Author: Nadz
Email: vegitto02 at yahoo dot com

Disclaimer:
The title "DragonTek" is owned by the author.
Any characters owned by the producers of Tekkaman, Dragonball Z, Dragonball GT, or Rurouni Kenshin are, of course, the property of those respective individuals or companies. Any original characters are strictly owned by the author of this fan fiction.
The story line of the entire DragonTek series is also owned strictly by me.
This story may not be distributed to anybody without the author's permission. However, the author does encourage you to welcome your friends to read DragonTek on FanFiction dot net. Much thanks...

DragonTek (Part I: The Invasion Saga)

Chapter 08 – The Gateway

Aki, Noal, and Blade geared themselves in the Blue Earth as they embarked on their new assignment. Before they departed, General Galt, still in the Command Center, insisted that the group be accompanied by Balzac Asimov, a blond, bearded reporter temporarily working as a war correspondent who would cover Blade. Understandably, the Space Knights were reluctant, but Balzac asserted that his story would give solace to Earth's survivors and would let them know more about their savior, Tekkaman Blade. Freeman allowed the man to stay, provided that he promised not to interfere with the missions.

Aboard the Blue Earth, Balzac saved his questions until after they had launched.

"So, Blade, can you tell me a little something more about yourself? Where do you come from? Can anybody transform using that crystal of yours?" he probed as the Blue Earth headed into space.

"No, only I can transform into a Tekkaman."

"How did you get to be that way; I mean, how did you manage to get the ability to transform?"

"I don't know; I won't know until my memory returns."

"That sounds highly dubious to me; if someone didn't know you any better, they would think you're spying for—" Balzac was interrupted as Blade seized his collar.

"How dare you accuse me of espionage!" Blade snapped. "I'm fighting for this planet, got it?"

"Calm down, kid, I didn't mean it in that way…"

"Approaching the Orbital Ring," interrupted Aki, keeping a steady voice. "And Balzac, please don't ask those types of questions anymore. It doesn't do anybody any good."

"I'm a reporter, and I have to cover all angles; it's my job," Balzac asserted, his thoughts soon distracted upon seeing a huge mass floating in the distance – it was a cocoon holding a horde of buggers.

"Jesus," Noal said, seeing the size of the hive. "That's got to contain at least a million of 'em."

"Holy damn," Balzac whistled, focusing his camera on it. Zooming in, he noticed that dozens of buggers continued to enter and exit the juicy mass every second. Taking pictures, he didn't even notice Blade get up and head for the airlock. Blade turned around, seeing the concern written on Aki's face.

"Time to go to work," said Blade in a confident voice, giving the young woman a sly smile. "Be careful on your mission. I'll try to cover your backs as best as I can."

"Don't worry, Mister Superhero," joked Noal. "We'll be safe once we get inside the Ring."

"Blade, be careful," nodded Aki.

"Don't worry, I'll be fine," Blade nodded before disappearing into airlock. Noal cut off power to the chamber, and the human form of Blade generated the small, emerald crystal in his palm. "Tek-Setta!"

Almost immediately, he burst forth from the ship, enveloped in dazzling light.

'Wow, would you look at that,' Balzac wondered in awe as he took a few snapshots. The light soon disappeared, and left in its stead was Tekkaman Blade, fully transformed, who proceeded to tear through the buggers. They watched in awe, but Aki and Noal soon remembered the reason they had come.

"Come on, Aki; let's head for the landing strip," suggested Noal.

"Those things have to be around here somewhere!" Ichiro said exasperatedly as he looked through the equipment stores. "I should have brought your grandmother along."

"Don't worry, otosan, I think I know where these things are kept," replied Kenshin before opening another door in their underground laboratory. The ground violently shook, and the lights faded on and off as explosions could be heard. The boy began to worry.

"Hurry up, boy. We have to get back quickly," Ichiro replied hastily. 'If that explosion was another Radam attack, we can't afford to waste even a minute. Vegita and Goku have to destroy the buggers before the majority of them get here.'

"Got it!" Kenshin announced happily, pulling out several small bottles from the shelves. "I also took a few other pills that might help."

Both father and son raced upstairs, only to see blue laser beams raining down onto the ground and destroying the buildings around. Hundreds of survivors were running and screaming, searching for cover. A few people were not so fortunate; they were instantly fried upon direct contact with the thick beams.

"Stay underground!" Ichiro yelled to them before turning to his son. "Kenshin, we have to—"

Nobody had been listening to him, for the youth had already set off for Dende's Sky Palace.

'That's my boy,' Ichiro smiled as he flew after his son.

'These things are so annoying,' he groaned. The closer Blade got to a hive, the more buggers came around to attack him. He had already killed dozens of them, yet more and more surrounded him.

'This is going to take forever.' He considered using his Voltekker beam to clear his way, but he needed to save that energy for the hive itself. 'God, here come some more.'

Three buggers swooped in from the right, but Blade flew upwards and fired three razor edges from his lance into their bodies. They roared as the edges drove them into other buggers, causing the involved creatures to explode. Another one attacked from above, and Blade drove his lance straight up its belly.

'I'm wasting too much time with these pawns. I've got to get closer!'

"Aki, look, they've already starting firing those lasers! Get to the landing strip faster!"

"Be patient, Noal," she said, directing the craft towards the strip just ahead. "Starting descent."

Aki was an experienced pilot and navigator. She had been flying since the early age of sixteen, when she joined the Space Knights. An incredibly intelligent and talented girl, she received promotions faster than anybody else had, and her constant solid determination had earned her a spot on the Space Knight's core crew. Yet, every mission brought about a new wave of tension for this young woman.

"Almost there," she said as she lowered the plane and slowed it down to the appropriate velocity.

"I don't think so," a loud voice said suddenly with condescension.

"What the hell? Where's that voice coming… oh, no, look outside," said Balzac, his mouth agape at the thing he saw flying towards them. It had a humanoid form but was covered with a bluish-green armor, and it was brandishing a very sharp weapon as it approached.

"Dagger? I thought Blade had killed him!" yelled Noal. Aki thought as fast as she could; she suddenly jerked the craft downwards onto the runway, avoiding Dagger's attack as he flew over them. Yet, the sudden descent caused the ship's wheels to collapse under the Blue Earth's weight, and the craft crash-landed into the landing strip.

"Argh!" they all screamed. The craft violently shook as it grazed and skidded against the surface of the strip; eventually it came to a halt. Inside, all three could barely move from the shock.

"My head," moaned Aki, as she felt the blood trickle down her head. She couldn't move; it hurt her too much. 'My head hurts so much… the world… so black…'

"Aki, Balzac, are you all right?" asked Noal as he managed to get out from his seat. 'Oh, no, what a mess, and we still have to stop those lasers.'

"I think I'm okay," came Balzac's reply, as he too struggled out of his seat.

"Aki, how are you?" Noal said as he crept towards her unconscious form. "Aki, answer me! Oh, no, she's hurt, Balzac, we have to help her."

"Let me look at her," Balzac said as he examined her. "Don't move her yet! I'll check her vital signs... Her pulse is seeming a little irregular; get me your emergency equipment!"

Noal went to the back and quickly retrieved some of the medical equipment; turning to Balzac, he protested, "Hey, I know what to do in this situation."

"Just shut up, and let me handle this," Balzac rudely replied. "I have to stabilize her first."

Balzac continued to work on her as quickly as he could. He laid her down and used his emergency procedures on her. First he stopped the bleeding from her head; next he wrapped a bandage around the cut.

"There, she should be good for now," the supposed reporter said, wiping a drop of sweat off of his brow. "We have to get her back to Earth as soon as possible."

"Thanks, Balzac, but I find it a little strange that you know so much about emergency rescue. I thought you were a reporter," Noal asked suspiciously, narrowing his eyes.

"Yes, and I also did emergency rescue back in the day. Now, I guess since Aki is out of commission, I'll have to accompany you on your mission. We'll have to leave her here; she'll be fine as long as nothing happens to the ship."

Noal nodded, and both men put on their space suits before making their way outside of the craft. The door of the laser control-room was just hundreds of feet away, easily traversable for them. The men crouched underneath the hatch of the ship and waiting for the moment that appeared to be most seemly.

"Now!" whispered Noal as they dashed towards the door; however, their sprint was quickly cut short as Tekkaman Dagger flew in front of them from above. The two men stopped cold.

"How nice of you to come," chuckled Dagger. "I was starting to think you humans had given up."

"Sorry, pal, we're here to stay," returned Noal. "It's you Radam who should quit."

"Ho, ho, I am being overcome with fear," snickered Dagger as he took a step closer. "That's quite big talk from somebody who can't even destroy a spider-crab, and considering that your armies around the world are being crushed, you're not giving us much of a reason to leave."

Ichiro looked behind and observed the destruction around him.

'Only a few more minutes until the palace,' he thought, still not able to catch up with his son.

"Young one, I feel that time is coming again," Bezel said as he walked up to her cell and looked deeply, yet condescendingly, into her eyes. "You are a pretty one, I might add. Perhaps after this is over, we can get to know each other on a more… intimate level."

"Go fuck yourself," Alena whispered, scowling.

"My friend, get ready to open the portal," he said as he turned to the devilish figure, which was sitting on a rock nearby, silently observing it all. The figure slowly stood up and stretched its extremities.

"It's about time, Bezel. I was getting quite bored watching you two," it grinned, looking at Alena trapped in the cell he had specially created for her.

'No, the Blue Earth!' Blade seethed, watching the ship crash. 'I've got to help them, but I need to destroy this hive first! But Aki is down there… what if she's hurt? No, I have to take care of this hive first. Get out of my way, you rats!'

Blade continued to slice his way towards his target.

'Just get a little closer… a little closer… just a little more… finally!'

"Here they come," said Pan as she saw Ichiro and Kenshin approach in the distance. She had begun to worry as to what had been taking them so long. Her thoughts were answered as she saw them fly towards the Sky Palace, and she called for everybody else to greet them.

"Come out, they're here!" the old lady announced.

As the group ran out, Kenshin and Ichiro landed softly on the terrace of the palace. The boy ran towards his grandmother and handed her the bottles. Ichiro and his son looked eagerly at Anita, waiting for her to give them her sign of approval.

"Good work," she nodded her head. "These are the pills that we needed."

Anita took two pills and threw them against the ground, causing a small explosion. As the smoke cleared, two cream-colored space suits lay on the ground. Goku and Vegita stared at the two uniforms and felt a large sweat drop appear on the side of their heads.

'God, are those things are ugly,' Goku gagged in his mind. 'Am I going to have to fight in that?'

"Here you are boys. They're as durable as you can get, for I designed them with you fighters in mind," Anita announced. "They won't get damaged even if you turn Super Saiya-jin!"

"Grandma, you really are a genius, aren't you?" smiled Kenshin as Goku and Vegita cautiously fitted themselves into their suits. "What do you think, Grandpa?"

"It looks just fine," Akira responded distractedly, looking lost. 'What is this presence I feel? It only started just moments ago…'

"I'm ready to fight, and beat those Ra—" Vegita was cut off by Nio's scream.

"Grandpa!" Nio yelled as a circular blue portal appeared and expanded behind Akira.

"What in the world?" he asked, turning around to face it. As quickly as lighting, an armored hand sprung out and grabbed the elderly man by the throat. Akira gasped for air; he released a blast at the portal but to no avail. Ichiro began to run towards Akira, but Kenshin beat him to it.

"Grandfather!" Kenshin cried out, dashing for the portal.

"Kenshin, no!" Ichiro yelled as he pursued his son from behind.

The hand quickly pulled Akira through the gate, and it began to collapse into itself.

"I'm coming for you, ojiisan!" Kenshin yelled, diving through the portal just before it closed.

"My son! My father!" Ichiro cried as everyone else looked on with shock.