Main Computer Core
Horde Battleship Hoscar
1335 HOURS, 3 May 2017
It had been as simple as walk casually, but quietly to get past the troopers. Everywhere the group went they were constant alert for signs of trouble. They also had to watch out that they didn't run into a robot along the way. The team moved with extreme caution in a 2-by-2 cover formation with Jake and Adrian eventually watching the rear. Hihiro stayed close to the Sorceress as the team progressed. Several times he inquired about the spell, but there seemed to be nothing to worry about. For now.
Down two levels and forward nearly two hundred yards lay the main computer memory core. Access to the chamber was a ten-foot square blast door. Catherine O'Rourke took one look at the security pad to the right of the door and announced she could not bypass it with out tripping alarms. They would have to find another way in.
Naomi pointed to a ventilation duct high on the wall to the left, but further investigation proved it was too small for any of them to crawl through. On a hunch, Jake and Adrian led the crew back about ten meters to a door that appeared to go nowhere. Nervous looks passed around. Sorceress shook her head. No one on the other side she could sense, so Jake hit the button on the right. Rifles snapped to the ready as the hatch slid aside. Nobody home. Hohiro nodded to Adrian, who led the way into what turned out to be a maze of service corridors and crawl spaces. After ten minutes of exploration they found the corridor leading straight to the memory core. This time Catherine announced she could bypass this one. The security overrides were not as heavy as one might have expected. Two minutes more and they were in.
"Holy shit," someone hissed.
They entered into a chamber roughly one hundred yards in diameter. The center of the chamber had the only seats available, one chair on a raised platform with a huge console with touch-sensitive controls. Though the platform, itself fifty feet in diameter, was dwarfed by the towering columns of crystal rods in a metal framework.
Catherine set up shop on the other side of the control console pulling off access panels and examining the internal working to set up her hacking equipment. The rest of the team, save Private Road, spread out through the chamber to make sure they were alone. Private Road sat at the console, opened his equipment pack, and set to work setting up his gear for copying the information they were after.
Adrian wandered off to one of the four-meter tall memory cores seemingly getting a closer look at the crystals. Sensing something was a little off, Sorceress followed. She got just close enough to hear him whisper, "Get out of my head!"
"Adrian? Is something wrong?"
Surprised momentarily, he quickly recovered. "Yeah, fine."
"You don't look it. You have been a little preoccupied since we landed. What's wrong," she persisted.
"Nothing, dammit. Let's just get on with this." He made to move past her, but she caught his shoulder, and with a level of strength he hadn't expected, stopped him.
"I can feel it. Tell me," she said very quietly, yet demandingly. Hohiro and Jake noticed the pair and wandered over.
Adrian sighed heavily. "One of your theories is there may be some piece of their essence within the armor. There may be some truth to it."
Sorceress couldn't cover the shock crossing her face. "You sound sure of that."
"I am. Since setting foot on this ship there has this voice in my head. I figure it has to be the one who wore the suit I'm to use. He keeps telling me to accept his knowledge and experience and to use it as it was intended."
Hohiro's brow furled. "How's that?"
"I'm not sure, but the one time I let my guard slip he, it, whatever it is implanted some knowledge," Adrian hissed angrily.
Jake appeared lost, which wasn't too hard for him. "You make it sound like a bad thing. What knowledge was imparted to you?"
Adrian pulled the beam saber from the small of his back where it was tucked into his belt. "I can now use this as well as any master. Better, even. Almost as if I had been trained for years."
Hohiro appeared unconvinced. "Sorceress, is this possible?"
She took a deep breath to organize her thoughts. "When I took over stewardship of Castle Grayskull I knew nothing about magic. I had no ability, affinity, or knowledge whatsoever. After being dropped into a pool of raw power by the castle, and after determining whether or not my heart was pure, the power of Grayskull was bestowed upon me. I gained the knowledge and the ability to use the magical powers I had been given presumably from the castle. So to answer your question I would have to say, yes. Yes, it is possible."
Restrained commotion at the platform drew their attention though the tactical frequency remained quiet. "I can't advise you on this," Hohiro said quietly. "When the time comes you will have to decide whether or not to accept what appears to be a gift from across the ages. If the experience and knowledge of the original Guardians really is somehow available, then I am of the opinion that it is something to be accepted in the spirit it seems to be offered. Now, let's go see what they have done."
Catherine's attempt to tap into the computer system was successful. However, there was a time limit. Private Road went to work as soon as his laptop computer screen lit up from the successful connection.
"We're in," Catherine replied when the last tap was in place.
"Roger that," Private Road replied, fingers flying. One hand on the laptop keypad, one on the control console. "We have a solid link." Alien symbols scrolled across numerous screens. On the laptop, the language was translated into English. "Okay, guys and girls. These files are encrypted. Shouldn't take me more than a few minutes. Ah, huh. I got your password right here."
While he worked, Private Johnson took up station at the access corridor they used to enter the chamber. Twice he signaled them to stop and go silent. He closed the hatch and tensed as slender work robots passed through the corridor. When the area was clear, work resumed.
"Got it!" Private Road nearly shouted. "Fast Freddie strikes again. I have my hand up her skirt and I am going for the gold!"
"Just copy the goddamned files, okay?" Hohiro chastised warningly.
The numbers continued to tumble in Hohiro's head as he willed the equipment to work just that much quicker. The longer the taps remained in place the more likely it became they would be discovered. All that went out the window when the heavy blast doors opened with a deep whirring sound. Two troopers clomped through, and the doors closed behind them.
At the sound of the opening doors, Catherine dropped down behind the console while Private Road snapped the screen down on the laptop. He dove for cover behind the console with Catherine. Everyone else scattered among the towering crystal structures of the core. The troopers marched into the open in the center of the chamber. Red eye slits in the domed heads panned back and forth looking for intruders. They conversed among themselves, eyes flashing with every word.
"The security scan indicated tampering in the core," one trooper said.
"I don't see anything," the second one replied.
The first trooper walked over to the console. Up close he could clearly see the closed laptop resting out in the open. "Then what do you call this?"
Both snapped up their laser rifles, domed heads swiveling about once more. They knew whomever left that instrument would not go far. Hohiro slithered out of the darkness, laser rifle up and ready. When the first trooper saw him, the machine squealed a warning just as a red bolt of energy exploded its dome. The second trooper had Hohiro dead to rights and was prepared to cut down the intruder, but never got off a shot. The trooper simply stood frozen in place as if all its joints had suddenly locked up. The tip of a red beam saber sprouted from between the bat wings on the chest plate. It continued to grow another fifteen inches before snapping back quicker than it had appeared. Smoke erupted from the gaping hole and from around the seam of the dome. It collapsed in a heap at the feet of Adrian Cobretti still clutching the activated beam saber.
Hohiro nodded his thanks. "O'Rouke, Road, you're finished. Pull the plug."
Road opened the laptop and reviewed the copying progress. "A few more seconds," he pleaded and Catherine set to work.
"We're out of time. Disconnect. NOW!"
Road remained frozen in place, eyes on the screen. Hohiro was about to order the kid to stop for the last time when he snapped the computer closed. "Done." He set about disconnection from Catherine's rig.
Jake Rockwell joined Private Johnson, and together they kept an eye out for unwanted traffic. The equipment was packed away in a matter of minutes, and the team gathered at the maintenance corridor. Hohiro consulted the convenient map of the ship Private Road downloaded into each member's wrist computer. They could remain undetected in the maintenance corridors back up to the hangar deck. After that, they would have to cross fifty yards of corridor to get to the hanger, and another twenty yards to the Eternia. That course would also preserve the Sorceress' magical strength until it was really needed.
Hohiro spoke quietly though the sub-vocal mic to the command center in the ship to inform them of what was happening, and what they were about to do. That done, Hohiro ordered his team to move out.
Main Conference Room
Horde Battleship Hoscar
1350 HOURS, 3 May 2017
General Rongar tired of the game. It was getting him nowhere. And now there appeared to be a disturbance in the main computer memory core. He underestimated this Captain Majourny. If their roles had been reversed he would likely have done the same.
"General Rongar. Report from the memory core. Two troopers down. Signs of some kind of a tap had been installed in the control console."
Troopers entered the conference room on the heels of the announcement. "Well, captain. It appears you humans are more resourceful than I first gave you credit. Tell me, just how did you manage to get out of the hangar?"
Jo-jo's blood turned to ice at the announcement. Hohiro's team was still on the loose or their capture or death would have been announced. Or would it. "As you said, we are resourceful."
Rongar shook his head. "No. You had help. Who is it?"
"The same way you knew when we left earth," Jo-jo countered.
"I beg your pardon?" their host said, visibly surprised.
"Don't. It's unbecoming. The only way you could have known when we launched was if you had spies left behind two years ago," Captain Majourny elaborated.
"Now," Colonel Markson said loud enough to be heard in the sub-vocal mic tucked in his left ear.
Alpha Squad had seen the troopers coming and suspected trouble even before the announcement, which they heard courtesy of the colonel's mic. At his command, Alpha Squad burst into the room after circling in behind the troopers. At the same time, Colonel Markson, Captain Majourny, and Ensign Anderson shoved back their chairs and dropped to the deck. 10mm explosive-tipped light-armor piercing rounds exploded throughout the room. The troopers had no idea what hit them as the explosive rounds ripped them apart.
In the oppressive quiet that followed the five-second burst of pulse rifle fire, the captain, colonel, and ensign leapt to the feet, weapons drawn. General Rongar cautiously got to his feet, careful not to make any sudden moves.
"Well, I guess now I can say this meeting has been a blast. The meal was delicious. The champagne was excellent. Colonel, remind me to send Horde Prime a note," Jo-jo said, keeping a careful eye on the Horde general.
A grinning Colonel Markson turned to his squad. "Good timing. Well, done sergeant."
"When the troopers showed up I figured the whole thing had gone sour. So we circled around behind them with very little effort. After that it was just a matter of awaiting your signal," Sergeant white replied.
A corporal poked his head in. "Company coming. Time to go."
Jo-jo couldn't leave without one last parting shot. "You want to know who is helping us? You want to know what we are about? Stick around. You'll find out soon enough. Make sure your master knows the winds of change are blowing, and his empire is on the receiving end."
As soon as they were gone, Rongar touched a control on his left gauntlet and began issuing orders. "Battlestations! All troopers on alert. Intruders are heading away from the memory core and conference room. Capture if possible, terminate if necessary."
Alert klaxons sounded throughout the ship. Standard troopers and the black shock troops darted through the corridors to their assigned stations. Humanoids, and non-humans also mixed with the troops, as well as the more slender service robots. Captain Majourny's group avoided the worst of the traffic, however, they got pinned down a scant three meters from the hangar bay. Heavy laser and pulse rifle fire reverberated up and down the corridors. For every trooper downed two more took its place.
"Ace, stand by to lift off," Jo-jo ordered her pilot.
"Hohiro's team isn't back yet."
"Hohiro, what's your status?" Colonel Markson called. "Hohiro respond."
"I'm here, colonel. We're about ten meters from the hangar. Most of the activity seems directed toward you. No casualties, but the Sorceress is weakening from using her invisibility spell."
"Alright. Here are your marching orders. Get on board that ship. Don't wait for us, and don't try any heroics. If we can't make it by the time you get aboard, Lieutenant McCloud will execute his orders," the colonel explained.
"Ace, when Hohiro's team gets back, we'll make our push. Stand by," Jo-jo called to the hotshot pilot via a hand-held communicator. She looked to the colonel who nodded. "Get ready, Ace."
Main Hangar Bay
Horde Battleship Hoscar
1405 HOURS, 3 May 2017
Sorceress kept the spell going as long as she dared. It got them to within twenty yards of the aft boarding stairs when it finally gave out. By the time the troopers in the bay noticed them it was too late. Hohiro, Jake Adrian and two privates laid down covering fire while Privates O'Rourke and Road climbed the stairs. Once inside, the stairwell was closed, and the group made their way to the forward boarding ramp. Sorceress flung several energy balls at troopers trying to get close enough to affect capture. All they got for their efforts was a violent and terminal electric shock.
This is it. The time is at hand for you to use what I have to give. That voice had been back for several minutes. Adrian told it repeatedly to shut up to he could concentrate on the running battle. At the ramp, Hohiro, Jake and the others dashed up the ramp. For some insane reason Adrian just stood there a few feet from safety. He let go of the empty laser rifle and pulled out the two beam sabers; he'd picked up a second one from a shock trooper a while back.
The commotion in the hangar dropped as shock troops closed in on the lone human. Adrian reversed and activated the saber in his left hand so the blade ran back along his arm. He turned sideways, left arm forward and down, right arm with the other activated blade draw up to his right ear, blade pointing the way.
"Adrian!" Sorceress shouted when she saw he wasn't following.
"What the hell?" Hohiro added. "Frost, Dietrich, get on your fifty-calibers. And someone bring me two beam sabers." Both soldiers acknowledged. Dietrich and his spotter showed up at the ramp in moments while Frost and his spotter went to a topside hatch. Hohiro muttered something about mind readers when the other Guardians showed up.
Jo-jo demanded to know what was happening. Ace kept her up to speed on events as they transpired. All that was missing was her group, which now had two casualties. The laser fire was intense. They made one attempt at a breakout destroying nearly fifteen robots on a devastating rain of pulse rifle and laser fire, but twenty-five robots quickly took their place. Only a miracle could save them, so she ordered Ace to take the Eternia out and continue the mission.
"No buts, Ace. Get Adrian aboard and get the hell out. We aren't going to make it." Jo-jo ordered.
Hohiro, who had taken up a mirror stance at Adrian's back with his consent, cut in. "We have an idea which may allow you to get back."
"Dammit, captain, I said no heroics," Colonel Markson shot back angrily. Well, Jo-jo, you wanted the Guardians to get involved. I hope this is the way you wanted it.
"Trust me, and get ready for our signal," Hohiro replied calmly.
"And how will we know that?"
"All hell is about to break loose. Stand by." I hope you know what you are doing, Adrian, the oriental added silently.
Now is the time. Open yourself to me, Adrian Cobretti, the – presence- cooed. All that I know, all that I experienced I give to you to finish what we started long ago. Knowledge and experience flooded Adrian's brain. This time he did nothing to stop it. Visions of events lost in antiquity floated before his eyes. Images of people, places, and things long dead and gone threatened to drown him. And rising from the chaos stood the indistinct shape of a battle suit.
"It's begun," Sorceress whispered. The tactical frequencies had been merged so everyone could coordinate their attacks.
"Adrian," Hohiro replied, unsure if he could hear or understand, but took the chance. "This is your show. For better or worse, you call it."
Corporal Frost's spotter suddenly sang out, "I got a sniper off the bow. Left two degrees, up ten. Frost shifted his sights to the indicated position.
"I got 'em. Shock trooper. Looks like he's lining up on Adrian," Frost replied. "Call it."
Adrian came out of his near trance-like state at the spotter's call. "All right," he whispered. "On three." Multiple people including Colonel Markson acknowledged.
Tension built as the shock troops activated their sabers in preparation. The breaking point rapidly approached as the sniper robot lined up its shot, and prepared to drop Adrian and Hohiro with one killing shot apiece. The machine carefully wrapped its hand on the trigger and gently began to squeeze the trigger.
Adrian's senses exploded to proportions he had no time to comprehend. It was a kind of combat sense that took years of actual battle experience to develop. He started the count.
"One…TWO…"
All hell broke loose.
Main Hangar Bay
Horde Battleship Hoscar
1407 HOURS, 3 May 2017
Stupid robots! We have conquered the known universe with them, yet they can't handle a handful of humans, General Rongar fumed as he stalked through the corridors toward the hangar bay. The latest message about the magic fire, and the infiltration team making back to the ship did little to improve his mood. At a balcony thirty feet above the foot, Rongar took in the situation. Two humans stood back-to-back with activated beam sabers. Shock troopers armed with sabers faced them in a three hundred degree ark.
"What are you waiting for?" the Horde commander demanded of the troopers stationed at the balcony. "Destroy them!"
A shock trooper took up station on the next balcony over with a laser rifle designed sniping. The machine quickly lined up the shot and gently began to squeeze the trigger. In the instant the red bolt of killing laser energy blasted from the muzzle, three things happened simultaneously. Adrian and Hohiro leapt into the midst of the nearest shock troopers and hacked up three apiece before they could react; the sniper shot slammed into the deck where Adrian had been standing a moment before and the shot from Corporal Frost blew the sniper's head into flying bits of circuits, gears and composite junk
Adrian and Hohiro weaved through their opponents in a deadly ballet dance where one slip meant instant death. The ineptness Adrian displayed in practice sessions was gone. The entity and he were now of one mind. Shock troopers fell in ones and twos to his twin red sabers. Some managed to put up meager blocks, but it only delayed the inevitable by an instant or two. The goal of the distraction was not total destruction of the enemy, though many robots few reduced to scrap. Once a robot was incapacitated, the warriors moved on to the next one offering resistance. It was a delaying tactic to allow the captain's group to fight their way back to the ship.
And fight they did.
Captain Majourny and Colonel Markson could not help but pause at the sight of two warriors fighting independently, yet never straying far enough apart that each couldn't cover the other. The air humming with the sounds of spinning energy blades punctuated by the roar of a fifty-caliber rifle, pulse rifle discharges, and the odd laser blasts. As Alpha Squad blasted their way through the chaos toward the safety of the starship, injured comrades in tow, a new sound entered the battlefield.
Sorceress trotted down the ramp, clear energy shield twenty-five inches in diameter on the left arm, energy ball ready in the right hand. She took aim at robot ten feet away to her right, drew back her arm, and shot it forward pointing as if to tell the glow where to go. Fwoosh! The magical energy ball flew to the intended target, struck home, and caused a briefly lightning show that ended with the robot lying in a smoking heap. Wherever she pointed, her aim fell true. One by one she added to the robot body count along with the occasional booming report of a fifty-caliber rifle.
The introduction of the magic attack was just what Rongar had been looking for. He knew only a magic-user could have concealed the infiltration team. But the sight of the human female who trotted down the boarding ramp to lend a hand was a shock he never could have expected in his wildest dreams. The Sorceress of Grayskull lived! So this is what Horde Prime felt.
Instantly, Rongar snatched the rifle from the grasp of the nearest trooper, thumbed the power level selector switch to maximum, and lined up his sights on the feather-headed female. The maximum setting would quickly drain the power pack and damage the internal mechanisms, but he guessed he could land few hits.
Adrian dispatched a robot trying to get in close to the Sorceress, and then turned away to deal with yet another threat. This shock trooper had some experience. It kept Adrian's defensive blocks high for a few strokes, and then came in low. Adrian had anticipated the move and blocked it with a counted taught to him by Hohiro. He brought his sabers down in an X pattern called the cross-down maneuver designed to trap the opponent's blade against the ground. What Hohiro hadn't shown him was the follow-up move. On pure reflex as what seemed to be the natural next step, Adrian snapped his right foot up between his crossed blades into the robot's chest. He released the trapped saber as the machine fell back. The Guardian didn't give the Horde machine time to recover. He closed in, finished it, and moved on.
The other Guardians, Sonya, Jeromy, and Brad, took up station on the back side of the boarding ramp to cut down the Horde troops trying to catch them from behind. No one was close at this point in the battle when the Sorceress started taking devastating laser fire.
Adrian blocked several laser bolts away from him, one directly back at the shooter when the first shot blasted down over his head and slammed into Sorceress' shield. The force of the impact spoiled her aim, the magic globe hitting open deck, and nearly knocked her from her feet. A second attack close on the heels of the first succeeded in knocking her down. Sorceress was now totally defensive. All the magical strength she had left was thrown into shoring up the shield. After all the energy already expended, the shield wouldn't last long under such a savage assault.
More lethal energy bolts rained down on the helpless Guardian as Alpha Squad struggled to get to the ramp. Colonel Markson quickly scanned for the source of the laser fire and called it in to his snipers. "Dietrich! Frost! Sorceress is taking heavy fire from a balcony thirty feet up and five degrees right."
Both soldiers obediently shifted their aim. "Hey!" Frost shouted. "Isn't that the guy you were having the chat with?"
The colonel made another quick glance. It was him, all right. General Rongar himself. "Yeah. Put the bastard on his knees before Sorceress takes a hit."
Too late.
General Rongar's sustained fire finally bore fruit. The first shot to get through as the magic shield flickered burned a furrow down the side of the left thigh six inches below the hip socket. That instant agony made her concentration falter further weakening the shield enough that the next blast shattered the magical defense and slammed into the woman's left shoulder. The Horde commander grinned in anticipation watching the screaming woman writhing in agony and clutching her damaged shoulder. You're mine now.
Another human clad in the same black and gray uniform as the five others Rongar had seen sauntered down the ramp and straddled the Sorceress at the waist. Jake Rockwell had gone straight for the armory to retrieve 'ol painless.' As fifty-caliber shells began pummeling the balcony spoiling the Horde commander's easy kill shot, Jake added withering fire from his personal favorite; a mini-gun. Jake tracked his fire across the balcony and back. Two shock troopers stepped up into the lethal hail. Each took a hit from the fifty-caliber weapons, and then got chopped to pieces by the mini-gun.
Alpha Squad veered around the defenders and sprinted up the lamp. Captain Majourny and Colonel Markson each hooked an arm under Sorceress' and dragged her out of harm's way. Rockwell, Frost and Dietrich turned their fire on the remaining robots attempting to assault the ship. Adrian and Hohiro backed up to the ramp as the other Guardians sprinted aboard. Adrian paused at the ramp long enough to catch the eye of General Rongar, who had regained his feet. The look passing between them lasted only a few seconds, but the exchange would have a powerful effect on their futures.
"Everyone get aboard!" Ace commanded over the tactical net. "I'm going to raise the shields. On my mark. Three…two…one…MARK!"
All shooting stopped at roughly the same instant the shields snapped in place. A few laser bolts made through only to bounce harmlessly off the ship's Etherium hull. Once the boarding ramp was secured, the starship lifted from the deck on anti-gravity thrusters, rotated one hundred eighty degrees, and roared off into the night. Once clear of the hangar bay, Ace pulled back on the manual guidance stick. The Eternia shot 'up' along the outer hull until it cleared the top over the battleship where Ace rolled over and pointed the nose toward deep space. Eternia raced away at top speed.
Hohiro clapped Adrian on the shoulder. His eyes held as much respect as he could muster. No words were necessary. They would explore the gift Adrian had received later. A tortured scream drew their attention.
"Sorceress," they said in unison.
They found her thirty feet down the main corridor ringed with bystanders. The med team Captain Majourny called for finally arrived commanding everyone to get out of the way. Jake and the others could only watch helplessly as the techs worked on the Sorceress' wounds. Or tried too, that is. Her pain was so great they couldn't keep her still. Jake, Jeromy, and Colonel Markson finally stepped in and pinned the woman to the deck so Doctor Emilio Carter could administer a morphine shot. Sorceress settled still as death almost immediately after.
"That was fast," Colonel Markson replied, apprehensive.
"She passed out," one of the assistants answered.
"Let's get her to the infirmary," Doctor Carter ordered.
As the med team carted the Sorceress away, Jo-jo turned to Jake and Adrian. "Stay with her. We'll talk later." She hurried away to bridge to see about making a clean getaway form the Horde warships.