Last time found Sora and the others meeting the crew of The Yamato, the last hope for planet Earth. Years ago the evil Gamilus attacked Earth, bombarding the planet with radioactive meteors, rendering the surface lifeless and leaving humanity on the path to extinction. The Yamato is on a quest to the faraway planet Iscandar to recover the means to purify Earth. But one delay after another has plagued The Yamato and her crew. There is still time to save Earth, but not much.
But now The Heartless and Hakonians are involved. After much discussion the crew of The Yamato voted to team up with Sora and the others to deal with this new threat.
Elsewhere, the three Hakonians formed a temporary alliance with Lord Desler, leader of Gamilus. They agreed on a join venture to destroy our heroes and The Yamato. 'Nuff said, on with the show!
Chapter 4: Investigating the Darkness
Sora and the others were amazed by the complex yet easy to understand features of The Yamato. Aside from the bridge and captain's dinning room, our heroes were shown, by Kodai and Yuki, the main navigation room that served as a secondary bridge. The strange extension of the hull directly underneath the command tower was a third bridge that was used while The Yamato was underwater.
"So, The Yamato can be like a submarine," said an impressed Riku.
"We even have several torpedo tubes," said Kodai.
"How does the ship operate while in a planet's atmosphere?" Aiden asked, "you'd think something this big would have, I don't know, wings or something."
"Actually," said Yuki, "we do."
"The ship has retractable wings for atmospheric flight," said Kodai, "and a backup engine that powers the normal thrusters while in cruising mode and in an atmosphere."
Our heroes were then showed the main hanger of the ship, where dozens of black and yellow space fighters lay waiting for their pilots.
"These are the Black Tigers," said Kodai, "our own escort and attack fighters." he then pointed to a red and white fighter that was designed differently from the other fighters in the hangar, "that's my plane, The Cosmo Zero. I can honestly say that these birds are a match for any dozen Gamilus fighter. And our pilots are a hell of a lot more talented."
"Straight from the horses' mouth, Kodai?" teased Yuki.
"Well, uh, yeah," said Kodai in a mildly embarrassed tone.
"I don't get it," said Tess, "you said that Gamilus destroyed every attempt to drive then from your territory, but how did you do it?"
"It was Starshia," said Shima as he walked up to them, "the sister of Queen Starsha. She was the one who died trying to bring the plans for the Wave Motion Engine to Earth. Kodai and I found Starshia on Mars and brought her body back to Earth, along with the message capsule."
"But also in the capsule was the chemical formula for the alloy used by Gamilus," said Sanada as he walked up, "our scientists were able to modify our weapons as they were finishing construction on The Yamato."
"The enemy thought they were superior," said Kodai, "we showed them on Pluto, and everywhere else they tried to destroy us."
"I'll say," said Aiden, "that Wave Motion Gun, if we had that in our universe, Maleficent and all the other Villains wouldn't stand a ghost of a chance."
"It is a big gun," said Kodai, "but it's not perfect. In order to use it, we have to shut down all nonessential systems on the ship on order to channel the full power of the Wave Motion Engine into the Gun."
"After we fire the Gun we're virtually defenseless for a minute or so," said Shima, "we can't move or fire our other weapons until all the systems are reactivated."
"But we've been lucky so far," said Yuki.
"You wouldn't be here if you weren't," said Kairi.
"What's this about other weapons?" Tess asked.
"I'm glad you asked," said an eager Kodai, "I'll show you."
Whereas the original Yamato had three batteries of three, 9in cannons and two batteries of three, 6in cannons, the new Yamato had shock cannons that fired triple beams of energy that converged after firing into a single beam that could destroy an enemy battleship in one blast. The shock cannons could also fire projectile shells like regular cannons, only these shells could contain defensive weapons, like artificial asteroid materials that could form a shield around the ship.
Each battery of shock cannons had their own control crew who could fire the guns independently, yet all the cannons could be linked through the ships' computer and fired from the bridge.
The multiple 25 and 13mm anti-aircraft machine guns on the original Yamato had been replaced with pulse lasers that were also for the defense of the ship from enemy fighters, as well as destroy incoming missiles.
The Yamato could fire missiles of her own. These missiles carried either energy warheads that could destroy enemy ships and fighters, and could also be used to create small energy webs that destroy incoming missiles.
As Kodai mentioned, the ship had several torpedo tubes that were mostly used for underwater combat, but could be configured to fire additional missiles. Also, the smokestack behind the command tower was used to launch large, nuclear-tipped missiles.
"That's about it for the weapons," said Yuki, "now comes the real fun."
Our heroes were then shown to a large room that had a three-dimensional image of a Hawaian beach, "this is our hologram chamber," said Yuki, "here we can recreate any image we can come up with. We mostly use this room for recreation and to combat homesickness."
"An important issue on any ship," said Riku.
Just then our heroes saw Analyzer dancing with a row of hula girls, which lead to Sora and the others laughing heavily.
"Cut that out, Analyzer!" said an annoyed Yuki, "this is a serious matter."
"Don't be so tense, Ms. Yuki," said Analyzer. He then made a hiccupping sound, while parts of his internal machinery pulsed red, "come and join the party." he then hiccupped again.
"Oh great," said Kokai in an annoyed tone, "he's had sake again."
"So, the rust bucket can get hammered," said Sidney in a devious mannner.
"I am not drunk!" Analyzer insisted, who then hiccupped again, "I am having fun!"
"I think you've had enough fun for now," said Yuki.
Our heroes were then shown to Sickbay, where Dr. Sado was treating a patient for a simple broken arm, "accidents happen all the time," said the good doctor in a humorous tone as he treated his patient, then took a swig from a nearby sake bottle, "if you'd just loosen up a bit and enjoyed life a bit more, you'd hurt yourself less."
"Behold, the source of Analyzer's intoxication," said Yuki.
As if on cue, Analyzer trundled in, "I told you I am not drunk!" the robot insisted, then hiccupped again.
"Ah, here's my favorite drinking buddy!" said a joyful Dr. Sado as he threw his arm around Analyzer, "and my favorite assistant!"
"I thought you were my assistant," said Analyzer.
"I think you both have had enough to drink," said Kairi.
"Nonsense!" said Dr. Sado, "a good dose of sake is essential to maintaining health."
"Not my health," said Aiden.
"Let's get out of here before we all get drunk," said Sora.
"I agree," said Kodai.
"Don't be a stranger!" Dr. Sado called after our heroes as they left Sickbay, "my door is always open!"
"Except when you're too drunk to sit up," said Analyzer, who then hiccupped again.
"Ah, go bend a rod," said Dr. Sado as he took another swig of sake.
Our heroes then arrived in the main engine room and were amazed by the large red and yellow turbine-like machine before them.
"Is this The Wave Motion Engine?" an awed Sora asked, "it's huge!"
"It has to be," said Chief Tokugawa, "in order to propel a ship this big through space and time."
"And it uses the vacuum of space to create tachyon energy," said Riku.
"Technically it is better than our method of FTL travel," said Sidney, "with us, we use matter and anti-mater to create energy. But you have to be careful with anti-matter. You know what happens when matter and anti-matter meet."
"They annihilate each other," said Kairi, "if you're not careful, you could get blown up with it."
"Tachyons are more stable than anti-matter," said Riku, "next time we talk with The King, we'll talk with him about it."
"Right," said Sora.
Our heroes were then shown to a large room that held several large capsules that seemed to contain sleeping members of the crew.
"This is our cryogenic room," said Kodai, "you've only met part of the crew. Half work, while the other half is in a cold sleep, waiting for the next shift."
"That would make conserving supplies and preserving crew sanity less of a problem," said Kairi.
Finally, our heroes were shown to the main conference room where Captain Okita was waiting for them, "I trust you're please with the ship."
"I'll say," said a grinning Sora, "The Yamato is fantastic," he looked at Sidney, "no offense."
"None taken," said Sidney, "I'm impressed myself."
Captain Okita then nodded. He then directed our heroes to a floor-mounted display screen that showed a detailed star chart, with one particular star outlined, "this is our present location in space. As you can see," he then pointed out a nearby swath of empty space that, upon closer inspection, turned out to be stars that were consumed by darkness, "The Heartless have been very busy."
"This is definitely a problem," said Sidney as she and the others saw the area of darkness on the screen, "in more ways than one."
"This isn't like with The Heartless in our universe and elsewhere," said Riku, "there's something else going on. It's like these Heartless are moving with a purpose."
"So they've got a Villain directing them," said Aiden, "we'll squash them like we've squashed every other Villain we've faced."
"Well, Gamilus isn't controlling them," said Kodai, "we would have seen the two working before."
"Gamilus may not even be involved with The Heartless," said Sanada, "this is a big galaxy, there may be other races involved. But that may not be the case. As far as we can tell, the Heartless of this universe are indeed acting on their own."
"That's not right," said Sora, "Heartless can't think for themselves. They act on instinct, which will make them attack random worlds, unless someone tells them what to do."
"But we've seen heartless that can think," said Kairi, "that really strong Heartless that was the Heartless of Xehnaort. And have you forgotten about Kurayami that quickly?"
"I wish we'd never met Kurayami in the first place," said Sora, shuddering at the memory of having his heart crystal removed.
"So there is the chance that these Heartless are capable of thinking for themselves," said Riku.
"There may be another possibility," said Aiden in a grim tone, "one that I wish I hadn't thought of, one that I hope to the gods that I'm wrong."
"Well don't keep us in suspense, man," said Kodai, "what is it?"
Aiden sighed and closed his eyes, "there's the chance that in this universe, Heartless operate on a hive-mentality; one race, one mind."
"Like bees or ants," said Captain Okita, "can this possibly be real?"
"If it is," said Riku, "then we could be facing the biggest threat to life as we know it. My friends and I have seen the horrors that Heartless can do when directed by Villains, and we've seen what they can do on their own with just their instincts guiding them.
"But if they have a group consciousness, if they're acting with a will of their own, then they're twice as dangerous as anything we've ever faced before."
"Then we have to do something!" said Kodai, "before they hurt anyone else!"
"Kodai!" said Captain Okita in a stern tone, "don't get overexcited over what you can't control."
At that Kodai calmed down somewhat, "yes, Captain," said Kodai.
"We'll just get ourselves destroyed if we rush into this recklessly," said Shima, "what's going to happen to Earth if we end up destroying ourselves fighting The Heartless?"
"But eventually The Heartless will attack Earth," said Yuki, "we've talked about this before."
"That was before we realized how great a threat this is," said Sanada.
"Wait," said Sora, "we're not even sure that The Heartless in this universe are like that, that they're all linked to form a super mind or something."
"We need to figure things out before we do anything," said Kairi.
"Well, what do you think we should do?" Kodai asked.
At that our heroes thought for a bit. Sora finally had a thought, "can I see a larger map? One that shows your course towards Iscandar?"
The floor display shifted to show both the Milky Way Galaxy and The Large Magellanic Cloud. A blue dot in the Milky Way represented Earth, and another dot in the Cloud showed where the crew of The Yamato thought Iscandar was. A yellow dot represented The Yamato somewhere on the edge of the galaxy.
"As said before," said Captain Okita, "were behind schedule." He then pointed at a red spot halfway between the galaxy and The Cloud, "That's Belan, a rouge planet right at the halfway point between Earth and Iscandar."
"You've still got a long way to go," said Tess.
"Don't remind us," said a slightly annoyed Kodai.
"Can you now show the worlds and stars destroyed by The Heartless?" Sora asked.
The display then darkened in certain areas in the galaxy. "Now zoom in on that part," said Sora. The display showed the dark area in more detail, and sure enough, it paralleled the flight path of The Yamato part of the way, as if they had been following the ship for several days now.
"What does it mean?" Yuki asked.
"I could be wrong," said Sora, "but I think The Heartless are also on their way to Iscandar."
"Why?" Kodai asked.
"Maybe the creatures really are controlled by Gamilus," said Shima, "as a backup plan to stop us from getting the Cosmo Cleaner D."
"Then why didn't Gamilus use Heartless to attack Earth?" Sanada, "why didn't they use them at Pluto and everywhere else we fought Gamilus?"
"Whatever the reason," said Captain Okita, "we definitely need to know. I suggest that we find out."
"Captain, we're behind schedule as it is," said Sanada, "even though we all acknowledge the threat of The Heartless, we can't waste any more time."
"Which is why I'm going to ask Sora and his friends if they wouldn't mind volunteering for a reconnaissance mission," said Captain Okita. "Naturally, some of my crew would go with you, say, Kodai and Analyzer, and maybe Sanada."
"Use our ship to try and find out what these particular Heartless are up to," said Kairi.
"A field trip," said Sora.
"Sounds dangerous," said Riku, "very dangerous."
"Fortunately for us," said a grinning Aiden, "we've dealt with danger on all levels."
"I'm used to the threat of death or worse hanging over me," said Tess, "count me in as well."
"Excuse me," said Sidney, "I am the brain for The Intrepid Heart. Isn't it fair that I should voice my opinion?"
"Absolutely," said Kairi.
"Thank you," said Sidney. She then looked at the senior crew of The Yamato and smiled, "I'll do it."
"Then let's go do some snooping," said Sora.
"Just give us a chance to get ready and we'll go," said Kodai.
"So you want to send a scouting mission to learn about the Heartless of this universe?" Ikura asked.
"That's exactly what I want," said Grekor, "the potential for these creatures is too great to pass up. We need to learn all that we can if we wish to exploit them."
"Well count me out," said Orkal, "I came to kill, not learn."
"Which proves that not all Hakonians are capable of intelligence," said Grekor.
"You'll come with me and you'll like it," said an annoyed Ikura, "Grekor can handle the Gamilus taskforce when it gets here, so you're coming with me to find out about these new Heartless."
"No I'm not!" Orkal insisted.
"You will," said Ikura, "or I'll rip off something you value more than your own life, if you know what I mean."
"You wouldn't," said a nervous Orkal, "would you?"
"In a minute," said Ikura firmly as she crossed her arms.
"I suggest that you prepare for an extended venture into deep space," said Grekor, "I'll have a long-range shuttle prepared soon enough."
Orkal glared at both Ikura and Grekor before finally nodding in reluctant acknowledgement.
"Excellent," said Grekor.
"Our ship can catch up with The Yamato if she has to Warp," said Riku to Captain Okita as our heroes made their way back to The Intrepid Heart with Kodai, Sanada and the now sober Analyzer, "we can prepare a subspace beacon that'll let us find you, so don't wait for us."
"We know how crucial time is to you," said Kairi, "so we'll be as quick as we can."
"We'll wait as long as we can regardless," said Captain Okita, "but that doesn't mean you should take any unnecessary risks. If it looks like there will be trouble, get out and get back to us," he looked at Kodai, "that means you as well, Kodai."
"Yes, captain!" said Kodai.
"I just had a thought," said Kairi, "if we put a beacon on The Yamato, won't the enemy be able to find her as well?"
"Not if we tune the beacon to a special frequency," said Sidney, "one that only The Intrepid Heart can detect."
"That answers my questions," said Aiden.
A short time later everything was ready. Kodai, Sanada and Analyzer had come aboard The Intrepid Heart and our heroes were just about to disengage the airlock seal connecting them to The Yamato.
"Either I've got space madness," said Kodai, "or this ship is a lot bigger on the inside."
"It is bigger on the inside," said Sanada, "I've heard of spatial difference technology, but this ship is way beyond anything I've ever seen or heard."
"I am detecting traces of an unidentified energy," said Analyzer, "the hull of this vessel is constructed of a material unknown to current Earth science."
"Different universes, different technologies," said Riku.
Our heroes reached the bridge and assumed their stations, while their friends from The Yamato sat down in seats Sidney provided for them.
"Holograms," said Sanada as he and Kodai got comfortable, while Analyzer was fine where he stood, "we definitely have to share technologies."
"We're going to take the ship into the area of darkness," said Riku as the ship detached from The Yamato, "and we'll follow the trail of the local Heartless. If they're really going to Iscandar, we'll stop them somehow."
"Okay, let's go," said Sora.
"The coordinates are set," said Kairi.
"Then let's do it!" said Aiden as he rubbed his wrists.
"You might want to hold onto something," said Sora to Kodai and Sanada, "you're not used to our means of FTL."
"For you guys," said Tess, "it could get rough."
"How rough could it be?" Kodai asked.
Just then the ship was propelled into hyperspace.
"That bad," said Riku as everyone saw how uncomfortable Kodai and Sanada looked.
"I feel like I've had way to much sake," moaned Kodai, while Sanada nodded in agreement.
"All systems are functioning normally," said Analyzer. He then hiccupped again.
"Oh great," said an annoyed Kodai, "he's drunk again!"
"I am not drunk!" Analyzer insisted.
"Hyperspace affects everyone during their first time," said Kairi.
"How soon until we reach the dark area?" Sora asked.
"Less than fifteen minutes," said Sidney.
"We'd better be ready for anything," said Aiden, "for all we know, we'll be flying into another mass of Heartless."
"I've got all weapons fully charged," said Tess, "all we need are targets."
"My fingers are on the triggers!" said an eager Goofy.
"Don't go all halfcocked," said Donald.
"If there's anything we're not," said Sanada, "it's halfcocked. Except for Kodai that is."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Kodai asked.
"Well, you can be a little…impulsive sometimes," said Sanada.
"I am not impulsive," said Kodai, "eager, but not impulsive."
"Then who was it that nearly killed that Gamilus prisoner we took that one time?" Sanada asked, "Analyzer?"
"It was Kodai," said Analyzer.
"Well, I was rather upset," said a slightly uncomfortable Kodai.
"You actually tried to kill a prisoner of war?" a shocked Kairi asked.
"I wanted to," said a rather ashamed Kodai, "I wanted to make that blue-skinned monster suffer, like everyone else on Earth has suffered, all because of Gamilus. But I stopped at the last second, and my friends also stopped me. I wanted to kill that one Gamilus, but realized that murdering him wouldn't bring my family back, or anyone else."
"You nearly gave in to your inner darkness," said Riku in a sympathetic tone, "but you saved yourself at the last second. You're stronger than I was when I was temped by my inner darkness."
"You weren't that weak, Riku," said Sora, "you never became a Heartless."
"You only became a Heartless because you choose to do so," said Riku.
"You were a Heartless!" a shocked Tess asked Sora.
"He was a Heartless?" Kodai asked as he and Sanada backed away, "Analyzer, check him!"
"Scanning!" said Analyzer as the components of his cybernetic brain flashed and beeped, "no hostile elements detected. He is human."
"I am human," insisted Sora, "but I had to become a Heartless. I had to give up my heart in order to free Kairi's."
"I spent a long time as a breathing doll," said Kairi, "all because my heart wound up inside of Sora. He had to become a Heartless to get my heart out of him, and my feelings for him saved him from the darkness."
"Oh," said Kodai, "I guess that makes sense."
"You'll find that a lot of stuff that happens to us doesn't make much sense," said Aiden.
A few minutes later the ship exited hyperspace and our heroes and allies found themselves in the middle of a dead solar system. The star had been reduced to a burned out mass, barely bright enough to be a brown dwarf, while the planets, five of them, were covered in darkness.
"I'm reading signs of civilization," said Sidney, "there were people here, a lot of people, but there's no sign of any living human bio-signs. I am picking up some Heartless activity, but not much. Whatever happened here, it wasn't recent."
"All those people, consumed by the darkness," said Kairi in a distant tone, "it's horrible. If this can happen in this universe…then…"
"We won't let anyone else get hurt," said Sora in a confident tone, "we'll stop them somehow."
"I think we've got something else to worry about," said Aiden as he read a display screen, "something other than Heartless. There's a sixth planet in this system, and it looks like it wasn't destroyed by darkness."
"There's still life in this system?" Riku asked hopefully.
"I didn't say there were still people here," said Aiden in a grave tone, "I meant that The Heartless didn't destroy this world. Something else did, something that used high-yield weapons. From what I can tell so far, there's mass destruction across the planet, and not much in the way of life at all."
"Gamilus?" Kodai asked.
"Uncertain at this time," said Sidney, "I am scanning the sixth planet in more detail." A display screen showed the data she collected.
"High levels of radiation detected," said Analyzer as he interpreted the data collected, "yet radiation signatures do not correlate with those of the radioactive bombs used by Gamilus."
"What does that mean?" Sora asked.
"I think it means that the ones who destroyed the planet weren't either The Heartless or Gamilus," said Tess, "that something else is responsible."
"Whoever that was uses weapons with unparallel destructive force," said Sidney, "I've identified only a single blast zone, but radiation released throughout the planet could only have come from a massive nuclear detonation, one in the range exceeding twenty gigatones."
At that Kodai gave a low whistle of appreciation.
"Not even the biggest meteor bomb used by Gamius had a yield a tenth as big," said an astonished Sanada."
"That doesn't make much sense," said Aiden, "even if the bombs, if they were bombs, were as powerful, not even that much destructive force should have completely devastated the planet. I read online about nuclear war simulations, and it would take a lot more than one massive nuclear detonation to produce global destruction like this."
"They still have the internet in your world?" Kodai asked, "ours went down when the meteor bombs first fell on Japan."
"We never lost our internet," said Riku.
"One warhead alone couldn't destroy a planet," said Sanada, "no matter how powerful, not on its own, unless…what else do the scanners say about an atmosphere?"
"There is no atmosphere," said Sidney, "not one a human could survive in. There's barely any oxygen. Further scans reveal that the global destruction was caused not by the initial blast and radiation alone. There is mass incineration across the entire planet, as if the world was consumed in one massive fire storm."
"It is possible that whoever did this detonated that warhead at an altitude high enough to ignite the atmosphere," said Sanada, "and that if the warhead itself was contained in a tricobalt casing, their yields would be exponentially increased beyond the megaton range into the multi-gigaton range. All these factors combined would create a scenario in which a planets' atmosphere was ignited, thereby reducing the surface of the planet to ashes."
"Probability of this scenario being the truth of this situation…89%," said Analyzer
"They didn't completely turn the surface to ashes," said Sidney, "there's still ruins. It's as if who or whatever did this had the knowledge to destroy a world, yet didn't completely use the means, as if they weren't serious about it."
"What does that mean?" Sora asked, "that whoever did this was only fooling around? That it's…" he hesitated, "that it's a game to them?"
"More like they were just testing their capabilities," said Sidney, "but your scenario is still a possibility."
"So we've got the warmongering Gamilus out to rule the universe," said Riku, "Hakonians trying to get this weird element, the local Heartless, whom seem to be smarter than the ones we've seen before, and now somebody destroying worlds for fun."
"I knew I should have stayed in bed this morning," said Aiden.
"We've reached the rendezvous point, Lord Grekor," said the lesser Hakonian at the navigation seat of the bridge.
"Excellent," said Grekor, "the Gamilus taskforce should arrive shortly."
"Initial reports from the ship we sent to learn about the local Heartless are coming in now," said Ikura, "they're in a twin-star system that's been overrun by the darkness. Both suns have been burned out, while eleven planets in the system have been covered in darkness."
"I like these local Heartless already," said Orkal, "can't wait to meet them."
"There's more," said Ikura as she read the report, "there was a twelfth planet in the system, and that one wasn't destroyed by The Heartless. Someone else, someone with advanced knowledge in nuclear warfare, was responsible."
"Gamilus?" Grekor asked.
"Not certain at this time," said Ikura, "the scans from the irradiated planet do not match the information we have on Gamilus' nuclear capabilities. No, another power with nuclear weapons did this."
Just then one of the lesser Hakonians announced that the Gamilus taskforce had arrived at the rendezvous point.
"On screen," said Ikura. The main viewer showed several green-painted starships, all armed with missile launchers and triple-battery laser cannons. Some of the warships were much larger than others, while the one in the center of the Gamilus formation had a circular design.
"That's the command ship for the taskforce," said Ikura as she read from a data printout received earlier, "which also serves as a carrier that can hold over a hundred fighters. The taskforce has two battleships, four heavy battle cruisers, four medium cruisers, six light cruisers, eight destroyers and ten torpedo boats. Combined with our battlewagons and our Heartless forces, we'll definitely have more than enough firepower to obliterate The Keyblade Brats."
"Don't forget that other human ship," said Orkal, "the one with that big laser. What was it called?"
"The Yamato, you dipstick," said an irate Ikura.
"That's enough," said Grekor sternly, "we're about to meet the leader of the Gamilus taskforce, and I want to make a good impression on him. These are people we wish to eventually exploit, so the sooner they trust us, the sooner we can betray that trust, after our respective enemies are destroyed that is."
A short while later the Hakonian command ship and Gamilus command ship had docked with each other. It was already agreed that the Gamilus leader would meet with the Hakonians on the former's ship. Grekor, Ikura and Orkal, having spruced themselves up for their expected company, were getting into radiation suits.
"You did instruct the crew to take double doses of radiation medicine," said Ikura to Grekor, "just to be safe."
"I did that already," said Grekor as he, Ikura and Orkal injected themselves with medicine that protected them from radiation, then finished donning their radiation suits, "I know that Gamilus men and women need radiation to survive."
Just then the pressure in the airlocks of both ships equalized. The three Hakonians went through their airlock, into the airlock of the other ship. They waited for the door back to their ship closed, then the Gamilus airlock was flooded with radiation. Sensors on the suit's the three Hakonians wore told them that they weren't in any danger yet, but cautioned to minimize their exposure.
"We won't be over there for long," said Ikura as the inner door to the Gamilus ship opened. On the other side were several blue-skinned men wearing green and black uniforms. One of the blue-skinned men in the center was clearly the leader, his uniform was more ornately designed and had several military decorations. He had dark brown hair and near black eyes.
"I am Star Commander Heinz," said the lead Gamilus man, "You must be the Hakonians that Lord Desler informed me of."
"We are," said Grekor. He, Ikura and Orkal introduced themselves.
"Now that we are all acquainted with each other," said Commander Heinz, "I suggest we get down to business; destroying our enemies."
"My thoughts exactly," said Ikura, "but before we discuss how we're going to make our respective enemies suffer before they die, I have a few questions to ask. I'm guessing Lord Desler informed you about the worlds that have been consumed by darkness."
"It has been a topic of mild interest among the forces of Gamilus," said Commander Heinz, "you say that creatures called Heartless are responsible?"
"Yes," said Grekor, "but when I spoke with Lord Desler, he said that he wasn't interested in them."
"Then Gamilus has no interest in The Heartless," said Heinz, "the forces under my command will cooperate with you Hakonians and tolerate working with your Heartless, but after that, we want nothing to do with them. Lord Desler's word is law, and if he says that Gamilus is to have nothing to do with The Heartless, then there no point in arguing."
"I respect that," said Ikura, yet already she and Grekor were trying to figure out a way to use the almost fanatical devotion Lord Desler commanded of his subjects against all of Gamilus.
"What I wanted to know," continued Ikura, "was if Gamilus has any knowledge of a world that was purposely destroyed by nuclear weapons, and I do not mean your efforts to subjugate Earth."
"I am unaware of any other world in which Gamilus had used nuclear force against," said Commander Heinz.
"Are you sure?" Ikura asked. She handed Commander Heinz a data tablet containing the information the Hakonian scout ship gathered on the destroyed world.
"As far as I know," said Commander Heinz after reading the data, "this was not the work of Gamilus, nor is it the work of any other race that Gamilus has had contact with."
"Then it appears that we have a mystery on our hands," said Grekor, while Ikura glared at Commander Heinz in a way that said that she didn't believe him, "but that will have to wait. First, the more important task; destroying our enemies. I suggest that our combined forces return to where we encountered The Yamato and The Keyblade Wielders, and then, having already formulated a plan of attack, obliterate them both."
"I see two problems already," said Commander Heinz, "first of all, I doubt that the other Hakonians under your command wish to risk radiation poisoning, and those under my command cannot go without radiation for an extended amount of time, so coordinating our efforts will take some figuring out."
"I'm sure we can arrange some way to accommodate both parties in this venture," said Grekor, "what is your second concern?"
"The Yamato," said Commander Heinz, "our intelligence says that that ship is capable of traversing 1,200 light years in an instance. By now they could have Warped to another point in the cosmos and have taken The Keyblade Wielders with them."
"Your ships have sensors, right?" Ikura asked, "and computers?"
"The most advanced scanning equipment and computers Lord Desler could purchase for his forces," said Commander Heinz, "how advanced are yours?"
"Advanced enough," said Ikura, "unless I'm mistaken, and I'm not, our technologies are compatible enough that if we link all the computers in both armadas, we can increase the range of all our scanners and find The Yamato and the Keyblade Brats, wherever they've Warped to."
"They're heading to Iscandar in the Large Magellanic Cloud," said Commander Heinz, "it stands to reason that they will want to continue on their course, even if they're being pursued."
"Then is suggest we start our search at where we first fought our enemies," said Grekor, "along the way we can link computers and plan a strategy, one that could neutralize their greatest weapon."
"The Wave Motion Gun," said Commander Heinz, "if that issue could be resolved, then the human vermin wouldn't stand a ghost of a chance. Very well, I'll speak with my senior staff and coordinate the computer link up from our end. We'll keep our communication channels open."
"As will we," said Ikura. The two groups bowed to each other and the Hakonians went back to their ship.
Once in their airlock, the three Hakonians went through an extensive decontamination process. Their radiation suits were doused several times in detergent to remove as much radiation as possible. Then the suits were destroyed and Ikura, Orkal and Grekor were rinsed in detergent to get rid of any radiation that may have gotten through the suits. Finally, when the sensors in the airlock confirmed the absence of radiation, did the three Hakonians step back into their ships proper area.
"We're not going back there," said Orkal as he, Ikura and Grekor had fresh clothing brought to them by lesser Hakonians, "it takes way too long to put on radiations suits, and coming back takes too long as well."
"I agree," said Ikura, "too much time is spent traversing the two ships. I suggest that from now on, all communications between us and the Gamilus be conducted from the bridge."
"So be it," said Grekor, "but there is little to be worried about. This alliance of our will last only as long as necessary. As soon as we have all the information we need on Gamilus, and as soon as our enemies are destroyed, then we will turn the tables on our new friends. And let us not forget the Uridium. Maleficent's patience only stretches so far."
The end of chapter 4
Next chapter, our heroes and allies try to figure out what to do next. But when the Hakonians and Gamilus force our heroes and allies to seek better ground to fight on, they wind up facing an even darker enemy. Reviews will be rewarded with cake and pie. See you next time!