Chapter 6

Wrong Turn

Pietro glared up at the ceiling after being winded by a hit from one of the large and bulky clad soldiers, Aim for the eyes!, yeah that would work if he could get to any eyes. As he took that seconds to think, he realized that had been the Brood things…. They just had to fight… he should have come to that conclusion before he was nearly impaled. He watched Todd leap over him and then get thrown back the opposite way. Pietro was about to get up when Corsair shot a lasor near his head.

"WHAT THE…." Pietro jumped up with lightneing speed, his chest ached like crazy, but he cringed as he saw something slimy stop moving where his head once was, "What is that?"

"A Thinloid Clott…. Or Parasite," said Ch'od casually, as he threw one of the soldiers into a wall, to the cheers of prisoners, "Life leeches."

"I hate space…." Said Wanda with a cringe as she threw a hex at one of the soldiers, it bounced off and flew into a cell, "That sucks…"

"In retrospect, even with a full proof plan this is pretty typical of any actual mission we usually take," said Fred as he smashed two soldiers together.

"That's pretty true … actually this is already better than most… no one's dead yet," said Tabitha confidently as a shot was fired and Pietro yanked her away, "Thanks speedy."

"No sweat BoomBoom," smirked Pietro before speeding to block Mika who was a terrible shot.

"Watch it!" yelled Lance as Mika nearly shot him, "Can I not get vaporized by my own team today."

"How about tomorrow?" asked Todd as he slimed one of the soldiers, who took off his mask revealing large canines and black scar laden scales and spat back, hitting a rock and causing it to melt, "Acid slime… alright you win the spitting contest, yo… AHCK!"

"What are they, insectoids… reptoids…. What?" asked Pietro as Nature used her vines to take out the spitter.

"I thought they were more lizards like but their armor looks more like beetles," said Mika who dove behind Corsair who was using his sword now.

"I really don't care what they are, I just want them to get out of our way," groaned Lance as the grounds began to split.

"That's not going to be a good idea," said Raza, but it was too late.

Meanwhile Hephzibah was much faster than Zodiac and the other two and she scaled areas with agility and ease like an acrobat. Zodiac's wonderment at her own abilities faltered and she wondered if practice would help her coin such skills of her own. However the musing was short lived as they found their exit blocked by the General that the king had called his son. At least she'd thought at first since his armor was far more detailed and reminded her of a scarab beetle. He was looking at his hands which would be a perfect distraction for an ambush but something told Zodiac he knew there were already there, a mental note almost. Hephzibah indicated to a hall near where the soldier stood but seemed unsure of the size up. The Shi'ar women seemed to motion towards another corridor. Zodiac missed all of this as she was currently taking the route right near the general, she wasn't sure why but he seemed less formidable. She stayed near the wall and in the shadows, but he didn't register her passing, the others followed suite and once cleared, Hephzibah led the way. The small blonde girl, Hephzibah's initial failed rescue mission, seemed to stay closer to Zodiac as they went.

"He must be of horrible sight," said the young girl quietly, her voice had an accent that wasn't as foreign to Zodiac and seemed more old english, she couldn't be more than ten or eleven in Zodiac's eyes.

"How old are you?" asked Zodiac as they rounded a corner.

"Three hundred and sixty four," she replied, Zodiac slowed down a little at this, "What do they eat up here."

"Years are different than earth, my dear," said Hephzibah, she'd come to a stop, "We've reached the ship bay… no one will notice if a middle one is gone, come."

"End," said the feather women, she seemed to disagree and was hoping Zodiac would support her as a mental stream of words conveyed to Zodiac.

"Uh… compromise… middle end," said Zodiac as the two older women shared a hostile look, "Right… ohm."

"Lunebulara or Luna," said they blonde girl/women, Zodiac didn't know how to classify her, "I agree, let us not argue."

"Good to know our names aren't strange up here," said Zodiac thinking back to her family names.

"This ship looks good," said Hephzibah, she smiled, "Look, its open."

"Who leaves keys in a ship," said Zodiac as they entered the unusual black interior ship while the feathered women held up keys, she seemed to argue with Hephzibah.

"They argue about a better flight," said Luna who locked the door, "What is it Animate girl?"

"I… call me Zodiac… ohm… nothing, something smells… familiar?" asked Zodiac as she sat down, the ship was springing to life.

"Oh my god…. I can't believe you did that," said Tabitha as she stared at the giant hole in the ground where the soldiers had fallen into, "How deep is that?"

"Four stories," said Corsair, scratching his head, "That was handy."

"Are you guys coming?" asked Nature from where she'd cleared the stairs.

"Yeah, let's not stick around," and Pietro darted up the stairs.

They managed to clear most of the way up until they ran into a new group of soldiers; one was wearing thicker and decorated armor and was barking orders. Wanda pondered just how far Zodiac and the Starjammer's teammate had gotten in this place, it seemed to be crawling with soldiers and generals apparently. Wanda shot a hex at a soldier whose armor seemed to cover less of his body, it bounced off him but took out two others, so not all bad. She hit the ground hard as the General had started throwing punches. Corsair was out for the count and Lance had managed to get his sword, which he obviously had no idea how to hold. So far they weren't fairing as well as the first few fights, Wanda saw Fred hit the wall; yeah this wasn't going to well.

Zodiac watched as the feathered women drove the ship, she was still trying to figure out her name from the small amounts of communications they had. Hephzibah was messing with the communicator radio while Luna sat looking at a cellphone. Zodiac blinked and looked at the cellphone in question, shocked at the similar technology in space. She let her mind focus on that instead of trying to figure out how to get home.

"What do you call them up here?" asked Zodiac as she looked at Luna's phone.

"Peculiar device I found in the chair," said Luna handing it to Zodiac, "Do you know of what it is?"

"Yeah it's a cellphone… earth thing…." Zodiac pushed the power button and it spring to life with a picture of Lance and Kitty, "Turn around!"

"I stabbed someone," said Lance in horror as they ran onto the ground floor.

"You cut his arm, he will live," said Wanda, she muttered to herself, "You buried thirty aliens but by all means worry about the paper cut."

"That was a good hit, though," beamed Corsair, "Coming up with plans, wielding swords, good leading ability… thought about staying in space?"

"Not even for one second," beamed Lance as they swung passed a large window, "Pietro what are you doing?"

"Our ships gone," said Pietro, "We were in the ninety seventh spot, forty two rows in, second to the left…. No ship."

"You miscounted, let's get the others and get out of here," said Tabitha, pulling Pietro from the window.

"Did you say I miscounted," said Pietro with a scoff as they continued.

"Apart from wondering aimlessly thorough a building a quarter size of a hostile planet…. How are we finding them and not getting killed," said Lance as they ducked into a dark hall as soldiers ran by.

"Okay, new plan," said Corsair, "Plan B."

"What's plan B?" asked Nature but Corsair and his teammates were off, "How is he a leader…. He doesn't tell you anything."

"Operation Lemming," said Lance, the Brotherhood nodded and they were off after Corsair and his team.

"What does that mean?" asked Nature, "Does no one communicate?"

"Well it either means were all jumping off a cliff or following blindly," said Mika as he yanked Nature along with him.

"It's probably the cliff one," groaned Nature as they followed them into a large room filled with bright gems, "Are we robbing them?!"

"I could buy Candy a better ring," said Todd confidently, Lance beamed obviously thinking about Kitty.

"Well then, that's okay," said Nature with a shrug.

"Their used for weapons," said Mika as Corsair was playing with some sort of computer system.

"You can't wear them?" asked Tabitha sadly.

"Well you can but their used to power their ship weapons," said Corsair, "Part of the war really… Animite and Daj refused to give to the Tricids weapon supply so they went to war. Some other non-allied planets stayed in trade but refused to be part of the war and recently turned against Tricids…. That's why there's been so much activity in the North region… so we're going to help out a little and use it against them."

"We're going to blow up their weapons with their other weapons," said Ch'od.

"But they still have weapons," said Fred.

"Not as many," said Raza.

"We could just take most of their power source," said Pietro, Corsair stepped aside as Pietro began to rapidly enter codes and accesses to the system, "I'm a power hungry overlord who want to control the universe… GOT IT!"

"How…" asked Corsair, as the system went green and the room settled.

"Same as my dad's old password," shrugged Pietro, "Okay so all we need is the ship and Zodiac."

"This is going better than I thought," said Corsair, "I thought at least two of you would be dead by now."

"Suddenly the confidence is gone," said Lance as they heard alarms go off, "Brilliant… apparently there's alarms."

"This planet confuses me… torches…. Crystal weapons… castle like structure… alarms and computers," said Fred, "I'm getting a headache."

"I've had one since the day I joined the Brotherhood," said Lance, Wanda nodded in agreement.

"Let's get out of here," suggested Todd, Tabitha was already out the door with Raza.

"Your friends are here?" asked Hephzibah as she and Zodiac ran back into the Triciddian castle, "I don't trust that Shi'ar with my charge."

"I don't know how, but they are," said Zodiac, "You don't think they were captured…. Never mind I would have heard them."

"Talkative group?" asked Hephzibah.

"Nature would have never shut up and from what I've gathered of the Brotherhood from Todd…. Somehow it would have turned into a party," said Zodiac, she jumped as alarms began to blare, "What is with this planet. No electricity and yet alarms.. why?"

"The armory must have been tampered with," Hephzibah smiled, "My comrades are here as well."

"Armory?" asked Zodiac as she followed Hephzibah up a small flight of stairs, "How do you know where we're going?"

"Came across it before I got captured," said Hephzibah as she turned to running on all fours and began to pick up speed that Zodiac had trouble matching.

"What's the plan?" yelled Pietro looking at Lance.

"Check up a head and see if the paths clear," said Lance as they cleared a hallway.

Zodiac and Hephzibah turned down a hall littered with guards and doubled back to hide behind a statue. Zodiac felt a strong wind fly by and seemingly swirl through the guards with ease and begin to pass back over them. It took only a second to register the strong wind as a familiar air of cologne came to her senses, she hadn't remembered smelling it that strongly before but she remembered it before she'd gotten kidnapped.

"Pietro!" she yelled loudly disregarding the guards ten feet away.

"Oh hey, Z, nice running into you and… you must be Corsair's teammate?" asked Pietro, looking at Hephzibah, "Meeow! Hi, I'm Pietro."

"Now's not the time, cutie," smirked Hephzibah as the guards advanced, in the blink of an eye her and Pietro were gone.

"You've got to be… AH!" Zodiac blinked twice and was with the Brotherhood, Nature, her brother, and a group of people that could only be Hephzibah's teammates, "Oh hey everyone."

"Zodiac!" she was pulled into a hug by Nature, and Zodiac forgot her anger at her for the time being.

"Plan's going well I take it?" asked Hephzibah to Corsair, their hands lacing together.

"No one's dead yet," he beamed, "Let's get out of here."

"We have to take the ninety seventh ship, forty two rows…" Hephzibah was cut off.

"Second to the left," said Pietro, "I told you are ship was gone…. You guys left and came back?"

"Found Lance's phone, figured you guys were wondering around here looking for me," said Zodiac as they began to head back outside as the sounds of guards approaching rang down the hall.

"Then we heard the alarms and I knew you were here," said Hephzibah, ships began to spring to life as the two groups split up to two different ships.

"Mika, drive!" yelled Lance as he slammed the door shut behind him.

"On it….. hello?" asked Mika as a women with feather like hair sat in the copilots seat.

"Hey there…" asked Pietro as he saw a young blonde girl in his seat, "Zodiac?"

"That's Luna and…. Lila… Lil," said Zodiac trying to understand the name the women had said again.

"You go to a hostile alien prison and make friends?" asked Nature in confusion.

"You gained a team of pirates," said Zodiac with a scoff.

"True," said Tabitha as they all sat down, "Lance why did you bring your phone in space."

"Wishful thinking," said Lance as he sat down and Mika pulled the ship up and doubled back to the building, "What are you doing?"

"The ammunition….. Corsair's ships gone, we can't just leave it," said Mika, "The weapons kill hundreds of thousands of innocent people."

"Bunch of innocent people in here," said Pietro indicating to all of them, "Do you even know how to tether the ship?"

"I do," said Lil as she took over the ship and flew swiftly to the building.

"Who is she?" asked Todd in a whisper to Zodiac.

"Some Shi'ar diplomat I think… no idea really," said Zodiac, with a shrug, she whispered to Todd, "That little girl is over three hundred years old."

"No way, yo," said Todd in awe, "She looks twelve."

"I know, right?... What's that purple and yellow stuff?"

"Alien slime, blood, and parasite innards…. Don't tell Pietro but he's got some in his hair," said Todd, Zodiac snickered.

"Is now really a snickering time?" asked Lance, they fell silent, "Thank you."

"He gets moody when he has a sword," said Tabitha, Wanda smirked.

"Got it!" said Mika and with a jolt that caused a great deal of whiplash, the ship was off, "We go North West."

"No, that's the war zone, we go North East," said Nature quickly.

"Are you sure?" asked Lance quickly.

"No…" said Nature.

"I think she's right, yo," said Todd quickly.

"Just go, go that way!" said Lance, pointing at random, "When we clear the area we'll figure out what to do."

"Right," said Mika and the ship began to pick up speed as an army of ships followed behind them, "Anyone know maneuvers… oh I see."

"Lilandra says she's a strategist flier," said Luna as the Lil spoke.

"You can understand her?" asked Zodiac, Luna nodded, "I suppose I could have just asked you guys to translate earlier."

"Whoa! Where are we?" asked Wanda as they slowed down, there were planets around them now, ones that had many moons and had a similar looks to earth, she got up to look, "Wow…"

"I'm telling you, space is good for my sister," said Pietro as he watched Wanda smile, something shook the ship, causing her to fall in the doorway and Pietro to slide off his chair, "What was that."

"Turbulence?" suggested Nature as she looked through a window.

"Oh crap," said Lance as bright lights began flying towards them.

"What?" asked Wanda, still clinging to the doorway.

"We turned the wrong way…. We're right in the war zone," said Mika with a cringe just as the ship was wracked with hits.

TO BE CONTINUED