Starship Eternia
Sol System, Leaving Earth Space
0930 HOURS, 3 May 2017
The bridge crew, and the entire ship's compliment watching the nearest monitor, stared silently at the breathtaking view of the earth. Somebody joked over the intercom that they could see their house from here. The six Guardians had braved the acceleration up to orbit to come up to the bridge to watch blue sky fade to black, star-speckled night. The action had gone against Captain Majourny's orders that non-crewmembers remain where they were in case the inertia dampers experienced a problem, but she let it go. How often does one get to see sights like this, anyway?
While the crew continued to take in the view, Captain Majourny left her seat and walked to the back of the bridge to converse with the six spectators. "This ship your brought us is incredible, Sorceress. Ace said it flies like a bird."
Although the starship technically belonged to her, as the human concept of salvage rights went, Sorceress would not hear of claiming ownership. "I'm sure it will do everything you ask of it, and more."
"Now that we are away from the planet, do you feel a sense of what direction to take?" Jo-jo had been concerned about this part. Would the nightmares these six experienced lessen now that they were actually on the move? Sorceress claimed to feel a slight pull, a desire to get away from earth and heard in a specific direction.
The six conversed briefly. All of them were apparently now feeling a drive toward some distant location. Hopefully that location was where the power armor lay hidden. Finally, Sorceress pointed out the transparent etherium canopy. Ensign Comorov figured up a course and soon had it plotted according to the spatial maps stored in the computer.
"I have it plotted, captain. However…" the ensign trailed off, uncertain.
"Say it, ensign. What's the problem?"
"Well, captain, the course takes up close to that Horde fleet sitting just outside the solar system."
"How close?"
"Um, as spatial distances go, um, spitting distance. They could attack or intercept us easily."
The science officer cleared his throat. "Captain? I've had intermittent contact with – something – out there. I place it roughly in the Mars orbit. Could be a vessel."
"Can you pin it down any better than that, Mister Anderson?"
"No, Captain. If it's a Horde ship, they may have some type of shield of system that deflects our scans."
Jo-jo nodded. "Very well. We figured they might have a ship of two spying on our system. Keep a close watch. They may try to follow us."
"Uh, oh," Jake said warningly. "She's got that look."
Jo-jo ignored him. "Could Horde Prime know of your existence here and now?"
Sorceress shook her head. "No. But, like me, he is a creature of magic. He can probably sense a being of incredible power is in the galaxy, but in a vague almost indistinct way. The same way I sense his presence. Something has changed in the universe. Normally, the Guardian of Grayskull cannot leave the castle in human form except for extremely short periods, or without a magic crystal. Such is the nature of the mantle of the Sorceress. However, as you can see, I exist in my human form instead of that of a falcon. I also sense the untapped magic of your world. You have grown away from it as a race. And my magic has grown more powerful than it ever used to be."
"Earth's influence, perhaps?"
Sorceress considered that a moment. "Possibly. I think the answer lays in Grayskull itself."
"Well, first things first." Jo-jo interrupted. "We need to find the armor. This sensation you all feel is the only guide we have. Our immediate problem is the Horde fleet out there."
"I would say it's a safe bet they intend to trap us. Why else have a couple scout ships in the system?" Jake replied.
"Just because we recognize the trap doesn't mean we can avoid it," Adrian added.
Jo-jo conversed with Colonel Markson briefly over the intercom, advised him to make his people ready just in case, and decided upon a course of action. Returning to the Captain's chair, Captain Majourny ordered, "Ace, follow Mister Comorov's course plot. Half sub-light power. We'll press on as if we don't know anything is amiss. Mister Anderson, if that vessel looks like it's following us, let me know."
"Aye, Captain," Ensign Anderson replied without taking his eyes from the sensor displays.
The view outside shifted abruptly. The earth spin away to the right as Ace brought the ship around on course for the edge of the solar system. A sliver of the moon appeared to the left as the main engines engaged and thrust them on their way. The moon disappeared within minutes and leaving a star-filled void the only scene to look at. No one could feel the vibrations of the mighty engines, but there was a slight hum probably from either the structural integrity system, inertia dampers, gravity plates, or all the above.
Once clear of the moon's gravity well, and had a course plotted through the asteroid belt, Captain Majourny told Ace, "Take her up to maximum, Ace. Let's see what this thing can do." Everyone was so absorbed in his or her task, and with the Guardians returned to the Ready Room, no one saw the slight smile Jo-jo wore as the engine power increased. Boys with toys? Hell! Girls with toys!
Horde Advance Fleet
Sol System, Coreward Rim
1100 HOURS, 3 May 2017
The trip through the asteroids took a little longer than expected. Chunks of starship-killing rock bouncing around the belt occasionally crossed the Eternia's path forcing them to slow down and detour around them. Once through, Ace throttled the engines back up to full power and, at his discretion granted by the captain, gave the control systems a workout to see how they would perform. Captain Majourny's plan was a two-fold one. One: it gave her crew a chance to shake out any bugs still in the ship. Two: they kept an eye on the horde ships in front and behind without looking like they were keeping an eye on them.
The scout ships, numbering four in all they later discovered, were initially caught off guard, but they recovered quickly. The fleet in front of them began maneuvering for intercept by the time the Eternia reached the Saturn orbit. Horde ships spread themselves out in a kind of net to catch them no matter what evasive course they tried to take. That's when the communication came in.
Someone identifying himself as General Rongar ordered the Eternia to halt at the rim, and prepare to be boarded. Jo-jo scoffed at that. The blockade, however, meant business. All the ships in the fleet right down to the scout ships out-massed the Eternia at least three times over. The largest were easily twelve times the Eternia's volume. Sensor readings of the power output of the battleship pegged the meter. No way they could fight something like that. After a brief meeting with Colonel Markson and the Guardians, the only real option was clear.
General Rongar was asking for a civilized meeting. Captain Majourny would agree on the condition no Horde troops attempted to enter the ship. If they did, they would me met with deadly force which could include blowing the ship up to keep it out of their hands. To their surprise, the Horde commander agreed. Jake had a bad feeling about it echoed by Colonel Markson. However, if they had any hope of getting past the fleet, meeting with its commander may be the first step.
Ten minutes from docking with the enemy battleship, Captain Majourny addressed the crew. "This is the captain. Myself, Colonel Markson, Ensign Anderson, and a squad of soldiers will be meeting with the Horde commander within the next thirty minutes. I expect all of you to remain calm and stay alert. No one other than my party is to exit or enter the ship. If the Horde tries to take this ship by force, repel that boarding party by whatever means necessary. I hope it won't be necessary, but lets be on our toes. Carry on. Captain out."
Next, Jo-jo addressed Ace. "Ace, if they try to take the ship, defend yourselves. If it looks like we can't make it back, blast your way out and continue the mission." She held up a hand to forestall any objection. "If it looks like you can't escape, destroy the ship. Make sure they can't find out what we know. Those are your orders, Mister McCloud. I expect you to carry them out."
As she rose from her seat to go join Colonel Markson and his team at the boarding ramp, Lieutenant Harvey Denton, the weapons officer, replied, "Captain, we won't leave you behind."
At the hatch, Jo-jo answered, "If we don't make it back, there won't be anybody behind. Commence docking maneuvers when ready. Mister McCloud, the ship is yours." With that, she was gone.
Ace approached the cavernous docking bay cautiously, though he had plenty of room to maneuver. Scores of robot troopers filled the bay. The big, bulky front line troops dominated the scene with squads of the more human-shaped black troopers scattered about. Ace brought the starship in on lifting thrusters and glided to the assigned landing space. Theirs was the only craft in the bay. No fighters, shuttles, or transports could be seen.
Once settled on the deck with all systems powering down, the boarding ramp lowered and was secured by Alpha Squad. Humans and robots glared at one another across a no-mans-land of fifty meters of open deck around the starship. Captain Majourny, Colonel Markson, and Ensign Anderson proceeded to the bottom of the ramp to await the general's greeting party.
They didn't have to wait long. An honor guard formed up to create an isle from the blast doors directly in from of the ship almost to the boarding ramp. The remaining robots formed up in flights of twenty on either side. The black robots, though not formed up, placed themselves at vantage points around the area with their weapons held a port arms. As if on queue with the last robot getting into position, the blast doors parted with a slight mechanical hum as a party of one humanoid and three brick red-colored robots strode toward them.
The humanoid was extremely tall, nearly six feet six inches. He wore polished gray armor exactly like that of the front line troopers. The red bat wing design on the breastplate stood out in stark contrast. Colonel Markson thought the red tint was that of blood, but it had to be a trick of the lighting. The colonel was also the tallest of the party at six feet one inches and he still had to look up at the approaching Horde commander.
Rongar stopped five feet from the humans and appraised them coolly. Captain Majourny's first thought of this man was he was not an enemy to take lightly. Nor was he someone to take an enemy lightly. His eyes looked each member of her party over in a cold calculating manner searching out strengths and weaknesses. The side arms each wore on the hip did not go unnoticed. For their part, Alpha Squad stood at the ready with pulse rifles pointed to the deck, but could be snapped up to firing position in an instant. Not one of them broke their stance, yet each member kept a careful eye on their respective field of fire for any kind of trickery.
Having sized up the opposition, General Rongar stepped forward to address Captain Majourny. He knew she had to be the leader of the expedition simply because she was the ranking female present. And she had the air of command about her. "Captain Majourny. A pleasure to meet you. Welcome aboard the Imperial warship Hoscar. It translates in your language roughly as 'Dread'."
Cheery name. Can't say the same about meeting you. Like the general, Jo-jo did not extend her hand in greeting. "Thank you for your hospitality in hosting this meeting. We are not at war, general. What we do within our home system is none of your concern."
Rongar smiled thinly. "You get right to the point. Excellent. I like that in a leader. The pompous games of, as you might say, 'beating around the bush', I find irritating and tiresome."
"Then we can agree on one thing, at least," Jo-jo replied. She introduced Colonel Markson, Ensign Anderson, and mentioned Alpha Squad as a whole.
"Well, captain, shall we adjourn to more pleasant surroundings?" General Rongar proposed. When Alpha Squad formed up for escort, he added, "You may leave your escorts behind. You will be safe enough here."
Jo-jo countered with, "Would you feel safe if our roles were reversed and you were on earth?"
Touché' "Very well, but do not wonder away from the group and I expect those rifles to remain slung at all times. For your own safety, of course."
Colonel Markson nodded so slightly to Sergeant Bobby White, the squad leader, that even the casual observer looking at the colonel wouldn't have seen it. Sergeant White did and nodded to his command in turn.
"There they go," Ace replied, gazing out the canopy. "This is the part I hate. The waiting."
No one on the bridge disagreed.
Horde Battleship Hoscar
Sol System, Coreward Rim
1300 HOURS, 3 May 2017
Lieutenant Rodney Santana dispatched repair crews to the various jobs left incomplete before the launch. Some of the jobs were repairs needed since launching. Ace's maneuvers found a definite lag in the inertia damping system that had to be corrected. Most of the work was internal, but several jobs required going outside. Two crews were topside opening access panels to primary power conduits while one crew had to repair a burned-out power coupling for the ventral quad lasers. All external work took place under the watchful eye of Horde Troopers. Though most had dispersed after General Rongar and his guests exited the hangar, there were still plenty around to cause trouble.
While this was going on, the Guardians prowled the corridors. Sorceress had been on the verge of sleep when the jolts of touchdown on the hangar deck woke her. None of them knew of the approach and landing in the Horde battleship until Captain Majourny's party was well away.
They soon discovered the ulterior motives behind not trying to get past the Horde fleet. Hohiro Takamora had been given the task of trying to penetrate the battleship's main computer and see what they could dig up. Hohiro's team assembled in the port side drop bay. Adrian, Jake, and Sorceress wandered in as the six make the final check of their equipment.
"Gentlemen," Jake began once the trio was in earshot. Cathreine O'Rourke glanced up from her computer hacking equipment. "And ladies," Jake amended. "Looks like y'all are going on a little field trip."
"Not now, Jake," Naomi Rider warned.
"Now is that any way to treat a fellow ground pounder?" Jake replied looking hurt.
"This is not the time for your frivolous banter," Hohiro said, walking up on them from behind. "I expected to see Adrian with you." He looked around, but didn't see the man anywhere.
The pistol on his right hip suddenly leapt from the holster. Hohiro spun into the face of a devilishly grinning Adrian Cobretti. "You're slipping," Adrian replied hand the weapon back butt-first.
"You just caught me off guard," Hohiro replied, stone-faced.
"I thought you said that was impossible," Sorceress said, giving him a slit-eyed look.
"We have a mission. We can practice another time."
"We didn't come here to practice. We can to offer our help," Jake argued.
Naomi jumped in before anyone else. "You don't have your armor yet. Let us handle this. You aren't fully trained for this sort of thing."
"And how do you propose getting past the Horde Troopers?" Sorceress replied coolly. "Are you going to walk up and ask them to allow you access to the main computer?"
"Of course not! If I could access their computer remotely from here, I would. But that would be discovered quickly enough and likely get us all killed," Catherine answered. "So we have to attempt direct access. We've narrowed down the location."
Sorceress crossed her arms and repeated, "Again, I ask how you intend to get past the troopers."
"We'll think of a way," Private Johnson retorted.
Hohiro had had enough. "Quiet! All of you! Sorceress, do you have a suggestion as to how we might slip past the Horde troops?"
Naomi and several others rolled their eyes, but wisely kept quiet. Sorceress ignored them. "I believe my magic can conceal you."
"As in a spell of invisibility? Hmm. That might work. I get the feeling there is a 'but' somewhere in all this" Hohiro surmised.
"You could use a few people watching your backs while you work," Jake answered. "The others will stay here to back us up if need be to get back."
"You've obviously thought this out," Hohiro commented. He turned his gaze to the Sorceress. "I hadn't expected you to come along."
"If something happens to the spell, I can alter it better at close range. I might be of help in other ways," she replied, surprising herself be continuing to got along with Jake's rather insane idea.
"Sir, with all due respect, we can handle this," Private Johnson persisted. Noami uttered her agreement.
"I, however, am in command of this operation. And I have seen the Sorceress' ability on several occasions." That ended the argument then and there. To the three Guardians, Hohiro ordered, "Arm yourselves. Adrian and Jake, the two of you will look after Sorceress. And keep an eye out for trouble." Sorceress blanched at the holstered pistol he handed to her.
Reluctantly, Sorceress buckled on the gun belt and strapped the holster against her right thigh. At least the color matches the uniform. That thought surprised her. More and more she was thinking and even acting like a 'typical' woman. Not necessarily a bad thing. Sorceress just considered herself far from being a typical woman.
Jake and Adrian armed themselves with pistols and a couple of the few laser rifles captured two years ago. And Adrian tucked a beam saber into his belt when no one was looking.
The group now numbering nine went to the aft maintenance access ladder. Keeping out of sight of any observer from the hangar deck, Hohiro nodded for Sorceress to begin her spell. It had been a while since she'd done this sort of thing, and could imagine what a few must have been thinking when she shut her eyes and raised her hands. Those shapely hands wove small arcane patterns and glowed briefly as she created the spell around all nine people. When she was done a few seconds after starting, she nodded to the mission commander.
"I don't feel any different," Naomi scoffed, keeping her voice down. "And I can still see everyone."
"That's the point," Sorceress answered. "We can see one another and everything else. But we are now invisible to our surroundings. The hard part was weaving the spell to affect electronic eyes like those of the troopers and the surveillance cameras. We are quite invisible."
To punctuate the point, several members of the repair crew working on the ventral quad gun power conduit made their way up the access stairs carrying their tool kits. Hohiro and Jake stepped out of the way, and the engineers passed completely oblivious to the team standing there.
Jake whistled quietly. "They didn't see us."
"What about noise, conversation?" Hohiro asked Sorceress.
"We can be heard. I suggest quiet conversation only when necessary."
The man nodded. As if anticipating this entire turn of events, the former Marine produced several foam-lined boxes containing earpieces. Sub-vocal communicators tied into the Combined Forces frequencies. Someone would be monitoring their progress and comm. Chatter throughout the operation. The other three Guardians where waiting in the command room watching for when they might be needed.
With the comm check complete, Hohiro ordered his command to move out with the Sorceress in the center of the formation and Jake and Adrian flanking her.
Horde Battleship Hoscar
Sol System, Coreward Rim
1330 HOURS, 3 May 2017
Captain Majourny, Colonel Markson, and Ensign Anderson were escorted to a lavishly decorated reception room where a meal was being laid out for them. Alpha Squad waited outside while the four dined. No one was sure what to make of all this. They certainly hadn't expected to be granted a tour of the ship. Colonel Markson couldn't have hoped for better, especially when the tour took them past the entrance to the main computer memory core.
Now that the target has identified, Hohiro could go to work. All he and the captain had to do was stall for time. The colonel checked his watch, saw the time was almost 1300 hours, and nodded to the captain. The tour had taken more time than anticipated, but it was a huge ship.
Captain Majourny and Colonel Markson engaged General Rongar in polite, if restrained, conversation about the state of affairs in the galaxy. Rongar pointed out that the universe was a dangerous place. There were many enemies out there the Horde could protect Earth against if they willingly joined the Empire. Captain Majourny pointed out they did not make policy, which Rongar countered with the point that the policy-makers were far, far away.
Ensign Anderson kept out of the conversation. He put his talents to use noting the technology right down to whatever had been used to create the meal, which he found surprisingly delicious. The ale, claimed to have been discovered on the opposite side of the galaxy, went down smooth and did not seem to have an alcoholic bite to it. The rest of the setting was based on Horde knowledge of earth culture. The ensign shuddered inwardly at just how much these people knew about earth.
An aid, this one barely humanoid, entered, nodded to the Horde commander, and departed. "Excuse me," the man replied, rising from his plush chair. "There is a matter I must attend to. Please, continue your meal."
When he has gone and they were relatively alone the real conversation began.
"Well, they should be on their way. Unless that matter he had to attend to involves them," Colonel Markson replied, looking at his watch.
"Oh, I don't think they have been discovered. Hohiro is too smart for that," Captain Majourny said. "And I have a feeling he has some help."
"And how do you know that," the colonel inquired as Ensign Anderson wandered about the room looking over the wall hangings and artifacts. He produced a tiny digital camera to take pictures of anything of interest.
"Do you really think Jake Rockwell with be content to sit around once he finds out what Hohiro is up to? If the Sorceress can use her magic to add that mission, Jake will not sit by and let her go without an escort. Adrian won't allow it either, for that matter," Jo-jo explained.
Markson hadn't considered the Sorceress' magical abilities. "But will her magic defeat the electronic devises like cameras and the eyes of the troopers?"
Good question. Ensign Anderson piped up," Um, captain, colonel, I heard a rumor the Sorceress practiced her magic on destroyed Horde troopers. Supposedly there was an experiment program going that tested her magic against technology. I'm not sure what the results were." He looked suddenly stricken for having spoken out of turn.
Jo-jo tried to put the suddenly terrified young man at ease. "I heard those rumors as well. Though I haven't asked her directly, I think there is some truth to them. In any event, I don't think it'll be too much longer before we find out. Let's just see how much we can fine out. I'm sure he's trying to learn as much from us as we are trying to learn from him."
"They certainly are secure in their superiority," Ensign Anderson commented.
"Exactly, ensign," Colonel Markson agreed. "And that gives us the advantage."
"Time for round two," Ensign Anderson said pointedly, returning to his seat.
General Rongar had returned.