice moaned.
A quick double white flash and the two experiments were back in Zri's gym. A wry grin was spread across 626 face, his riffle was resting on his shoulder. "Got you." he grinned. "You cheated!" 327 hissed. "How?" 626 asked calmly. "You did, I know." she accused. "Final score: 626, four points, 327, two points." the computer said. "Ha, I'm half as good as you!" 327 boasted. "Or, I'm two times better." 626 stuck his tounge out. "Oh stop, let's get back to the lab." 327 tugged at him.
Jumba was rummaging through the repair parts in the reactor room. He was taking inventory of all the spare parts so he could order more before next delivery. He noticed that he had no spare condencer for the reactor. On a clipboard he wrote down, 'Get another Crystallic Condencer'. It might blow at any time. He was leaving the room when a high pitched whislte stopped him, he sighed. That meant one thing, the Crtstallic Condencer was going bad. Alarms rang off loudly, alerting him that the condencer was going to go bad. Jumba decided rather than risk it he would shut down the power. He raised the rods up into the roof of the gigantic reactor and sealed them off. Jumba flipped a switch which cleansed the reactor room of radiation. He waited a few seconds before stepping in. "Oh boy." he groaned as he opened the door to the reactor room.
Several hours, a few cups of coffee, and a trip to the medical area and he was set. He had the condencer wrapped up in a towel, it was still leaking. He set it inside a box and headed for the controll room, which he hoped was still running on auxilary power.
Inside he found 626 and 327 at the computer, 327 was teaching 626 how to get into any file he wanted, even teh restricted ones. He learned quickly and was in no time cracking into the most secure places in the galaxy. Jumba set the condencer on the desk where the computer sat, the loud bump scared the two experiments who were in deep concentration. "327," Jumba said loudly so that he'd grab her attention, "Hmmm." she said, not looking up from the screen. "Get the numbers off this," he pointed to the object on the desk,"And look for another one, make it quick we're running off auxilary power." He left the room and went to talk to Zri about using his reactor temporarily.
327 went through the mainframe to the warehouses on Chenadiss and looked arround there for one. The warehouses on Chenadiss had anything and everything from liquid zyrachronium to hydro-electric bombs. She searched for several minutes, 626 watched her. The reactor Jumba had was so out dated, they might as well had gotten a new one. Determined to find one for him she hacked into the database and snooped there for one. She came across a thing 626 pointed at. "That, there." She accessed the information for the Crystallic inverter, she read the long list of the specifications. 626 realzed that it was the same thing as Jumba was looking for, basic principles anyway, it converted crystals into a high powered beam that was shot at the boiler that produced steam that drove the turbine that produced electricity. 327 searched the database for avalibility, it wasn't even listed. "Odd." she said. "What?" 626 asked. "This thing isn't even listed, maybe they haven't had time to put it up for sale." she suggested. They both decided to wait and consult Jumba.
Half an hour later he appeared in the controll room, "Well, Zri said we could use his reactor for a while, any luck 327?" he panted from running the power cords up to the panel. " Yes and no." she told him. "Yes and no?" Jumba looked confused. "Yes I found one, No it's not avalible." Jumba looked even more confused,"What is it then?" "Well, 626 and I found some thing that might work, a crystallic inverter, ever heard of it?" the pink alien answered. Jumba looked astonished, his jaw dropped, 'crystallic inverter' him mind kept repeating. "What's wrong?" 626 asked.
Jumba told the two experiment about the inverter. "Sixteen years ago," he began "Sixteen years ago the Galactic army asked a group of scientists to develop a super weapon, one that could easily destroy and planet in a matter of seconds." 626 listened carefully. "So they put thier heads together and came up with a weapon, a C6-D15, prototype, and scaled down version of the huge weapons aray satelite that had this upon it. The gun fired at a slow rate, but the up was that it fired a deadly ball of electrically charged plasma, an impossible feat. It consisted of a coil several feet in legnth wound arround a barrel, they charged the coil with ten million volts and shot the plasma through it. The first few shots went all over the place, the accuracy of the thing was all but impossible. So they set out to invent something that would make the weapon more accurate. It ran off a small disk like cartridge that was inserted at one end, the crystallic inverter. The purpose of the inverter was to focus the energy into a narrow beam. But it was too powerful to be used as an effective weapon, too much recoil. In a theory it tested at twenty seven million pounds, too much for even a planet to handle. They gave up and halted the project. Ever since the documents have been secured and locked up at the Galactic Defence Base on a deserted asteriod. Untill three years ago, they were stolen and the base blown to oblivion. If this thing does really exist it would be a powerful asset to own." Jumba finished. 626 grined evily a weapon that had the destructive capabilities of him.
Jumba decided to steal the inverter for not only his purposes but for research. He though of some other uses for it arround the place. This would not be the first time he'd made a decision like this. Several years earlier he'd run out of funding for his research. He sent 327 on a hacking crusade, she effectively transfered several million credits into Jumba's account, and left a trail a galaxy wide for the Federation to sift through. Jumba had a shady past, but with 327's help he was as clean as a new dish.
Jumba made plans to leave Turo the next day, he intended to prove 626 worthy of the ultimate fighting machine. He showed 626 the blueprints and the layout of the base. He pointed out several strategic standpoints. T-I63- 6 gaurds would be everywhere, this warehouse complex was also a military post. The planet was mostly desolate, and un-fertile so instead of placing alien soldiers arround the place, they had low mainence mehcanical soldier, or robots. Just the test for 626, several hundred robo-soldiers and an objective.
*
Zri entered the comms room, punched in the seven digit number onto the keyboard and stood on the pad. It took several seconds for the other reciever to pick up. An immage flickered onto one of the holopads, it was the same cloaked figure a before. "You disturb me again, I find this most unnerving. I have reviewed you data on experiment 626. You are correct to assume he is what I've been looking for. You have permission to pursue and capture him, at all costs." the hooded figure spoke in his deep voice. "Jumba is leaving tomorrow to pick up another condencer for hs reactor." Zri reported. "You have indicated he is leaving 626 behind?" the shadowed figure asked. "Nothing is certain yet, but he has aksed me to watch his lab while he's gone, and I have a plan that will give you the boost that is needed." he finished. "Very well, I expect a call later on tomorrow." The transmission ended.
Zri again erased the call and walked out of the room, he had some planning to do.
The forest was beautiful, it smelled of wet leaves and blooming flowers. The sunset created a romantic feeling, it refracted the light off the leaves that were wet from a light rain. A slight wind rustled the leaves and the short grasses that grew under the mammoth trees. Animals of all kinds scurried throught the dead leaves and up trees. Birds sang their songs and filled the air with a hypnotic melody, the bugs joined in, creating a sweet symphony of nature.
"To bad I can't be out there." 327 muttered as she stared into the screen of the computer. She was supposed to be filing the notes and observations Jumba had made on 626. She paged through the notes. '626 has just awoken, it took sometime for the pre programmed lessons to take hold, but when they did he was acting like he had always been like that...' on entry read. She sighed, "I wish he'd give me a break so I can see 626." She'd been cooped up in the controll room filled with dust and super computers since 626 was born, she began to think Jumba was trying to keep her away from him.
The pink alien hit a button that toggled the cameras, she now watched the supply ships unload, the stocky short workers unloaded the supplies and food for the week. A thin scientist in a white lab coat and black under shirt watch in the corner, he had wire rimmed glasses set up on his long head, he pulled aside the foreman, handed him an envelope, whispered some thing into his ear, handed out some credits and dissappeared into the shadows. 327 watched this, 'Something is going down.' or some thing, 'Never seen that before, I think I'll get Jumba.' She leapt off the high chair that faced the computer and ran to the door.
626 was walking down the hall, whistling a tune from a far off planet he'd heard sometime, someplace. He stopped at the controll room door and started to think what he should say to 327, heck Jumba advised he go and meet her, he'd never seen her before. He was uneasy about this. 'What if she doesn't like me?' he thought. 'What if I don't like her.' he paused,'What if....' The door hissed open and 626 looked up from the floor, he was clobbered by a pink thing running at him.
The two experiemnts tumbled for a few feet, and some how 626 landed ontop on 327. They both stared at eachother, 626 felt some thing different when he looked at the pink alien, 327 shared the experience. They both didn't know how to react, they just stared. 626 broke the silence "Sorry." he apologized, he got off of 327 and brushed himself off. "No no, it was my fault." 327 said, she giggled. "What's so funny?" he asked. "Nothing, you must be experiment 626, am I correct?" she asked. "Who wants to know?" he raised an eye brow. "327." she told him. "Oh well in that case, yes, I am." "Well i'm 327," she said shyly. "I know a palce where the drinks are free, care for one?" 626 asked. 'Jumba was right' 327 thought, 'He's cute too.' "Why not?" she grinned.
The two experiments sat at a low table in the corner of the kitchen that Jumba had built for them, both had cups of Turian tea. Both experiments felt untalkative and unsure of each other. "What do you think about Jumba ?" 327 started off simple. " Hmmm.... He's there." 626 said flatly. "...And 625?" she tried to liven the conversation up. "He's ok, just a little diffucult some times." 626 yawned. This conversation was going nowhere interesting. "Any thing...." 626 was cut short. 625 entered the room, a dumb stare upon his face as he picked his nose. He spotted 626 and 327 sitting at a table. He blushed as he pulled his clawed finger from his nose, the gaze of 626 and 327 upon him, he grinned. "I hope I'm not disturbing any thing." 327 stood up, "Yes you've just disturbed my lunch for the past week, excuse me while I go throw up." She walked out of the kitchen. "Ouch." 625 said. "Tough as hell to get to huh?" he said to 626. "She's a little overactive sometimes, like now for instance."
626 was in another world, dreaming of the beautiful 327. His thoughts were interrupted by 625. "Hello?" he yelled, "Turo to 626? is anyone home?" 625 said noisily. 626 turned arround and gave 625 and evil grin, all his teeth bared. "Quiet, or I'll sucker-punch you." 626 got up and walked toward him, hissing as in an attack. "No harm meant, I just.....I....." 626 was getting closer. "Abandon Ship!!" 625 yelled and turned to flee the kitchen. 626 grinned the evilest of grins.
626 was crawling on the ceiling later that night when he spotted 327 under him. He decided to drop down onto her and give her the spook. He let go and fell, 327 moved a bit, offsetting his suprize. He hit the floor, perfectly level with it. 327 cringed when she hear the "WHAP" as 626 hit the floor, she could tell by the sound that it hurt. When she realized it was 626 she rushed over to him. "Are you o.k.?" she started to pick him up. 626 recoved from the stun and stood up on his own will. "Yea, just remind me to tell the good doctor to put in rubber tiling." he joked. He brushed away a tingling feeling arround his nose. "You're bleeding." 327 observed. "It's nothing." he rubbed his nose, that only made it worse, more blood came out. He produced a cloth remnant from his pocket and held it against his nose. He sniffed. "Don't do that! You'll get a mouthfull of blood." 327 scolded him. "Too late." 626 gurguled. 327 sighed.
327 escorted 626 to the lounge area of the lab, it was really the library. Wall to wall of the twenty by tweny area was filled with books, hundreds or even thousands were linned up, cover to dusty cover. There was a lowered area of the library with furniture and a coffee table piled high with subscription magazines in several different languages. 327 laid 626 onto one of the couches. "Lay still untill the bleeding stops." she instructed. "Sorry about 625, earlier today." 626 apologized. "No, it was my fault. I don't like being arround him. Things happen when I am." 327 explained. "Like what?" 626 inquired. "He is annoying, and overall detestable. He usually winds up with bloody noses." 626 chuckled. "I've never had a problem with him." "Oh, trust me, you will. He has a way of getting under your nerves. I can't tell if it's his, out of the universe perspective or what. It just irks me." "Hey, it stopped bleeding!" 626 exclaimed.
"Speaking of which. What were you doing in the hallway, on the roof anyway?" 327 asked. "I was poking arround, looking in rooms that were un- occupied at the moment. I was in the middle of going to another door when I saw you, then decided to drop down and scare you. But that didn't work out as planned." 327 smiled. 626 suddenly jumped up. "I want to continue exploring the place." he announced. "You can come with me if you want." he told 327. She shrugged and followed him out of the room.
626 reached the door he hadn't been behind yet. "That's the medical storage." 327 said. "Thanks for ruining the suprize." 626 hissed. He pushed the door open and entered. 327 turned on the light. The small room had a rack of liquid filled medicines along the wall. There were several boxes stacked in the corner, marked with different black writing. All along one wall was what appeared to be restraints of some kind. "What are all these?" 626 asked picking up a set of tubular handcuffs and examined them. "They're restraints. Back when the Council was funding Jumba's work they required him to keep all his genetic experiments tranquilized, restrained and under lock and key, just for safety reasons. But when the council pulled his funding and passed a law that enstated he couldn't use genetics to create anything, he just kept them." 327 told him. "Yea, but these look pretty recent." 626 noted. "Jumba swiped several pairs of the newer handcuffs several days ago. He tells most of us that he'll put them on us if we don't behave, but I think he's bluffing." 327 informed him. "One heck of a bluff though." he remarked, setting the cuffs down. "Whatever works for him." 327 shrugged.
"It's getting late, I should be getting to bed. All that training takes alot out of you." 626 said. 327 nodded, "I know how you feel. I went through the same hell." 626 headed for the door, "Later." he blinked. 327 was left the the room all alone, a huge grin spead of her face. "I'll have to thank Jumba later." she thought outloud.
*
Over the next three days 626 and 327 became close friends. They spent time together whenever it was available. Jumba noted this, which he thought was strange because 626 wasn't programmed like that. He took a closer look one day and figured out that 327 had most of teh affection toward 626 and not the otherway. He most likely resoned that 626 thought 327 was just a tag- along, or someone to follow.
Occasionally 626 would take 327 over to Zri's to use the holo feature in the gym. Jumba didn't think that was a good idea, he had noticed Zri was eyeing 626 in a rather suspicious manner. He let them go, at least untill he got wind of what Zri found so intersting about 626. He also noted 626 was advancing well in his training, now if only he could get out there and find some place test him.
*
The jungle was quiet, that spooked him. The morning steam was beginnign to fade, making it easier to see through the thick underbrush. He gripped his riffle tighter, she was out there somewhere, waiting for him. But he had to get her first. He crouched down lower on the flat stump of a tree. He pulled a huge branch over himself, making him invisible to the naked eye. But then again he wasn't fighting a primitive species. He breathed quietly so she couldn't hear him.
A rusling in the bush caught his attention. He pointed the riffle in the dirrection of the sound and double checked to make sure it was on stun. She came through the bush, riffle in hand, crouched down low. He watched her slowly slink across the leaf covered ground, he grinned, she hadn't seen him. Slowly he pulled the trigger of the riffle. Before he could finish the pull, she turned toward him and fired blindly into the bush where he was and ran to the nearest tree to hide behind.
"Give up, you'll never win!" he shouted to her. "Ha, come and get me!" a female voice shouted back from the safety of the tree. Things got silent, too much for her. She feared he had moved and was now closing in on her. He poked her head out from behind the stump. The bark right by her eye exploded after the laser round hit it, she pulled back before any debris could get into her eye. "That's a real good way to get your head blown off." she heard him chuckle.
She heard him move out from his cover, this was it. She jumped out from behind the tree hoping to find him with his back turned. She met the open jungle, nothing. She looked up into the trees, then franticly everywhere else. She heard something in the bush, desperately she began a three hundred sixy degree dust off of the jungle.
Slowly he came up behind her, riffle at the draw. He knelt down and aimed the sight right to the center of her back. He fired. The shot hit her and forced her to the ground, she gasped. He smiled. "Simulation ending..." a scratchy electronic voice moaned.
A quick double white flash and the two experiments were back in Zri's gym. A wry grin was spread across 626 face, his riffle was resting on his shoulder. "Got you." he grinned. "You cheated!" 327 hissed. "How?" 626 asked calmly. "You did, I know." she accused. "Final score: 626, four points, 327, two points." the computer said. "Ha, I'm half as good as you!" 327 boasted. "Or, I'm two times better." 626 stuck his tounge out. "Oh stop, let's get back to the lab." 327 tugged at him.
Jumba was rummaging through the repair parts in the reactor room. He was taking inventory of all the spare parts so he could order more before next delivery. He noticed that he had no spare condencer for the reactor. On a clipboard he wrote down, 'Get another Crystallic Condencer'. It might blow at any time. He was leaving the room when a high pitched whislte stopped him, he sighed. That meant one thing, the Crtstallic Condencer was going bad. Alarms rang off loudly, alerting him that the condencer was going to go bad. Jumba decided rather than risk it he would shut down the power. He raised the rods up into the roof of the gigantic reactor and sealed them off. Jumba flipped a switch which cleansed the reactor room of radiation. He waited a few seconds before stepping in. "Oh boy." he groaned as he opened the door to the reactor room.
Several hours, a few cups of coffee, and a trip to the medical area and he was set. He had the condencer wrapped up in a towel, it was still leaking. He set it inside a box and headed for the controll room, which he hoped was still running on auxilary power.
Inside he found 626 and 327 at the computer, 327 was teaching 626 how to get into any file he wanted, even teh restricted ones. He learned quickly and was in no time cracking into the most secure places in the galaxy. Jumba set the condencer on the desk where the computer sat, the loud bump scared the two experiments who were in deep concentration. "327," Jumba said loudly so that he'd grab her attention, "Hmmm." she said, not looking up from the screen. "Get the numbers off this," he pointed to the object on the desk,"And look for another one, make it quick we're running off auxilary power." He left the room and went to talk to Zri about using his reactor temporarily.
327 went through the mainframe to the warehouses on Chenadiss and looked arround there for one. The warehouses on Chenadiss had anything and everything from liquid zyrachronium to hydro-electric bombs. She searched for several minutes, 626 watched her. The reactor Jumba had was so out dated, they might as well had gotten a new one. Determined to find one for him she hacked into the database and snooped there for one. She came across a thing 626 pointed at. "That, there." She accessed the information for the Crystallic inverter, she read the long list of the specifications. 626 realzed that it was the same thing as Jumba was looking for, basic principles anyway, it converted crystals into a high powered beam that was shot at the boiler that produced steam that drove the turbine that produced electricity. 327 searched the database for avalibility, it wasn't even listed. "Odd." she said. "What?" 626 asked. "This thing isn't even listed, maybe they haven't had time to put it up for sale." she suggested. They both decided to wait and consult Jumba.
Half an hour later he appeared in the controll room, "Well, Zri said we could use his reactor for a while, any luck 327?" he panted from running the power cords up to the panel. " Yes and no." she told him. "Yes and no?" Jumba looked confused. "Yes I found one, No it's not avalible." Jumba looked even more confused,"What is it then?" "Well, 626 and I found some thing that might work, a crystallic inverter, ever heard of it?" the pink alien answered. Jumba looked astonished, his jaw dropped, 'crystallic inverter' him mind kept repeating. "What's wrong?" 626 asked.
Jumba told the two experiment about the inverter. "Sixteen years ago," he began "Sixteen years ago the Galactic army asked a group of scientists to develop a super weapon, one that could easily destroy and planet in a matter of seconds." 626 listened carefully. "So they put thier heads together and came up with a weapon, a C6-D15, prototype, and scaled down version of the huge weapons aray satelite that had this upon it. The gun fired at a slow rate, but the up was that it fired a deadly ball of electrically charged plasma, an impossible feat. It consisted of a coil several feet in legnth wound arround a barrel, they charged the coil with ten million volts and shot the plasma through it. The first few shots went all over the place, the accuracy of the thing was all but impossible. So they set out to invent something that would make the weapon more accurate. It ran off a small disk like cartridge that was inserted at one end, the crystallic inverter. The purpose of the inverter was to focus the energy into a narrow beam. But it was too powerful to be used as an effective weapon, too much recoil. In a theory it tested at twenty seven million pounds, too much for even a planet to handle. They gave up and halted the project. Ever since the documents have been secured and locked up at the Galactic Defence Base on a deserted asteriod. Untill three years ago, they were stolen and the base blown to oblivion. If this thing does really exist it would be a powerful asset to own." Jumba finished. 626 grined evily a weapon that had the destructive capabilities of him.
Jumba decided to steal the inverter for not only his purposes but for research. He though of some other uses for it arround the place. This would not be the first time he'd made a decision like this. Several years earlier he'd run out of funding for his research. He sent 327 on a hacking crusade, she effectively transfered several million credits into Jumba's account, and left a trail a galaxy wide for the Federation to sift through. Jumba had a shady past, but with 327's help he was as clean as a new dish.
Jumba made plans to leave Turo the next day, he intended to prove 626 worthy of the ultimate fighting machine. He showed 626 the blueprints and the layout of the base. He pointed out several strategic standpoints. T-I63- 6 gaurds would be everywhere, this warehouse complex was also a military post. The planet was mostly desolate, and un-fertile so instead of placing alien soldiers arround the place, they had low mainence mehcanical soldier, or robots. Just the test for 626, several hundred robo-soldiers and an objective.
*
Zri entered the comms room, punched in the seven digit number onto the keyboard and stood on the pad. It took several seconds for the other reciever to pick up. An immage flickered onto one of the holopads, it was the same cloaked figure a before. "You disturb me again, I find this most unnerving. I have reviewed you data on experiment 626. You are correct to assume he is what I've been looking for. You have permission to pursue and capture him, at all costs." the hooded figure spoke in his deep voice. "Jumba is leaving tomorrow to pick up another condencer for hs reactor." Zri reported. "You have indicated he is leaving 626 behind?" the shadowed figure asked. "Nothing is certain yet, but he has aksed me to watch his lab while he's gone, and I have a plan that will give you the boost that is needed." he finished. "Very well, I expect a call later on tomorrow." The transmission ended.
Zri again erased the call and walked out of the room, he had some planning to do.