Washington D.C.
United States, Earth
Z MINUS 40 HOURS, 7 May 2017
General Hammond met with President Alexander in the Oval Office of the White House. The mood was pessimistic at best. Hammond waited quietly while the president reviewed the recorded debriefs and the transmitted reports. The last report placed the Eternia within a short hyperspace hop from what appeared to be the target system where they would find the Guardian Armor. The down side was there were a total of two planets roughly the size of earth and five moons ranging in size from half the size of earth to twice earth's mass to search, nor was there nearly enough time to do the job thoroughly.
Finally, President Alexander placed the sheets of paper to one side and rubbed his eyes. "I can't hold off the meeting tomorrow, Gene. President Roshenko is demanding I appear tomorrow before the World Council to explain the launch of the Eternia. Level with me, Gene. Did I do the right thing authorizing the mission? Is the information we deciphered from the ship's computer and that stolen from that Horde warship really making a difference? Do they really stand a chance of succeeding?"
Hammond could see in the man's eyes that he wasn't looking for the affirmative answers he had sought over a week ago when the mission was given the green light. The information still being deciphered from the raid on the Hoscar's computer was already yielding undreamt of results. What President Alexander was really looking for was reassurance that they were doing the right thing.
"Mister President, the information revealed so far from the Horde computer indicates we could find allies out there. This Queen Elmora of Phantos, for instance, the Horde believes she is secretly building warships and arms enough to outfit a sizeable army. Their spies, however, have been unable to confirm this due to the near savage thoroughness of her intelligence networks. All the spies have been eliminated to date." General Hammond paused to order his thoughts before continuing. "There are the cities of Arcadia and Avion on the planet Eternia, as well as a race of warrior women calling themselves the Val-kirie to consider."
"Okay, so we might find a few allies. How does that help us? The Horde Empire is huge. Their power is great. How can we possibly stand against them?"
"Once the armor is revived, that, Mister President, becomes the prime target for the Horde. The Guardian Force can keep them at bay, establish ties with potential allies, and give us time to pull them together. If Queen Elmora in indeed building an army on the technological side, then it should be far simpler to get allies on board to train to use those weapons of war."
"Nothing is ever as simple as it seems," President Alexander cautioned. "And as we are relative newcomers to the kinds of space travel these races have enjoyed, likely since the times when humans here on earth were perfecting the mechanical clock and carrying steel crossbows into battle, we may be required to prove we have something to offer them."
"Our technology is, by their standards, inferior," General Hammond agreed, "but I still think we can find a common ground with them."
President Alexander nodded his agreement. He swiveled his chair around so he could gaze out the Oval Office windows. What they needed was time. Time to touch base with those potential allies. Time to prove they had something to offer an alliance. And time to keep the politicians in the World Government from jumping into bed with the enemy. That badly needed time could only come from one source - the Guardian Force.
"Might as well paint a Bull's Eye on the ship's hull," President Alexander mused. "I need to work on my presentation for tomorrow, Gene. Please, keep me posted on their progress. They must find that armor."
"Will do, Mister President." General Hammond found his own way out. On the trip back to the airport and his jet waiting to return him to Nellis Air Force base, he mulled over the latest report from Captain Majourny. For ten hours they slowly crept up on the star system with now sign as to which planet or moon they needed to go to. Sorceress had suggested the moons, and Jo-jo took that at face value. Hopefully, Jo-jo's instinct that some kind of homing beacon will activate when they got close enough. Only time would tell.
Only time would tell and time was rapidly running out.
Unknown Planet
Galactic Spiral Arm
Z MINUS 38 HOURS, 7 May 2017
Corwin stared speechless at the sight before him. Twenty yards away in an immense pool of blinding white light on a large raised rectangular platform stood the six suits of power armor. No more than indistinct black shadows because of the light, the mere presence of the suits and the power radiating from them still awed the occasional onlooker. "They're incredible," the numb Elder hissed.
Kodec simply nodded. She, too, felt the power radiating from the suits. She also sensed a kind of presence in the massive chamber. Five distinct entities made themselves known to her. The sixth was nowhere to be found. Passed beyond to whatever awaited when a being left this reality, Kodec suspected.
The pair stood at the limit which they could safely approach the platform. Only those who would claim and use the armor could go further. Anyone else would hit a magical barrier and flung back with a force proportional to the approach speed, as Kodec discovered upon her first encounter. She walked unknowingly up to the platform at a natural stride, hit the barrier, and was flung clear back to the stone way thirty feet behind them. She still vividly remembered that embarrassing day. Only her magic saved her from serious injury. Twice, now, Kodec had to pull Corwin back from trying to get closer. She did not want him to suffer as she had.
"Are they close?" Corwin asked. They knew the Eternia was closing in on the solar system at roughly half the speed of light, but he couldn't get a feel of the ship and crew from this distance.
Kodec, more experienced at such things, found the approaching starship in moments. "Relatively speaking, yes. I sense they still do not know where they should be looking. Understandable, considering the unusual amount of habitable planets in this system, I guess that's why it had been chosen to hide the armor."
Despite the white light glaring from above, the pair could see a pale yellow glow start to surround the six suits. The glow grew steadily brighter as the power output rose as well.
"Something's happening," Corwin said unnecessarily.
"Yes," Kodec replied. She stretched her awareness out to the approaching starship.
Eternia was almost at the limit of the solar system. She tracked it while observing what the armor was doing. The power output continued to rise while the glow increased. The moment the starship Eternia crossed into the system, all six suits poured their power into a single energy beam and blasted it out into space.
Corwin and Kodec exchanged confused looks. "A homing beacon?" Corwin theorized.
Kodec nodded. "With the power the suits are using Eternia will be able to track it right to this moon."
"If the Eternia can track it, so can the Horde," Corwin pointed out.
"Yes. Time to prepare. It'll be close, but they may just make their deadline."
Starship Eternia
Galactic Spiral Arm
Z MINUS 37 HOURS, 7 May 2017
"CAPTAIN! We're passing through an energy wave of some kind!" Ensign Anderson nearly shouted.
"Calm down," Captain Majourny rebuked mildly. "What kind of energy wave?"
Anderson manipulated his sensor controls a little awkwardly. "Nothing threatening to the ship. It's dropping in intensity a little. Looks like –"
Jo-jo swiveled her chair to face the young man. "Like what?"
The man shook himself and answered, "Captain, it looks like a homing beacon."
"What's the source?"
"The third habitable moon of the gas giant."
Lieutenant Denton spoke up. "Captain, if the beacon was activated because of our proximity to our destination, you can be sure any Horde ships following our hyperspace wake will pick it up."
"Agreed. Ace, park us in orbit as quickly as you can." Jo-jo punched the comm button on the right-hand panel. "Bridge to Colonel Markson."
"Markson, go ahead," he replied a moment later.
"Colonel, we're receiving a homing beacon. It's coming from the third moon of the gas giant. Get your people ready to drop. We're going in as quickly as possible," Jo-jo ordered. "Combat brief in six hours."
Markson acknowledged his marching orders.
The drop bay and armory became a beehive of activity as the squads invaded them in force to prepare their equipment. Huge two-legged power loaders were used to move containers and ordinance about. As several people worked to load power bombs and missiles into the launch racks of the dropships, the pilots linked portable computer's to the Eternia's main computer. As the ship's crew went about mapping the target planet no bigger then Earth's moon, that information was copied into the dropship computers for navigation purposes.
Several members from each squad handled the weapons the squads would carry into action. Meticulous and thorough, the group handled every weapon, ammo pack, and explosive charge with care looking for anything out of the ordinary. As they worked, more worked to prepare the massive wheeled carriers the squads would ride into battle with.
While all this went on, six Guardians wandered around the bays staying out of the way as much as possible. They had been trained in the use of various weapons back on earth. Weapons to see them through to taking possession of the power armor. However, since they fell outside the chain of command, this left them with nothing to do to help in getting ready. The best thing was to just stay out of the way and let the Marines, Army Rangers and regulars, and Navy Seals get to the job of preparing for war.
Sorceress spent most of her time locked away in her quarters trying to get a grip on her deterioration. It was growing increasingly harder to hide the nerve damage as her hands still shook noticeably. Now that the end of this journey and the beginning of another was at hand, Sorceress experienced a brief stab of fear over the changes her life has thus far experienced. A new home with new friends and, it would seem, a new mission. But would she live long enough to see it? And what else did Kodec know or suspect that she wasn't telling? If Sorceress survived her first battle in the armor, she'd have to remember to interrogate the woman.
"My, but you don't look very good. You've been in battles before. Don't tell me you're losing your nerve before it even begins," Kodec replied from a darkened corner.
Speaking of the Devil's apprentice…"Go away," Sorceress snapped.
Kodec instantly sensed the change in her friend. Something was definitely not right here. "Ouch! Struck a nerve, have I?" When Sorceress refused to respond, Kodec continued, "I have a suspicion the Elders did something to you. They didn't admit to it, but I have my suspicions."
Kodec rambled on about this and that from the meeting she had called, but Sorceress scarcely listened. At a brief pause as Kodec caught her breath, Sorceress whispered, "I'm dying."
It was as if the room suddenly plunged into a vacuum. Kodec just stared at the woman sitting on the couch. "What did you say?"
Sorceress finally looked up. "I'm dying. The use of magic is slowly destroying my nervous system." She displayed her twitching hands.
Kodec dropped to her knees in a flurry of silken skirts and placed a hand against her friend's forehead. It didn't take her long to confirm it. More than that, the woman's condition had a strangely familiar feel to it. "Those bastards!" she hissed. Then another thought struck her. "We feel she doesn't have the strength to use the armor as it was intended."
"What?" Sorceress asked, more confused than her friend appeared to be.
"Something I didn't think of until now." Kodec rose from her crouch. "They knew. I'm not sure how, but they knew."
Sorceress shook her head. "You're not making any sense. No one knew about the armor until a few months ago when it started calling out to certain people."
Kodec shook her head. "You were sent to Earth two years before so they shouldn't have known. But they did!"
"How?"
"I don't know. There is still much about this armor thing and the power globe left in Grayskull I still don't understand. Corwin and I are trying to discover the relation without arousing suspicion, but it's difficult, at best." Kodec snorted. "Hell, they even know I'm assisting you."
"But you expected that. Who's Corwin?"
"Hmm? Oh, a friend. Young Elder. Nice guy. You'd like him," Kodec responded absently. A few pieces of the puzzle were slipping into place for her. But there were still to many pieces missing. "Look! I'm not about to let anything happen to you."
"I'm dying. How much worse can things get?" Sorceress snapped angrily. She didn't know if the anger was directed more at herself or someone else. It sure wasn't directed at Kodec. "You aren't a goddess. Even you can't stop this – disease- or whatever it is. Everything dies in time."
"No, I am not a goddess, except in my stunning beauty, but I damn-well will keep you alive. It isn't your time, yet." Kodec's tone left no room for argument on any point other than her stunning beauty. "Just worry about acquiring the armor. After that, go to Eternia. Castle Grayskull may hold the answers you seek. As well as a cure."
Annoyingly, Kodec disappeared when the discussion was at an end, leaving the brooding Sorceress to her dark and dreary thoughts.