"Warp Darkmatter Personal Log: Today is the fourteenth anniversary since Buzz Lightyear died. The sorrow of outliving him, the heartache, it's getting easier to live with every day that passes. I see some cadets, two competitive ones, every once in a while, getting into trouble by going where they shouldn't be. Cadets like that remind me of Lightyear and I, how we tried to outrace the other, to win, in our very different ways . . one doing their best and the other doing tricks. In my heart, there is a beautiful pond of sorrow with ducks in it; they're quacking, content. And it's not remotely bad as it were years ago."
Warp was standing in front of a Cadet Cruiser, with his comn open, staring on.
"In Lightyear's memory, these cadets that we're rescuing are going to get a little speech about going into danger and not making it for graduati-"
A loud honking drew Warp's attention off.
"Come on, those personal logs can wait for after the mission, captain!" Van Selling called.
Warp closed the comn with a smirk then approached Van Selling as he started to laugh, fondly.
"Rookie, one day these logs will be opened by curious people regarding what was it like being a Space Ranger during these days, how it felt, how it was, how serving, impacted us."
"The day that somebody listens to your logs, a archivist, a historian, or a researcher; they'll be bored out of their damn minds to go to that length!"
"Buzz Lightyear's logs are being actively used for the streaming adaption of his career." Warp reminded the rookie. "Hank's said it's been helpful to have a good grasp on Lightyear. And just, one day, they might get curious about how it was for me being without him and all, and listen to how I felt. It's also part of the Space Ranger Corps protocol." Warp countered as he shook his finger. "we have cases of the suit's communication console providing a briefing from a missing Space Ranger. . . or a very dead Space Ranger."
"Professors at the academy described you as the second best, a bit without doing logs, not the melodramatic kind." Then Van Selling looked around the jungle environment.
"People change." Warp said.
"How about I do the driving?" Van Selling offered it to the captain. "You keep coming up empty handed."
"It is getting really concerning finding not an endangered cadet in sight." Warp admitted as he got into the vehicle.
Warp slid forward the leveler beside him. With a single tug by the rookie, the Rangermobile flew off through the environment, flying off cliffs, landing in tall grass and flying over brookes, rivers, then through an old bridge. Warp enjoyed the ride with a loud whoop as the rangermobile sped up. The rookie flew off down a hill then spun the Rangermobile sideways and slammed against a barrier of rock with antique designs that belonged to a unique alien species that flourished thousands of years ago in this landscape. The captain bore a smile then leaped out of the vehicle and made the approach toward the structure.
"We haven't looked here." Warp unbuckled then got out of the vehicle sporting a big smirk.
The rookie unbuckled sporting a scowl.
"Captain, we've looked all over the place!" Van Selling stretched his arms out in emphasis. "There is no cadets; it's a really bad, awful, no good prank."
"Cadets are really good at leaving not a sign that they were there to keep themselves from getting into trouble with Star Command." Warp reminded the younger man as he shifted toward him then approached the entrance that had pebbles falling, he aimed, pressed his wrist laser, freeing up the gap.
"Did you forget that we found nothing in another structure like this?" Van Selling asked.
"Negative." Warp lowered his aim.
"Then why bother?" Van Selling asked.
"Someone has to look in here and it has to be us." he looked toward his partner. "You heard the distress signal, they're scared, they're desperate, struggling to keep themselves hidden from their terror."
"The forest isn't quite . . ." Van Selling started to say as the captain walked in.
"Full of fast paced terrorizing threatening wild life." Warp finished for the rookie.
"Doesn't look that way." Van Selling said with a gulp as he looked around.
"We found their Cadet Cruiser." Warp pressed a button then he glowed in the dark. "They're here. Why dump a Cadet Cruiser, make record themselves, then leave us for a wild goose chase."
"Because it's fun." Van Selling reminded him as he put his hands on his hips with a glare. "You used to be a cadet, Captain."
"No, bad guys do that kind of stunts and get a kick out of it because it's entertaining." Warp said.
"You think a bad guy is behind this!" Van Selling acknowledged. "Again!"
"It smells funny." Warp shifted toward the rookie, somber, glaring. "Normally, we can find our targets by way of their screams."
"Or by flight and see them from flying above." Van Selling added as the captain turned away then walked on into the dark.
"Pssst, be quiet."
"Okay."
They walked through the wide corridor, quietly, gazing back and forth. Warp had his attention fixated forward while Van Selling looked around passing by strange sculptures decorating along the wall and hieroglyphics that didn't make quite much sense. Spiders traveled on their webs catching a prey from above their heads as the rescue rangers traveled in the dark glowing a soft green similar to a neon light. Warp held his hand up then closed it.
"There's a bot." Warp said.
"A hornet!" Van Selling exclaimed and grew horrified. "We oughtta call Star Command and get Fisher and Dafferdale on it."
"Not a hornet," he turned toward his partner, grimly. "A Lord Freeves bot."
"Oh oh oh."
"Let's split up. I go forward and provide a distraction, you get the cadets."
"Not the other way around?"
"Lord Freeves is a dangerous man and needs to be taken into custody at any cost imaginable. This is my last field mission as a Space Ranger." he turned toward him. "Go, now!"
Van Selling did as he was requested then the captain proceeded to walk on. He shot down the gray bot then walked on past the malfunctioning machine as his hands were clenched in fists. He walked, slowly, taking pauses to destroy the droids that got in his way leaving a clearing ahead of him behind and damaged machines behind him. His shoulders were full of tension, each step forward was walking through air, as if he could fall at any moment and nothing could catch him when he fell. He was flying towards infinity, his hands reaching for it, this time without a tether, without a anchor, and he had a deeply unsettling feeling from within that he was going to be successful this time around in terms of getting to the point in which that his partner flew in every day. The captain didn't feel alone taking this path. He was never alone. Never was unlike when his partner was on every day on a bridge above him all alone and he was on the bridge below him on those days. Now, he were traveling on the same bridge that his partner took.
Warp hid behind a corridor then fired warning shots into a collection of bots. He wasn't quite entertained making his way of feeling irritation at the sheer number of security bots littering the building. He was caught off guard by a bot firing at him then he returned fire destroying it in a matter of moments. He went in the direction that the offensive blasts came from then resumed his travel on, slowly, clearing each room. He came to a halt at a corridor spotting three cadets set in the center of the hub of the building. He stepped back, then turned, spotting a pipe, then turned around.
Lord Freeves walked on then appeared in his line of vision with his hands linked behind his back. The cadets were lacking their spacesuits, their uniforms stained, their wounds obvious, a ritual was being performed. Lord Freeves took out a dagger then stabbed it into the chest of the cadet in the middle with a loud smack. The lord snapped his fingers and then one of the cadets were picked up, set into the grasp of a statue with stretched out arms, their figure limp. The other two were still alive, groaning.
"Wakey, wakey, wakey." Lord Freeves greeted.
Red lines appeared as cracks along the statue's arms that traveled up, and spread, all over the room.
"Welcome, Hellbringers." Freeves greeted with mirth.
Warp turned on his wings as he approached the edge of the cat walk and grasped the railing.'
"The offerings for your disposal and your army." Freeves gestured toward the two cadets.
Warp fired on the droid bots then turned on his wings and flew.
"Hm?" Freeves turned around then gasped. "Who's this!"
One of the cadets came to, her eyes widening, shrieking.
"Hi there, I'm Warp Darkmatter, I'm your fly on the wall tonight!" Warp announced.
The captain laughed drawing the attention of the machines as Freeves grew angry.
"Shoot down that fly!" Freeves demanded.
Van Selling appeared out of the corridor as Freeves laughed.
"You're too late, Ranger!" Van Selling cackled, his shoulders trembling, his blonde short hair almost glowing against the dim lighting of the dark room. "Hellbringers," he twirled his hand then pointed toward the roof. "destroy the competition!"
They were dragon like humanoid beings that bore scales, unusual demented characteristics, long curled horns, eyes glowing a frightening red, rocks being dislodged from their frames as they climbed out of their cocoons, shook their frames so that the remainder of the rock fell off, as a series of large tubes leading up became revealed. The Hellbringers flew on toward the tubes leaving it behind as Van Selling flew on and retrieved the two cadets and flew out of the chamber back the way that he had entered between laser fire.
"Darkmatter to Nebula," Warp flipped open his console. "Lord Freeves has released Hellbringers, they're going after his competition! I repeat, they are going after his competition."
"Hellbringers-" Nebula's features changed to concern. "Are you sure that he said HELLBRINGERS?"
"Affirmative!" Warp replied.
"Understood." Nebula smiled back at the captain. It was sudden. It was calm. "Star Command is on it, son. Nebula out."
Warp unhid from behind a beam and fired on into a crowd of bots and subsequently, Van Selling reappeared staring back at him.
"Van Selling-" Warp looked toward the rookie. "I never said anything about coming back!"
There was a blast that knocked him back from a bot landing against the wall then brought himself up to his feet then there was an explosion from behind him. The commander came to, groaning, the entire lair was exploding, the rocks were falling off revealing pieces of machinery. It wasn't a temple, never had been, it was a ship. The captain could see cracks in his canopy as he clenched his jaw then struggled to slide himself out of the assortment of junk that weighed heavily upon him. The rookie approached the captain then halted in his tracks and bore a smile. Lord Freeves joined him with a laugh.
"The pride of Star Command dying in the most shameful moment of the Space Ranger Corps, how ironic."
Warp's eyes bolted back and forth.
"Van Selling? Why now? Why? You could have killed me years ago!"
Van Selling looked toward Freeves who opted to speak.
"Because there was always a plan to eliminate you from the chessboard. Needed to shock the Galactic Alliance, your homeworld as well, stunning Star Command, oh, the beginning of something gorgeous, beautiful."
"Lord Freeves really knows how to entice someone into working on his payroll, power, knowledge, and . . what the Space Ranger Corps can never give. . . pride in the most satisfactory way."
"And it turns out to get what he wants, to get what we both want, the last crown jewel has to be destroyed." Freeves said.
"Which is why this place is rigged to explode, it's also set to go into space, with you pinning against the wreckage, the whole bridge is beyond your reach." Van Selling said.
"This time, Darkmatter, you will not escape." Freeves said.
The two men flew off leaving behind the pinned Space Ranger as he struggled to wiggle his way out.
"VAHOOOON!" Warp shrieked as the explosions rocketed through the ship, squeezing his eyes close, then flipping open his console. "Darkmatter to Nova!"
"Nova here." Mira was in the middle of giggling. "We were just talking about the retirement party that we're throwing tonight for the commander."
"Van Selling is a mole for Lord Freeves!" Warp announced.
"Vahoon is a-WHAT?" Mira's giggling stopped.
"A mole!" Warp repeated.
"Vahoon, the Space Ranger who's good at archery and standing on a bicycle while riding?" Booster sounded alarmed over the line. "He's Ovus's kid's godfather!"
"Go to Sev-epiu-gozitite. I'll meet you in orbit! Have the med bay open!"
"On our way! Nova out!" Mira hung up with a smile.
The connection was terminated as the forty-two leaped into lightspeed. The Space Ranger gazed out the window with a big smirk, assured, confident, looking toward what came next as the sky changed from blue to white then back to blue then became darker. He saw stars, he saw the twin moons, he saw a massive comet pass by with a magnificent mountain in the vacuum of space.
He saw the beauty of space against disaster, flying into it, all alone as the flames popped around the room and electricity cackled. Everything was still, he wasn't struggling, and he took the time to admire space. Last time that he flew into it all alone; he was about to lose something precious and Buzz Lightyear won something that was far more valuable. Peace.
All Warp had gained from being left behind was something far greater than that.
Spite.
The ship exploded.
