It was a very grave serious Barry Randt on the news that night. It had never happened before, but a planet, an inhabited planet had violently exploded. Planet Ascaron, was gone from their galaxy, all that remained was medium and tiny pieces of space rocks and a few asteroids. The death toll was millions, mostly settlers from other planets that wanted to inhabit the fertile land. Families had been wiped out, completely destroyed, children were torn apart from their parents, the seriousness got plenty of attention. Duke Maddox of Technoid also appeared on screen, as he had a big compound there. The speculations was as to what was being fabricated at this compound, was it perhaps military secrets, or secret weapons? But even more so, the people of the galaxy wanted answers to whom was responsible for the tragedy. There seemed to be no one that lived to tell the tale. The man thought responsible, was a young army sergeant, Corso Takashi. But he too had seemingly died in a bloody battle.
At Akillian, I'Son and Helena watched the news in horror. None of them had been to this compound, but they worried that friends and aquaintanses of them had. Was there people that they knew that lost their lives? A quick call to Duke Maddox revealed the answers. He looked at them both as they were looking at him through the screen.
"I wish I could tell you that Bleylock perished, it would have been easier for everyone, but unfortunately, he survived. He and the personel from that base returned to Technoid base this morning. They are given proper medical care in all of this. It has been a real shock for many of them. But where Technoid personell is concerned, there are no casualties. Some speculate this was caused by a small military group from Chissia, whom helped the rebells on site. I now have to redistribute the personell from this base to my other bases. How are you progressing with getting ready to come back to work I'Son? I need to make sure I dont place Bleylock anywhere near you" The Duke said.
I'Son swallowed hard when he heard Bleylocks name. It had taken months already, to get to a place where he got to talk it all out with Peter. Peter had the patience of a saint some times, listening to his ordeal. If he ever met Beylock, I'Son had a feeling his friend would strangle him to death.
"I am ready to start a gradual process of working again this week. I feel like I can do a few days a week at least, while building up to take more" he said.
Duke Maddox nodded.
"Good. Good news is needed at a time like this. I just hope we can piece together what happened, as there is nothing but bits and pieces left of the planet"
I'Son nodded.
"Please inform Professor Monteague I am ready to start tomorrow morning"...
The entire planet was gone, blown up. And in shiloh, a man whom remembered little to nothing finally woke up from his comatose state.
"Time to wake up. You have slept in for days" Aisha said with a laughter in her voice as she washed the injured soldier.
Corso carefully grabbed his head. It felt like his scull was split open. And when he touched where his left eye was meant to be... Cybernetics. His eye was replaced with cybernetics. It also seemed to be the case with his left ear.
"What..happened?" he managed, feeling dizzy as he sat up.
Aisha looked down. She was not sure how much he had actually seen, if he was aware he was the sole survior. He certainly did not know what had happened the last 48 hours.
"How about you tell me your name first? It would make things a bit easier, or dont you remember?" she asked mildly, handing him a cup of greenish liquid.
"Drink this, it is a herbal mix, it will not remove scars or wounds, but it should make your head spin a little less" she said.
Corso took the cup, and drank slowly. In the back of his mind, he distantly recalled having worked with herbs sometime, and this one felt safe.
"Thanks girl" he tried.
Aisha smiled.
"See my point? Rather than you calling me Girl, my name is Aisha, I am a pirate, from The shiloh Archipelago. A fugitive and crimminal by letter of the law, but pretty harmless unless you give me reason to act in anger. How about you?" she said, and challenged him to answer.
Corso nodded. It was a fair trade she offered. From the sound of things, he owed her his life, if not more.
"My name is Corso, Corso Takashi. I am the sergeant of platoon 33 from the 44th regiment of the chissian elite forces. And since we are on the subject, does anyone know what happened to my platoon? As far as I can see, I am the only one here" he said, once again trying to get up.
Aisha quickly blocked him from doing so.
"Corso, there has been some development in things. I think it is best you sit down while I tell you, as what I am about to say will be a tremendous shock for you. Also, you are severely injured, your scull is fractured, you may not be able to steady yourself, so please, let us, The pirates, help you out. As soon as you are well enough, you will be given a choice, to either stay with us, or return to the chissian military. But please, remain seated" Aisha said.
As Aisha started to tell, an indescribable roar of share utter pain, coming from a place deep within, could be heard inside the pirate ship...
Bleylock was in a terrible mood. He had tried the sneaky way, by acting very polite and charming with Duke Maddox, to find out where I'Son had gone off to. To no avail. He had noticed that Duke Maddox personal nurse, Helena Ortiz, was also not at her post. That only made him feel more upset. She was his back up plan to relocate his lover. What I'Son had done, by leaving this way, insulted his inner warrior, and his code of honour the worst possible way. Not a word about why this came about now. He had thought they had straightened it all out, that I'Son got the fact that they could not be in a relationship. But that did not mean they could not still work together, that part had nothing to do with their romantic life or relationship. Besides, it was not unusual for homosexuals on Abraxor to still have lovers that were male, only, more hidden, to protect them. What I'Son had seen while they were there...Bleylock knew it was unusual that anyone was caught like those two, but it had clearly stirred something in I'Son, making him fearful of things for the two of them.
Bleylock was getting to be quite manic now, not seeing things clearly in the whole situation, and his own role in the events, was becoming very unclear. By now, Duke Maddox lack of trust in him, his appointed General, the many rounds of questions concerning the loss of Ascaron as a planet and what had gone on inside the compound, under General Bleylocks lead, was all things he blamed on the one he could not reach, I'Son. And the same went for professor Monteague. He knew he had been sent to Akillian and the base there. But having ruined one base, Duke Maddox was not trusting him as a leader, and he kept him on a close leech. Bleylock had to find a way to get back on to his good side...
It had been more than 3 months off of work now. I'Son parked his car in the designated parking lot, and showed his new identity card that allowed him access to the compound. Helena was no longer working for Technoid, she had been offered a well paid job as a nurse at a near by hospital, a position his mother had helped her get. His own father has asked him to reconsider the idea of working for Technoid. Even with General Bleylock at a distance, and a promise to keep him there, I'Son decided to stay with Technoid. They had spent a lot of money on his education. He felt like he owed them something back for their efforts. He still wore the back board, but it would come off next week, at the physical exam then. It was just precationary at this point.
He entered the building and again had to identify himself to the guard. He was then showed to the wardrobe where a locker was found. It felt strange to see the get up, and the Technoid labcoat with his name tag, but I'Son put it on, and made sure to check his schedule. Laboratory, D Block. He had a meeting with professor Monteague, his new mentor, there, in 30 minutes. It would not leave a good impression to be late. I'Son hurried up, and found his new mentor just about to check his watch.
"Professor Monteague? I believe we have a scheduled introduction meeting? I am professor I'Son Danvers" he said, approaching the older man.
Professor Monteague looked up as the younger man approached. He knew his new protege was young, but this young man, he was in his early twenties at best. How in the galaxy had he managed to become a fully trained professor this fast?
"Welcome aboard I'Son. I understand we are both relatively new here, so let me show you around, while you fill me in on what it is you really take an interest in studying. I was told to make sure you were given assignments that allows for you to develop further and expand as a scientist, so lets see how Technoid can help you with that" he smiled.
"Well, actually, since I have been on sick leave, I came across a very facinating subject. All planets have fluxes, a magical energy, but we know little to nothing about how it works. What if the fluxes in our galaxy could actually be used to benefit everyone,in a good way, to help rather than destroy?" I'Son said.
Professor Monteague rubbed his beard. It seemed his young protege was a lot brighter than he had first thought. He recalled Bleylock having mentioned him, saying this young man was a genius. Maybe this was the one he had looked for, in his latest research project. He wanted to see if it was possible, to create flux, out of nothing but the liquids they had available. If this young man was interested, why not take him on board?
This young man piqued his interest more and more. He needed to know how much I'Son really knew.
"A most interesting thought I'Son. But as of today, The fluxes are regulated by The flux society. They can only be used in football, unless off course, we could come up with a way to disguise it, so no one knew we were making flux. If The Flux society found out we were doing research like that, we would be in trouble" He said thoughtfully.
I'Son smiled. It seemed his new mentor and he had a simmilar passion here, to find a way to better things for the galaxy.
He had the feeling this could be quite an interesting learning experience.
"I always think that nothing ventured nothing gained Professor. If possible, I would like to experiment with this, to see if we can produce. Who knows, maybe Technoid can use it in a positive manner, for example,allow the droids we make more human traits. I think it is possible to do, but I would need the resources and funds to prove it. That, and off course, a mentor to toss ideas around with" he said.
Professor Monteague nodded with a smile. Not only was young I'Son ambitious, he also had a way to sell his idea that intrigued him. He would have a ball mentoring a student this devoted to his task. As they reached the designated area of the lab for I'Sons workstation, he looked around.
In a matter of minutes, I'Son had drawn up what he would need and where he wanted it placed.
"How fast can we have the workstation up and running to the spesifications I listed?" he asked.
Professor Monteague laughed at his young proteges eager to get started.
"Let me make a call to Duke Maddox, and if all goes according to plan, we will be up and running in two days from now" he said.
"Perfect, that is just enough time for me to go through the library and find all the relevant information I need to get started, unless of course, you want to head this one?" he said.
"I do want to be involved yes. Flux is an area where we have little to no knowledge. I have wanted to go further researching this for some time, I even dream of some day creating a synthetic flux for robots, to level the playing field between flux teams in the galactik football league and robots, making a more balanced galaxy so to say. Now, I think I may just have the perfect partner for such a project" he said.
I'Son smiled, and held out his hand.
"If you are willing to give me the chance to work on this professor, you got yourself a lab assistant,and partner".
Professor Monteague took his hand.
"I think this is the start of a beautiful partnership"...
Bleylock listened attentively as Professor Monteague updated him. So that was where Duke Maddox hid I'Son. Akillian, his home planet. Where he would be surrounded by friends and also family. To go there to see him would be too risky at this time. Someone was sure to sound the alarm if he got close to his former lover, causing Duke Maddox to come down hard on him again. He did not need that. Professor Monteague also reported, I'Son was not living on the Akillian plants dorms. He and his girlfriend lived somewhere in the city, off the Technoid base. He had tried to find an adress, only to find, Duke Maddox had scrambled the adress, and it was duly noted this was his order. He did have a contact code however. Bleylock considered writing I'Sons new contact code down, but he knew it would not help matters. If need be, I'Son himself would have reached out to him by now, trying to set matters straight. It seemed almost as if he was under some kind of spell, a spell cast by this young woman, Helena, whom was now his girlfriend. Bleylock tried to recall her. But she had seemed so ordinare. Not really the kind of girl I'Son should be seen with. With his looks, he could have done so much better, found a girl that had been possible to control. He did not get why he was sidelined over a girl. He had thought I'Son was like himself. But it seemed, I'Son actually had one leg in each camp. That he was actually into both female and male partners. Or was this actually I'Son weighing the pros and cons against each other with a male partner versus a female partner. A female partner could give him offspring in due time, and they were also buildt a bit differently. Maybe he was curious as to how it felt to squeeze a pair of tits in his hands, how a female would feel like compared to a male. What in the galaxy was his motivation for moving forwards with a girl? The more Bleylock thought of it, the more the dark anger inside grew. He would not admit to his obsession. But now he knew where he was, he had eyes on him once more. He could hack the security cameras on I'Sons workstation, and at least see him that way. Then, Professor Monteague told him of I'Sons latest interest within research.
This intrigued Bleylock.
He always thought the key to obtain the power to become the supreme ruler of the galaxy, would somehow connect to fluxes. No one knew of his dealings in the past, or the mole that was inside the flux society. Hell, no one eve knew of his plans.
But this opened doors of opourtunity.
I'Son working with Professor Monteague. Learning more of this, could open that door wide open.
And That made Bleylock start to plot an evil plan in the back of his mind.
He had to be patient, till I'Son could crack the code. He knew Professor Monteague wanted to accomplish just that, but he did not think this scientist had what it took. I'Son on the other hand did. Now, he needed to make sure all the equipment he needed was put in place.
"I will sign the order for this new work station right away. It will be installed as fast as humanly possible. And Professor, take good care of I'Son. He is the most valuable young scientist we got. A real genius. Give him free reigns as much as possible, his skills will astound you" he said.
As soon as he ended the call, Bleylock made another call, this time to have the work station fitted with video surveillance in all possible areas. Now he knew where his lover was. He was going to win him back, one way or the other.
It was a good thing he was alone in his office, so no one heard his evil laughter...