Last time found our heroes aboard the Intrepid Heart chasing an armada of Heartless and Hakonian ships into another universe. The Hakonians, Orkal, Ikura and Grekor, were sent by Maleficent to obtain the rare element Uridium, an essential item in the synthesis of the rings that can control Nobodies.
Sora and the others chased the dark armada to a world inhabited by people and stopped the enemy from attacking. But our heroes got more than they bargained for when the enemy began chasing them. But then salvation came from an unexpected source; a WW2 battleship retrofitted for spaceflight fired a massive energy blast at the enemy, significantly reducing their forces, forcing them to withdraw.
As Riku brought The Intrepid Heart close to the other starship so our heroes could meet the other crew, our heroes saw that the other ship was named Yamato, at first thought to be named after the largest and most powerful battleship of all time. But then Sora and the others realized that this might just be the Yamato, reborn for space. 'Nuff said, on with the show!
Chapter 3: The Last Hope for Earth
The Intrepid Heart docked with the large ship, The Yamato. "We just need to wait for the pressure to equalize on both sides," said Aiden, "shouldn't be much longer."
"Just because these people saved our sorry hides," said Tess, "doesn't mean we should let our guards down. This still could be a trap."
"We're going to be careful," said Riku, "but that doesn't mean we shouldn't be civil. We're going to keep our eyes open and our Keyblades on standby, but we'll be friendly nonetheless."
"Well I'm ready to meet these guys," said Kairi.
"Same here," said Sora.
"If I could make one small point," said Sidney, "I am capable of keeping an eye on the ship, while going with you onto the other ship," a side panel opened, revealing a badge-sized portable holographic projector. Sidney then picked it up and pinned it to her sleeve. Her image then flickered, then solidified, "there, I told Cid that watching all seven seasons of Star Trek Voyager was a good idea."
The pressure on the airlock equalized and the doors opened. On the other side were three people. The first was a man in his early 20's wearing a white uniform with red lines. He had brown hair and brown eyes. From what Sora and the others could sense, this was a man with a short but more often than not controlled temper mixed with a high level of confident adventurism.
The second person was a woman in her early 20's with shoulder-length blond hair and brown eyes. She wore a yellow uniform with black lines. Our heroes could sense that this was a woman willing to put her life on the line for her friends and comrades, as well as face any adversity in order to get the job done.
The third person was clearly the captain of the ship, judging by his white-captain's hat. He was in his late 60's with a full beard and wore a black and orange coat with white trousers. This was a man, our heroes sensed, that carried a huge weight of responsibility on his shoulders and in his heart, but had the strength of heart and body to see it through to the end, whatever that end may be.
"I am Captain Okita," said the old man, "commander of The Yamato."
"Sora of the Keyblade," said our favorite hero, "captain of The Intrepid Heart. These are my friends and fellow travelers."
"You certainly look like you've come a long way," said the man in the white and red uniform.
"I could say the same of you people," said Riku.
"We are a long way from home," said the woman in the yellow and black uniform.
"As are we," said Kairi.
"That weapon you used was awe inspiring," said Tess, "that huge…energy…thing."
"It sure is," said the man in the white and red uniform, "Kodai Mamoru, Battle Chief and head gunner of The Yamato. I'm the one who fired The Wave Motion Gun."
"Yuki Mori," said the woman, "chief radar technician and head of planetary exploration."
"I believe we all have stories to exchange," said Captain Okita, "would you care to dine with us this evening?"
"We'd love to," said Sora, while Riku, Kairi and the others nodded in agreement.
"Aren't you gonna say something about how weird we are?" Donald asked suspiciously.
"We get that a lot," said Goofy.
"We're the first humans to venture into deep space," said Yuki, "we've learned to expect the unexpected."
"They're alright in my book," said Aiden.
"You're not so bad yourselves," said Kodai. At that everyone laughed a bit.
Captain Okita then escorted our heroes through the many levels of The Yamato. The corridors had moving walkways that made getting to and from different parts of the ship easier, as well as elevators and emergency descent chutes.
Sora and the others were then shown to the captain's private dinning room where they met several other senior officers of The Yamato.
Daisuke Shima was the chief navigator and helmsman. He and Kodai were clearly long-term friends. He had short black hair and wore a white and green uniform. Our heroes sensed that Shima had some confidence issues that he was dealing with as best as he can.
Science officer Shiro Sanada clearly had a logical, dedicated and earnest mind that was full of ideas. He wore a white and blue uniform and had short black hair.
The chief medical officer for the Yamato was Dr. Sakezo Sado, a brilliant practitioner of medicine but also a man who enjoyed life as much as he could. He was squat, balding and wore glasses. He was also an alcoholic; his flushed face and the sake bottle in his hands giving that fact away.
Chief Engineer Hikozaemon Tokugawa was clearly a man of experience. He was tall with balding white hair and a short beard, wearing a white and red uniform.
Rounding up the group was squat, humanoid robot with a red outer body and moved on treadmills on his legs. This was Analyzer, an machine capable of emulating human thought and emotions, though he spoke like a fully robotic automaton. Analyzer was basically a moving supercomputer with a heart.
"Those moves you used against those…things," said Shima to Riku, "those Heartless you called, impressive."
"The ship did most of the work," Riku said modestly, "I just told her what do to."
"That's true," said Shima, "but my job is harder. Not only do I have to pilot The Yamato through normal space, I also have to make sure that everything goes right when we Warp."
"How does that work?" Aiden asked, "our ship uses mater and anti-mater to create energy powerful enough to generate an opening into hyperspace, which we use to travel incredibly large distances faster than light," he looked at Sora and the others, "I figured out the concept easily enough."
"It took us a while," said Sora.
"So how does Warping work?" Aiden asked the Yamato crew, "I've heard of the term, but I think it's different for your ship."
"Our engine does work differently," said Chief Tokugawa, "our power supply uses the vacuum of space to create tachyon energy, giving us a nearly infinite source of fuel."
"The Wave Motion Engine operates on the principle that time and space are like waves," said Sanada, "the power of our engine catapults us from the crest of one wave to another, allowing us to traverse over a thousand light years in the blink of an eye, in real time that is, but from our point of view, a Warp seems to take a long time."
"But we have to be very careful about achieving a Warp," said Shima, "there are so many things that have to be timed perfectly. Any miscalculation could prove disastrous."
"How bad could it be?" Aiden asked.
"The least worse case scenario would be that nothing would happen," said Sanada, "that the engine would fail to Warp and we'd be still where we were. On the other hand, the engine could explode, destroying us and a large part of space in the process."
"It could create a chain reaction that could, in theory, rip the whole universe apart," said a slightly nervous Shima, "and Dr. Sado wonders why I have Acid Reflux."
"Forgive my intrusion," said Sidney as she walked over, "but I've thought over that worse case scenario, and I must point out that the odds of destroying the universe due to a faulty Warp are highly improbable, somewhere in the range of 12,738,994,921,358.989 to one against.
"A more likely end result would be that the engine does explode, but the destructive force would only create a hole in the fabric of reality the exact size of Belgium."
"That is illogical," said Analyzer, "how can you possibly predict the exact dimensions of a hole in reality when you haven't learned the capabilities of our engines?"
"I've been scanning your ship since we got within range," said Sidney, "I'm impressed by the energy output of your engine, and based on those statistics, combined with a while slew of other factors, I've arrived at the conclusion that a Belgium-sized hole in reality would be the end result."
"Nonsense!" said Analyzer, "the probable outcome would be a hole the size of Luxembourg. Your calculations are defective, which is not surprising considering that they are made by an inferior mind."
"Inferior my digital eye!" snapped Sidney, "I am the most advanced artificial intelligence in the Realms of Light, which is a hell of a lot more advanced than you, you rust bucket with vacuum tubes for brains!"
"I am not a rust bucket," said Analyzer, "and I do not have vacuum tubes! I am the most advanced robotic life form on Earth, with a multitronic mind capable of analyzing all forms of data, where as you are merely light and shadow."
"You think you're so advanced!" an irate Sidney asked, "I was created by the greatest computer program in my universe, where as you are clearly ready to be recycled!"
"I am a genius!" insisted Analyzer, "and you need to be reprogrammed!"
"I'll reprogram you, toss pot!" snapped Sidney.
"Oh for crying out loud!" said Kairi, "if you two are going to get into a fight, then you both can switch off for all I care."
"At least I'm capable of going into sleep mode," said Sidney to Analyzer, "what about you, can you turn yourself on and off?"
"I am fully self-sufficient," said Analyzer, "I do not need sleep."
"And yet you insist you're superior," said Sidney, "you're going to run down."
"No I won't," said Analyzer, "where as you are due to short circuit!"
"I'll short circuit you!" snapped Sidney.
"Stop it, both of you!" said Yuki, "this is supposed to be a happy occasion where two crews are getting to know each other. Analyzer, I order you to apologize to Sidney."
"And I order you to apologize to Analyzer," said Riku to Sidney.
"Yes, sir," Sidney pouted as she stubbornly crossed her arms, "but I don't have to like it."
"Anything for you, Ms. Yuki," said Analyzer. It was as if the robot was showing genuine affection. It then spoke to Sidney, "I apologize for insulting you."
"And I'm sorry I called you a rust bucket and a toss pot," said Sidney in a stubborn tone, "but that's all you'll get out of me."
"Fair enough," said Yuki. She then spoke to Sora and the others, "now, if it's okay, would you please tell us what you're doing out here?"
"I'd like to know that myself," said Kodai.
"We'd like to know what you're doing out here as well," said Sora while Riku, Kairi and the others nodded in agreement, "but our story first."
And so once again our heroes explained what Heartless are all about, as well as a brief rundown about the Villains of their universe.
"We don't know exactly why Maleficent sent those Heartless and Hakonians into this universe," said Riku, "but whatever it is that they're looking for, this weird element, it's for some dark purpose without a doubt."
"We've figured as much," said Captain Okita, "for the past few days we've seen one star system after another overrun by darkness, as well as seen hints of creatures made of living darkness."
"A scientific impossibility," said slightly tipsy Dr. Sado, "but the creatures are real alright!" he then took another swig of sake.
"The Heartless are everywhere alright," said Sora in a serious tone, "a wise man once told us that as long as there is darkness in the hearts of people, then The Heartless will always be a threat."
"Well, we've got a threat of our own to deal with, other than Heartless," said Kodai, "we're on a really important mission."
"We're the last hope Earth has," said Yuki in a serious tone, "if we fail, then our world and all of Humanity will be destroyed forever."
"How'd that happen?" Tess asked.
"It's a long story," said Captain Okita, "I'm sure that in your universe it is a different year, but in this one it is 2,200 AD. Ten years ago the solar system came under attack by an alien race, Gamilus. No one knew where the aliens came from or why they were attacking us, but Gamilus overwhelmed the outposts and colonies on the outer planets of the solar system.
"They established a base on Pluto and began bombarding Earth with radioactive meteorites. Within three years nearly all life on the surface of Earth was destroyed. Every nation was devastated and every city was rendered uninhabitable. All plant and animal life was wiped out by the destructive force of the meteorites and the radioactive fallout. The oceans and ice caps were boiled away, leaving little if any water on the surface. Our Earth is horrifyingly different from yours.
"Humanity survived by building cities miles underground, but the radiation is slowly creeping down. It's been determined that the radiation will kill everyone on Earth in 275 days."
"Good gods!" said a shocked and appalled Aiden.
"I can think of worst things to say," remarked Riku, while Sora, Kairi and Tess nodded in agreement.
"Why did they do it?" Kairi asked, "what kind of monstrous race would destroy a world without provocation?"
"We didn't know why Gamilus attacked Earth," said Sanada, "not until we actually captured one of them."
"It turns out that the Gamilus race isn't that different from humans," said a more sober sounding Dr. Sado, "their DNA differs from humans by a very, very narrow percentage. The only major differences are that they have blue skin and need radiation to live."
"That's where the current theory comes," said Captain Okita, "Gamilus, who's leader is one Lord Desler, wishes to colonize Earth and needs to make it radioactive first."
"That's just sick!" said an outraged Sora, "this Desler sounds like a real monster."
"There must be millions of uninhabited planets in this galaxy alone," said Riku, "why pick on Earth? Why not just choose an empty world or a moon and make that radioactive?"
"We still don't know why they choose Earth," said Kodai, "but one thing's certain, they're absolutely ruthless, especially Lord Desler."
"Everyone onboard the Yamato has lost someone to the viciousness of Gamilus," said Captain Okita in a solemn tone, "including my only son."
"And my parents and older brother!" said an angry Kodai, "I hate them as a whole. Individually we could get along, but as long as they want us dead, I can't live with them."
"But there is hope for Earth and humanity," said Yuki, "our mission."
"A few months ago a long-range ship arrived in the solar system," said Shima, "onboard was an alien princess from Iscandar, a world in the Large Magellanic Cloud, located 148,000 light years from Earth."
"The woman died when her ship crashed on Mars," said Kodai, "Shima and I were there on a training mission, and we brought her body and a message capsule back to Earth."
"The capsule had a message from the queen of Iscandar, Starsha," said Captain Okita, "Starsha told us that her world has a device capable of removing all radioactive contamination from Earth and can restore the world to the way it was."
"The Cosmo Cleaner D," said Sanada.
"The message also had plans for an engine capable of Faster Than Light Travel," said Chief Tokugawa, "The Wave Motion Engine, as well as plans for using the engine to power our main weapon."
"The Wave Motion Gun," said Kodai.
"An awesome gun," said Tess, "so, you guys left Earth for Iscandar?"
"That was over 90 days ago," said Shima, "we're supposed to be almost halfway to Iscandar by now, but Gamilus and a lot of other factors have left us behind schedule."
"There's still time to get to Iscandar and back before it's too late," said Sanada, "but not much. We've stopped to help you because we've determined that these Heartless are as great a threat to Earth as Gamilus, even worse. If we can stop them somehow, then we have to try."
"Even if it means sacrificing precious time?" Riku asked. "if I were in your shoes, I would have ignored The Heartless and kept going."
"We can definitely make up the time," said Shima, "The Yamato can Warp 1,200 light years at a time. We've been Warping twice a day, a total of 2,400 light years, but we can add a third Warp if needed."
"The engine does need time to cool down and recharge," said Chief Tokugawa, "at least eight hours minimal, preferably 10 or 12."
"1,200 light years in the blink of an eye," said Sora, "Sidney, how long does it take for our ship to…"
"Not nearly as quick," said Sidney, "If our ship and The Yamato were to have a race, they'd lap us easily."
"Cool," said Kairi, "did you really build the ship out of the original Yamato? The WW2 battleship?"
"Our Yamato was inspired by the original Yamato," said Chief Tokugawa, "but if you're asking if we retrofitted the original ship for spaceflight, then no, we didn't. Instead we used the wreck of the original Yamato as a disguise for this ship."
"This Yamato was originally intended to be an ark," said Captain Okita, "a last effort to preserve humanity. At the time there was almost no hope of stopping the radioactive bombardment; our last attempt to drive the invaders from the solar system failed miserably. Out of a fleet of dozens of warships, only the ship I commanded survived. That engagement was the one where my son and Kodai's brother died."
"But we paid them back double," said a vindictive sounding Kodai, "on the way out of the solar system, we fought Gamilus several times and defeated them each time."
"They used a rather peculiar weapon when we fought them at Pluto," said Sanada, "an energy cannon that used reflective satellites to direct the beam at us. An ingenious concept I'll admit, one that we could use later when there's time to elaborate."
"I think we've had enough small talk," said Captain Okita, "we've said before that The Heartless are a threat just as great as Gamilus, and now we've seen that these Hakonians are an equally terrible threat, so now it comes to it; should The Yamato attempt to stop these Hakonians from taking what they want? Should we fight this new enemy with our new friends? Or should The Yamato continue on her way towards Iscandar?"
There was a moment of silence as the senior officers of The Yamato thought about Captain Okita's words. It was Kodai who spoke, "I think I speak for us all when I say that we shouldn't ignore these Hakonians. Their invasion of our universe is a threat to Earth, and they should be treated no different than Gamilus."
"Sooner or later both The Heartless and the Hakonians would come to Earth," said Sanada, "even if we get the Cosmo Cleaner D in time to save our world, we'll have to deal with these other threats. I'd rather fight these new enemies now while we're out here, than wait for them to come to us."
"I agree," said Chief Tokugawa, "we can make up the time if we're careful."
"I may be able to help with that," said Sidney, "I believe that with some effort, I can provide you with the means, temporarily that is, to increase the efficiency of the Wave Motion Engine. This will only be a short boost, since I'm not completely sure about the compatibility of our different technologies, but I'm certain that the engine can be boosted by a minimum of 38%, possibly 39.5%"
"The Yamato would then be able to traverse between 1,656 and 1674 light years per Warp," said Analyzer.
"That would definitely make up for lost time," said a grinning Shima, "and if the engine can be boosted by 40%, or dare I hope, 45%…"
"Between 1,680 and 1,740 light years per Warp," said Analyzer.
"When can you start?" a smiling Sanada asked Sidney.
"I'm already working on the algorithms," said Sidney.
"I think this is the start of a beautiful friendship," said Kairi, "in more ways than one."
"I think you're right," said Sora.
"Master Grekor," said one of the lesser Hakonians, "we've made contact with planet Gamilus. Their high command is arranging for their leader, Lord Desler, to speak with us."
"Outstanding," said Grekor. He then spoke to his two comrades, "always deal with the top, my friends, never settle for the middleman."
"I never liked talking," said an annoyed Orkal, "when are we going to attack those Keyblade brats? They've got to pay for ruining our mining operation."
"Did your mother drop you on your head when you were an infant?" Ikura asked, "you seem to be lacking short-term memory. You saw what that one starship with that big laser did to the armada. We lost two whole ships and three more were damaged. In short, we've lost three ships and had five damaged because of that engagement."
"Each of our warships only require a crew of 100," said Grekor, "but we only managed to rescue a handful of the destroyed ship's crew. Of 300 Hakonian starship operators, only 29 made it to their escape pods, that's 271 dead. Add the 34 that were killed on the damaged ships, that makes 305 of our people murdered for no reason."
"Add that to the loss of all those Heartless," said Ikura, "leaves us at a serious disadvantage if we have to fight again any time soon."
"Which is why we should seek out an alliance with the local villains," said Grekor, "if the Gamilus race is as powerful as our sources say they are, then we should at least try to see if we can use them."
"Have Gamilus distract the brats and that other ship," said Ikura, "while we mine the Uridium and try to get the local Heartless to obey us."
"We can only try," said Grekor.
"Master Grekor," said the lesser Hakonian, "we have an open link with Gamilus now."
"Put it on the main screen," said Grekor, "let us speak with this Lord Desler."
The forward screen flickered and cleared to reveal and elaborately decorated throne room. Dozens of blue-skinned men wearing green and black uniforms stood around a stepped throne, where a blue-skinned man with short blond hair, sat.
One of the blue-skinned men, whom happened to be bald, stepped forward and spoke, "lowly travelers form outside the universe, you have the fortunate honor to speak with the overlord of Gamilus, the true master of the universe, the terror of the stars, the…"
"Oh just skip it, Vice President Hiss," said the blond man on the throne in an nonchalant tone, "these people have obviously come a long way and gone through a lot of trouble. The least we can do is show them some respect."
"Uh…yes, Lord Desler," said the bald man, Hiss, in an uncertain but placating tone. He bowed and backed away.
The man on the throne, Lord Desler, stood up and waked forward towards the camera on the other end of the link, "as my toadying adjutant said, I am Lord Desler."
The three Hakonians then gave their names, "we have come a long way, Lord Desler," said Grekor, "and I wish to express the fact that neither we Hakonians, or our mistress, Maleficent, wish to interfere with your affairs."
"We only seek a rare element that our mistress desires," said Ikura, "an element that, for any other use, is useless."
"I'll be the judge of that," said Lord Desler, "as it turns out, as the leader of my people, my affairs are the affairs of all of Gamilus."
"I'd be more than happy to send you the details concerning Uridium," said Grekor. He nodded to a lesser Hakonian, who then transmitted the data to the other world, "we only need a few hundred tones of it, then we will be on our way."
"We need more than that," Orkal whispered to Ikura.
"But Lord Desler doesn't know that," whispered Ikrua, "and what he doesn't know doesn't hurt him."
On the screen, a lesser Gamilusian handed a printout to Lord Desler, who then looked at it, "the wonders of subspace communications. It allows me to coordinate my forces throughout space and the instantaneous transmission of data, an essential key to ruling an empire."
"This is true," said Grekor, "now, as to the second reason for seeking your great nation out, I'm sure your forces have encountered worlds and entire stars that have been consumed by darkness."
"The subject has come up in reports from time to time," said Lord Desler, "our scientists have determined that the worlds were attacked by, impossible as it seems, creatures made of living darkness."
"I can assure you, my lord, that The Heartless are as real as the ground you are standing on," said Grekor, "the creatures can be a great asset to your dreams of empire building."
"An interesting thought," said Lord Desler, "I shall have to take it under consideration with my military counsel. Now, is that all you wish to talk about? Of course not, you didn't go through all this trouble to speak with me directly just to say hello.
"Let me guess," he smiled viciously, "your mining operations have hit a snag."
"Two snags actually," said Ikura, "the first is a problem that we can take care of ourselves, normally. Our enemies, The Keyblade Wielders, have followed us from our universe and attacked our armada. Many of our people and thousands of Heartless were destroyed in the engagement."
"The second problem was that big ship with the big laser gun," said Orkal.
At that Lord Desler's fist closed in annoyance, yet his expression remained calm, "ah, yes, The Yamato."
"You know of them?" Ikura asked.
"Indeed I do," said lord Desler, "The crew of The Yamato is made up of barbarians, ingenious barbarians, but barbarians none the less, barbarians that are in need of extermination."
"I couldn't agree more," said Ikura, "any race that cannot be of use is not worthy of existing."
"All too true," said Lord Desler, "yet these particular barbarians have earned a level of respect from me. Against all odds they defeated the forces I sent to their solar system. Not even one of the most advanced weapon systems our scientists devised could stop The Yamato and her crew."
"Just how serious are these lowly humans?" Orkal asked, "in our universe, only a handful of that race have the potential to be dangerous. The rest of the animals are hardly worth our time."
"Let me put it succinctly," said Lord Desler in a serious tone, "it is essential to the survival of Gamilus as a race that the humans be exterminated. Their world is already doomed, but that ship is the true threat. The Yamato and must not reach Iscandar and return to restore their world.
"I already have considered several of my top generals and admirals to assign to the task of destroying The Yamato; it's simply a question of picking the right one for the job."
"I believe I have an alternative solution," said Grekor, "one that would solve both our problems."
"I'm listening," said Lord Desler.
"You want The Yamato and her crew expunged from the face of the universe," said Grekor, "my people and our mistress want The Keyblade Wielders dead. I say that Gamilus and Hakonians work together to destroy our enemies. If you can loan some of your forces to us, then I guarantee that our combined enemies will be destroyed."
Lod Desler then signaled to one of his men standing nearby. The two of them had a whispered conversation for about 30 seconds before Desler spoke again, "I can spare you a sizable taskforce that you will find most pleasing. But before I can commit my forces, I wish to know, will this be a joint operation? Or will you Hakonians try to lead the mission yourselves, only to have my people do all the dirty work?"
"I cannot personally speak for my two comrades," said Grekor, "we're not exactly the most agreeable types, the three of us that is. But I can say for myself that I will gladly cooperate with whomever you choose to lead your forces, that this will be a democratic operation."
"I'll also cooperate," said Ikura, "so long as the job gets done."
"I'm just here to kill people," said Orkal, "these two can play politics all they want. Just point me in the right direction and leave the bloodletting to me."
"Then I believe I have my answer," said Lord Desler, "and now you will have it. I'll dispatch the taskforce immediately. But before I give the order, you Hakonians need to understand the fact that I have no tolerance for failure."
"We understand," said Ikura.
"No you don't," said Lord Desler, "the taskforce I sent to exterminate the humans on Earth, when their base was destroyed by The Yamato, I then ordered them to either destroy The Yamato or never come home. They fought the humans with everything they had. They fought valiantly, yet The Yamato and her crew survived while every last Gamilus in the taskforce was killed.
"This is what you to understand; once you accept the resources of Gamilus, you take on the responsibility of destroying The Yamato. I care less about your enemies, those Keyblade Wielders, but whatever the cost, my enemies must be destroyed. If you Hakonians aren't up to the task, if you fail to destroy The Yamato, then you'd better hope that they destroy you, or, if you should survive the failure, that your ships are faster than mine.
"Failure means I will hut you down until you are caught and I take your sorry hides back to Gamilus as trophies. Do you understand now?"
"I understood from the beginning," said Grekor, "our mistress also has zero tolerance for failure. You should see what she does to those who displease her, you'd find some of what Maleficent has in mind shocking."
"I've ordered the extermination of entire races," said a smirking Lord Desler, "what you find shocking and what I find shocking are highly different."
"Well the last two who failed Maleficent are being forced to get married," said Orkal, "these two kids hate each other, so naturally they're being forced to spend eternity together."
"And your mistress decided that they would be forcibly wedded?" Lord Desler asked. He laughed heartily yet viciously, "impressive! A bit shocking, yes, but very impressive. I would like to meet your mistress if possible."
"I'd be happy to arrange a conference," said Grekor, "but first thing's first. When can we expect your taskforce?"
An adjutant handed a document to Lord Desler, whom then signed it, "I just gave the approval. The taskforce should be assembled within the hour. All that is needed is your coordinates in order to designate a rendezvous point."
"Transmit our coordinates to them," said Ikura to a lesser Hakonian, who did so.
A few seconds later another adjutant handed another printout to Lord Desler, "yes, yes. Transmit an appropriate location where the two armadas can meet."
"Yes, Lord Desler," said the adjutant, who then bowed and left.
"The time and coordinates for the rendezvous will be transmitted to you momentarily," said Lord Desler.
"Excellent," said Grekor, "I can assure you, my lord, that both our enemies will be destroyed. I stake my life and the lives of my comrades on it."
"For your sakes, you'd better keep that promise," said Lord Desler. With that the transmission ended.
"Are you out of your fraking mind!" exclaimed Orkal, "betting my life on this!"
"I also have to ask if you've gone insane," said Ikura to Grekor, "you had no right to wager our lives like this! What you do with your pitiful life is your business, but don't get me involved!"
"Same with me!" said an irate Orka, "I have no intention of putting my head on the block like this!"
"And what will Maleficent do to us if we fail?" Grekor asked, "if you think that death is the worst thing that can happen to us, just remember what happened to Erika when she failed. And let us not forget the punishments Maleficent inflicted on Reddik, Rakel and Konrad. And least we not forget the forced betrothal of Nikolai and Katarina."
"You don't have to remind us of that," said Ikura, "okay, you've made your point. This Desler can kill us, but Maleficent can do much worse."
"I think this Desler guy can torture us if he catches us," said Orkal.
"You both are overreacting," said Grekor, "we haven't even tried to succeed yet."
"You saw how many Heartless those Keyblade brats took out," said Ikura, "and you saw how powerful that big laser on The Yamato was. Do you honestly think that these Gamilus guys can make any difference? They couldn't destroy The Yamato, so what makes you think they can destroy the brats?"
"We won't know until we all try," said Grekor. A lesser Hakonian then handed him a data printout, "and we've got two hours until we're due at the rendezvous point to decide how to destroy both The Keyblade Wielders and The Yamato."
"But what if we do fail?" Orkal asked, "what if we try to destroy them and end up with our butts kicked? What then?"
"Then we'd better hope that our engines can outrun both the forces of Lord Desler and Maleficent," said Grekor, "for I have no desire to face either one of them when displeased."
"Neither do I," said Ikura. "In the meantime, I think it would be a good idea that we find out all we can about those Heartless that exist in this universe. If we can use them, then we have another weapon against The Keyblade Wielders. I suggest that we dispatch one of our ships to find the local Heartless."
"I agree," said Grekor, "send a survey vessel to find the local Heartless at once."
"But what if we can't use the local Heartless?" Orkal asked as a lesser Hakonian sent the orders to the rest of the armada, "what if the locals can't be controlled?"
"Then we'll be lucky not to wind up as Heartless," said Grekor.
The end of chapter 3.
Next chapter, as our heroes learn more about The Yamato, the three Hakonians link up with the Gamilus taskforce and plan their dark plans. Reviews will be rewarded with cake and pie. See you next time!