Last time found Sora and the others taking a fieldtrip with Koday and a few others from The Yamato to a star system that was destroyed by The Heartless. The dark devastation was horrific, but what was even more so was finding a world that wasn't destroyed by The Heartless, but instead by a massive nuclear attack.
The Hakonians were also puzzled when they found a different star system that suffered a Heartless attack, and had a world destroyed by nuclear weapons. But the Villains put their curiosity aside when they joined their armada with a Gamilus taskforce dispatched with the purpose of destroying The Yamato and The Intrepid Heart. 'Nuff said, on with the show!
Chapter 5: Battle Among the Blazing Stars
"I think we've learned all we can learn about this destroyed world," said Sanada.
"All available data has been gathered," said Analyzer, "suggest we return to The Yamato."
"That's what Sanada just said, you rust bucket," said an irate Sidney, "but that doesn't make you wrong. We should rendezvous with The Yamato."
"Alright then," said Sora, "let's head back."
"How do we know that The Yamato will still be where we left them?" Aiden asked as everyone got back into their seats for the hyperspace jump, "they may have Warped by now."
"No, it's still too soon," said Sanada, "the Wave Motion Engine needs eight hours cool down time between Warps, and we still have over an hour before the next scheduled Warp. The Yamato will still be there."
"Then let's go," said Riku as he programmed hyperspace jump into the computer, "we'll be back with The Yamato in fifteen minutes."
"What are we going to tell Captain Okita and the rest of the crew?" Kairi asked as the ship jumped into hyperspace, "about what we found on that world."
"The truth of course," said Sora, "why wouldn't we tell them about that world that was destroyed in a nuclear attack? And we should also tell them that there's this huge swarm of Heartless."
"We should try to warn as many world as possible," said Riku, "from what we could tell from that one solar system, we're dealing with a force of Heartless unlike anything we've seen before. This one…Swarm, if we're going to call it anything, this Swarm makes the numbers of Heartless Maleficent commands looks like ants compared to elephants."
"That's saying a lot," said Kodai, "I remember elephants, my family went to the Tokyo zoo all the time before Gamilus ruined everything. But these Heartless, if they could do that to a whole star system, then Gamilus is nothing next to them."
"It would be advisable to consider the option of considering an alliance with Gamilus," said Analyzer, "'the enemy of my enemy is my friend.'"
"Absolutely not!" said an irate Kodai, "after all that Gamilus did to Earth, after all the people they killed, you actually thing we'll even think about working with them?"
"He does have a valid point," said Sidney, "as much as I hate to admit it. History is full of conflicts where two enemies put aside their differences to combat a greater enemy. The situation with The Heartless may just be one of those situations."
"Maybe you could use this as a means of establishing peace with Gamilus," said Kairi to Kodai, "you did say that not all Gamilus people are evil. I'm just saying that this could be humanity's chance for peace. If Gamilus wasn't attacking The Yamato all the time, then you'd have all the time you needed to get to Iscandar and get back to Earth with the Cosmo Cleaner D."
"They do have a valid point," said Sanada, "as a scientist, I always try to see things logically, and it would be logical to seek an alliance with Gamilus, to try to put our differences aside, in order to face an even greater evil."
"When it comes to choosing the lesser of two evils, I'd rather not have to make that choice," said Riku, "I'd always try to find another way. But in this case, then I'd have to agree. If joining forces with Gamilus to defeat The Heartless can result in peace between humanity and Gamilus, then I say go for it."
At that Kodai sighed, "I don't like it, and I doubt the rest of The Yamato crew will like it either. Captain Okita may consider it, but…I just don't know."
"I couldn't hurt to try," said Tess, "nothing will ever get done if you don't try. But if you try in the wrong way, you'll end up falling on your face in the mud. I should know, I worked with The Rebels on Metamore enough to know what happens when you don't properly follow through on a plan."
"If we're going to even consider working with Gamilus," said Riku, "we need to know for sure where they stand in all of this. For all we know, they are controlling The Heartless in this universe, and they are responsible for the nuclear attack on that world, having used a different kind of nuclear weapon."
"That's a distinct possibility," said Sidney, "but we still have to consider the possibility of a third party involved."
"How about this," said Sora, "when we tell Captain Okita what we found, we'll tell only him about the idea of working with Gamilus."
"That sounds fair to me," said Sanada.
"Alright," said Kodai reluctantly, "we'll tell the captain, but I don't think he'll like it."
A while later The Intrepid Heart had returned to the world around which The Yamato was still in orbit. The two ships docked and a few minutes later found Sora and the others in The Yamato strategy room with Captain Okita delivering a report of what they had found. Yuki and Shima were also in the war room as well.
"So there's another power out there with nuclear capabilities," said Captain Okita after reviewing the data Sora and the others gathered, "and Gamilus may not be responsible for it."
"What we want to know is if there's another race dark enough to control The Heartless," said Riku.
"And we also what to know what you think about the idea of teaming up with Gamilus," said Sora.
"Don't tell him like that!" said Tess.
"What's this about a an alliance with Gamilus?" an irate Okita asked.
"Are you kidding?" Shima asked.
"How could you even think of such a thing!" Yuki asked.
"Well," said Sora sheepishly, "we thought that, if there is another Villian out there, then maybe humans and Gamilus are in the same boat."
"We're all in the same boat when it comes to The Heartless," said Kairi.
"Is it that terrible to even consider such an alliance, Captain?" Sanada asked, "we might be able to form a peace with Gamilus because of this."
"It is the logical path to take," said Analizer.
"Well I'm not feeling very logical right now," said Shima, "and I don't think the rest of the crew will like it either."
"I told you so," said Kodai.
"We should at least keep that option open," said Riku.
"You mean you should keep that option open," said Shima, "you guys are strangers here and don't have anything to lose when it comes to Gamilus. They've been trying to wipe us out for ten years, so I doubt that we'd be able to even consider working with the,."
"Okay, sorry we asked," said Sora, "but what there's still the Heartless of this universe."
"What are we going to do about that, Captain?" Yuki asked, "we can't just ignore this."
"Those Hakonians are still out there," said Kodai, "what about them?"
"Dr. Sado and the rest of the scientists onboard have been working on the information you gave us," said Captain Okita, "on that unusual element The Hakonians are interested in. It has some bizarre properties that have no useful purpose to human science."
"Hakonians are anything but human," said Aiden, "do you know that they crumble to dust when they die?"
"I didn't know that," said Kodai.
"How fascinating," said Dr. Sado.
"Indeed," said Sanada.
"Captain," said Shima, "Chief Tokugawa says that we'll be ready to Warp soon. Whatever we're going to do, we'll have to do it soon. We can't waste any more time."
"I told you that my modifications can enhance your engines," said Sidney, "didn't your engineers get to work on it yet?"
"Chief Tokugawa is still looking over the modifications," said Shima, "he likes them, but he wants to make sure that its safe first."
"Of course it's safe," a highly insulted Sidney said, "I wouldn't have given you the modifications if they weren't safe."
"But what are we going to do?" Yuki asked.
At that Captain Okita put his arms behind his back and looked at the tactical display on the floor that showed the local space, "do we stay and contend with this situation? Or do we carry on with our mission?"
Just then a loud klaxon sounded across the ship, "I think the answer was just given to us," said Riku.
Everyone rushed onto the bridge. Captain Okita got into the moving Captains seat, Yuki sat at the radar station, Shima at the helm, Kodai at the gunnery station and Sanada at the science station. Analyzer just stood off to one side.
"Report!" Captain Okita asked.
"There's a large Gamilus formation approaching from starboard!" said Yuki as she read the data on the radar display, "and The Hakonians are with them as well!"
"I'd say the question of wheatear or not Gamilus is interested in The Heartless has been answered," said Sanada.
"If our enemies are working together," said Kairi, "then we need to get back to our ship. If Gamilus and the Hakonians are going to attack, then we'll have to fight together."
"We'll stand a better chance with two ships," said Riku.
"Just as long as you don't think about running away," said Kodai.
"Are you kidding me?" an irate Tess asked, "I never run away from a fight if I can help it."
"Me neither," said Riku.
"Then what are you doing on my bridge when you should be on yours?" Captain Okita asked, "get back to your ship! Now!"
"Yes, sir!" said Sora, Riku, Kairi, Aiden, Donald, Goofy, Tess and Sidney. They all saluted and ran for the airlock.
"The enemy has been sighted, Master Grekoir," said the lesser Hakonian at the tactical screen, "both the Keyblade Wielders and The Yamato. Rage…50,000 kilometers."
"Excellent," said Grekor, "yet I'm surprised that the two ships are still where we left them. Commander Heinz, what say you about his?"
The main screen had a smaller window opened, showing the Gamilus commander on his bridge, "The Yamato may be waiting for her engine to cool down. Our estimates say that The Wave Motion Engine needs a minimum of eight hours between Warp."
"You estimate?" Ikura asked.
"The enemy's FTL drive is based on Iscandar technology," said Commander Heinz, "while their technology is similar to that of Gamilus, there are subtitle differences that our scientists haven't been able to crack. My race has fought The Yamato on several occasions, and each time those human barbarians pull out another surprise that completely shatters whatever strategy used against them, so having a margin of error on their capabilities shouldn't be surprising."
"Well I for one intend to have no margin of error," said Grekor, "Maleficent has no tolerance for failure; several of my younger comrades can attest to that fact. No, this time around The Keyblade Brats will die, and The Yamato will be destroyed as well, just for fun."
"Fun is not a word I would ascribe to The Yamato," said an annoyed Commander Heinz, "far too many of my people have been killed trying to destroy that accursed ship. Lord Desler also has no tolerance for failure. Either my forces will return to Gamilus victorious, or we will not return at all. The invasion force assigned to the irradiation of Earth was given that very same choice when The Yamato threatened to leave their solar system, and thousands of my people were wiped out in a suicide attack that failed."
"We understand the position you are in," said Ikura, "which is why we're going to ensure that no more of your countrymen die needlessly. Based on the information of The Yamato that you provided us, I have devised a strategy that will neutralize The Yamato's greatest weapon; The Wave Motion. All the other weapons of The Yamato are inconsequential. All that is necessary to guarantee victory is to render The Wave Motion Gun useless."
"Such a tactical advantage would almost guarantee victory," said Commander Heinz, "but how can you neutralize The Wave Motion Gun?"
"By neutralizing The Wave Motion Engine," said Ikura as she smiled viciously, "without that machine, The Yamato cannot attack, or run away."
"Then we would definitely win," said Commander Heinz, "but how will you do it?"
"That's my dirty little secret, Heinz darling," said Ikura, "you just leave the crippling of The Yamato to me, and be prepared to slaughter the helpless humans. We'll handle the deaths of The Keyblade Wielders."
"Just tell us when your forces are ready to attack," said Commander Heinz, "we'll be ready on our end." With that the transmission ended.
"Just how are you going to cripple The Yamato?" Orkal asked, "that ship has a laser that blew up two of our ships and wiped out thousands of Heartless. How are you going to cripple them?"
"I'm curious to that as well," said Grekor.
"It's quite brilliant actually," said Ikura, "but it will require a small sacrifice on our part."
"What kind of sacrifice?" Grekor asked suspiciously.
"My plan involves firing a beam of dark magic at The Yamato," said Ikura, "a beam that will act as an electromagnetic pulse. Naturally, The Yamato will be shielded against normal electromagnetic energy, otherwise they wouldn't have survived this far into deep space. But my EMP will short out only The Wave Motion Engine."
"That may just work," said Grekor, "but what about the sacrifice?"
"All I ask is a small amount of the Uridium we've collected," said Ikura, "a mere ten kilograms will suffice."
"Out of the question!" exclaimed Grekor, "We're supposed to get that stuff for Maleficent, not blow it way blowing up brats!"
"This is why you'll never be anything but a grunt," said Ikura, "you fail to see things in the long run. We can easily recover the loss of Uridium once we've eliminated our enemies."
"A mere ten kilos wouldn't be difficult at all to make up for," said Grekor, "very well, Ikura, you will have your ten kilograms of Uridium. But this had better work, or else you will answer to Maleficent why you thought it was a good idea to waste resources."
"When I report to Maleficent on how I discovered a means to use a Synthesis item itself as a weapon," said a smugly smiling Ikura, "she will reward me greater than anything you can dream of. Oh wait, I forgot, you can't dream!" At that she laughed cruelly and left the bridge.
"Damn that woman!" snapped Grekor, "damn that temptress to the foulest pit of hell! May she be a plaything of Hades, or worse, a plaything of Cerberus!"
"You want me to send her to hell?" Orkal asked.
"No," said Grekor in a deflated tone, "she'd probably break you in half. Let's just get this damned mess over with. Tactical station…range to targets?"
"45,000 kilometers and closing," said the lesser Hakonian at the tactical station.
"Ikura has that long to do whatever she's going to do before we engage in combat," said Grekor, "inform the Gamilus forces to assume attack formation with our ships."
"Both enemy fleets are assuming attack formations," said Sidney as Sora and the others took their positions on the bridge of The Intrepid Heart, "range, 43,000 kilometers and closing."
"Detach us from The Yamato," said Sora, "and hail their bridge."
"Their on the line right now!" said Kairi as the two ships undocked. Riku piloted the ship away from The Yamato and assumed a defensive passion several hundred meters away next to the other ship. The forward screen then showed the bridge of The Yamato.
"Captain Okita," said Sora, "we're ready if you are."
"Our Black Tiger fighters are deploying as we speak," said Captain Okita.
A side window on the main screen showed an exterior view of the lower aft of The Yamato. The main hatch to the hanger was open and a dozen Black Tiger fighters were taking off and assuming a defensive formation around The Yamato.
"All our guns are fully charged and ready," said Kodai.
"How soon can you Warp out?" Aiden asked.
"Ten minutes at the earliest," said Shima, "I'm already preparing the calculations to get us out of here."
"We'll wait just long enough to recover our fighters," said Captain Okita, "then Warp out. We'll activate the subspace beacon when we emerge in real space again."
"So all we need to do is hold them off for ten minutes," said Kairi, "should be easy."
"We'll follow you in hyperspace once you're gone," said Sora, "until then, good luck, Captain."
"Good luck, Captain Sora," said Okita. He and Sora then saluted each other and the transmission ended.
"Ten minutes," said a slightly disappointed Tess, "that doesn't give us much time to fight."
"We can't get into too many fights on our travels," said Riku, "being a Keyblade Wielder means you end up meddling in the affairs of other worlds, whether you want to or nor. Our being in this universe carries a lot of risks."
"Just being here could cause The Yamato to fail in her mission," said Kairi. "And besides, even though they're out to conquer the universe, we can't fight Gamilus on the same level as The Yamato has been. They're not our real enemies."
"They should be!" Tess insisted, "I've seen what those who abuse power do to those who are without power. Gamilus is just another tyrant who has thrown its weight around a universe. They're responsible for the deaths of millions of people, and that's just on one planet. Who knows how many other worlds they've destroyed and how many people they've murdered or enslaved. I say we fight with everything we have and help defeat them!"
"Even if we do defeat them," said Aiden, "something else may come along and inhibit The Yamato. You can't gain anything without giving something in return. Equivalent exchange; 'to obtain, something of equal value must be lost.'"
"Are you going to spout rhetoric from your world all the time?" Tess asked as she placed her hands on her hips.
"Only when he has to," said Riku, "you'll get used to it."
"That reminds me," said Kairi to Tess, "when we have the time, I'm going to start getting rid of those scars of yours."
"I almost forgot about that," said a slightly astonished Tess. Sora and the others would be hard pressed to forget the fact that Tess's vicious imprisonment and torture by the minions of Phobos when she was 11 left her whole body below her neck heavily scarred. Kairi promised to heal the scars and help Tess live with some semblance of normalcy.
"I hate to ruin the mood," said Sidney, "but the enemy formations are gaining speed. Range…20,000 kilometers. They should be in firing range soon."
"We'll worry about meddling in this universe later," said Sora, "one battle at a time. Let's just focus on this one."
"We only need to hold off the enemy until The Yamato is ready to Warp," said Riku.
"They'd better be ready soon," said Aiden as he saw a tactical display, "the enemy is getting ready to surround us."
"All Hakonian ships and Gamilus ships are in position," said the lesser Hakonian at the tactical station.
On the main screen Commander Heinz stood waiting, "whatever you Hakonians are going to do, you'd better do it before The Yamato makes her move."
"We'll be ready," said Grekor, "just hold position for another minute."
He then turned to an intercom microphone, "Ikura, you'd better do whatever you're going to do, or I'll throw you out the airlock!"
"Then how am I going to explain to Maleficent the failure?" Ikura asked, "I've already integrated the Uridium into the ship's deflector array. Just target The Yamato and hit the gray button."
"You heard her!" said Orkal at the helmsman, "aim the ship's deflector array at The Yamato! Now!"
The Hakonian command ship rotated the deflector a few degrees until it was lined up with The Yamato.
"What are they doing?" Kairi asked, "are they going to fire some sort of death ray?"
"I don't want to find out," said Sora. He then signaled The Yamato, "they're up to something! Don't stand still!"
The crew of The Yamato had also noticed the reorientation of the Hakonian command ship "Shima!" shouted Captain Okita, "evasive maneuvers!"
"Yes, Captain!" said Shima as he activated the ship's thrusters, causing The Yamato to move.
"Do it now!" shouted Grekor. The lesser Hakonian at the proper station hit the gray button and the ship's deflector array fired a dark purple beam of dark magic at The Yamato. The bigger ship had moved enough so that the beam only grazed the ship, but it was enough to leave the ship dead in space.
"They're helpless!" Grekor shouted triumphantly, "all Hakonians and Heartless, attack! Commander Heinz! Order your forces to attack! Attack! ATTACK!"
"What did they do?" Sora asked.
"They used some form of dark magic to short out The Wave Motion Engine," said Kairi as she read the sensor data, "like an electromagnetic pulse."
"We still have communications with them," said Sidney, "channel open."
"Captain!" said Sora, "is everyone alright there?"
"The crew is unharmed as far as we can tell," said Captain Okita, "that beam only grazed us, but it damaged The Wave Motion Engine. We're on emergency power only."
"We're down to communications, life support and gravity," said Sanada, "all other systems are offline."
"We can't maneuver or fire our weapons!" said an irate and distraught Kodai, "we're helpless!"
"We've failed," said Shima in a hopeless tone, "Earth is doomed."
"No you're not!" said Aiden in a defiant tone, "is The Wave Motion Engine still in one piece? Or do you have all the pieces?"
"We'll patch you through with Chief Tokugawa," said Yuki. A second later the voice of the chief engineer of The Yamato could be heard on the forward screen.
"We've lost primary and secondary power," said Chief Tokugawa, "but The Wave Motion engine itself is still in one piece. To make it simple, the engine shorted out."
"I can fix it!" said Aiden, "just get me to the engine room of The Yamato and I can fix The Wave Motion Engine!"
"We can't risk docking with The Yamato!" said Riku, "both enemy fleets are about to attack! It'll take everything we've got and everything the Black Tiger fighters have just to keep The Heartless away from The Yamato!"
"Did you guys forget the manuals already?" Sidney asked, "this ship has a transporter!"
"Then beam me into their engine room!" said Aiden as he ran off the bridge. He ran back in two seconds later, "where's the transporter?"
"Follow me!" said Sidney, "I'll beam you over." She quickly showed Aiden to the transporter room. He stood on the raised platform that was the transporter and Sidney, through her cybernetic circuits, beamed Aiden into the engine room of The Yamato, where a dumbfounded Chief Tokugawa stood in front of the crippled Wave Motion Engine.
"How did you get here?" Chief Tokugawa asked.
"Never mind," said Aiden as he walked towards the Wave Motion Engine, "are you sure it's in one piece?"
"The machinery is intact," said Chief Tokugawa, "it's the circuitry that's been destroyed."
"I can definitely fix that," said Aiden. He then spoke telepathically to Sora, Riku and Kairi, :I can definitely fix The Wave Motion Engine, but it's a big machine, and I've never tried to repair anything this big.:
:How long do you need?: Sora asked.
:As much time as you can give me,: said Aiden, :I honestly don't know how long it'll take.:
:Do what you can,: said Riku, :We'll keep you covered.:
:Right,: said Aiden. He then spoke aloud, "I'll work as fast as I can." He then took out several sticks of chalk, "if I'm going to do this right, I'll need the biggest transmutation circle known to Alchemy, a Grand Arcadium, and I'll have to make it big enough to encircle the machine." With that he started drawing the transmutation circle around The Wave Motion Engine.
"How long did Aiden say he needed?" Tess asked as she regulated the power to the weapons, charging the lasers and missiles with magic, while Goofy locked onto and shot at several waves of incoming Heartless. Riku then evaded several attacking Heartless and aimed the ship and a Heartless formation that was heading in a different directing, getting behind them in the process.
"He doesn't know how long it'll take to fix The Wave Motion Engine," said Sora, "we need to hold out until he's done!"
"How exasperating!" said Donald as he kept watch on the balance reading of the power core.
"I've got one of the Hakonian ships in sight!" said Kairi, "it's going for The Yamato!"
"One of our ships is heading for The Yamato," said an irate Grekor, "I thought I made it clear that we were to focus on The Keyblade Brats!"
Just then Commander Heinz appeared on the forward screen, "I thought you said that your forces would focus on the Keyblade Wielders and my taskforce would destroy The Yamato. I suggest you order your ship to fall back."
"I'll be sure to chastise the overeager captain of that ship," said Grekor. Just then the tactical display showed The Intrepid Heart attacking the Hakonian ship in question. The Intrepid Heart then fired all her weapons in one blast right at a critical point on the Hakonian ships' hull, overloading the ship's shields and damaging the engine, leading to a fatal engine failure and the ship exploded.
"Oh for the love of the darkness!" spat Grekor, "destroy them! Now!"
"That's another Hakonian ship down," said Riku as he piloted the ship to avoid the debris from the destroyed ship, then lined the Intrepid Heart up with another cluster of space born Heartless, which Goofy targeted and destroyed.
"And the rest are coming after us!" said Tess as she read the tactical screen. True enough, the remaining Hakonian ships and the rest of the space born Heartless were chasing after The Intrepid Heart.
"How's The Yamato doing?" Sora asked. He and the others then held on as Riku pulled the ship through a hard right turn to avoid a laser blast from one of the pursuing Hakonian ships.
"They're still dead in space!" said Kairi as she read the sensor data, "Aiden's sure taking his sweet time! The Gamilus ships haven't moved in yet, their fighters are still fighting the fighters from The Yamato."
Riku took a quick glance at the tactical screen, "I'll say this for the pilots from The Yamato, they're a lot better than the Gamilus pilots."
The tactical display showed gold dots that represented the fighters from The Yamato, while dark blue dots represented the Gamilus fighters. There were a lot more blue dots than gold, but the gold dots were flying rings around the blue dots, while the blue dots were blinking out one by one.
But then one of the gold dots vanished from the screen. "We just lost a friend," said Tess in a grave tone.
Then another and another Yamato fighter was destroyed.
"Either the enemy is getting smarter," said Riku, "or the fighters from The Yamato are running out of energy."
:Aiden!: said Kairi, :Are you done yet!:
:I'm not even halfway finished drawing the Grand Arcadium circle around the engine,: said an irate Aiden, :I need more time!:
:I don't think we have that much time,: said Riku. He then spoke aloud as he looked at the tactical screen, "some of the Gamilus capital ships is heading for The Yamato."
"Master Grekor," said the lesser Hakonian at the tactical station, "some of the Gamilus ships is moving to attack The Yamato."
The tactical display on the main screen showed one of the Gamilus cruisers moving towards The Yamato, followed by two destroyers.
"Then The Yamato is doomed," said Grekor, "and the destruction of The Keyblade Wielders is just as assured. With The Yamato destroyed, we can all focus on the brats."
"Can't we do anything!" Sora asked as Riku pulled the ship through more evasive maneuvers.
"We're a little busy trying to stay alive ourselves!" said Tess.
"Wait a second," said Kairi, "one of The Yamato fighters is heading for the three Gamilus ships."
"But that's suicide!" said Tess, "a single fighter will get vaporized if it attacks three capital ships!"
"I think that's what he's doing," said Riku in a grave tone, "I think that pilot is doing a kamikaze run!"
"A what?" Tess asked.
"A suicide attack," said Kairi gravely.
Sure enough, the single Black Tiger fighter aimed for the Gamilus cruiser and rammed it. The damage from the fighter's destruction was enough to overload the systems on the enemy cruiser and it self destructed. The two destroyers tried to get away but debris from the cruiser hit the two ships, destroying one destroyer and crippling the other.
"I can't believe that just happened," said Sora, "nobody should have to sacrifice themselves like that."
"They're on the most important mission humanity of this universe has ever undertaken," said Riku, "they're trying to save their world. And if a handful need to be sacrificed in order to save the rest of humanity, and their world, then so be it. I don't like it, but what's done is done."
"I don't think any more suicide runs will make much of a difference," said Tess as she pointed at the tactical screen.
"The rest of the Gamilus taskforce is closing in on The Yamato," said the Hakonian at the tactical station.
"Looks like Commander Heinz isn't taking any more chances," said Ikura, "it's over for The Yamato."
In the engine room of The Yamato, Aiden feverishly worked to complete the oversized transmutation circle around The Yamato.
:Aiden!: Sora yelled psychically, :you've got the rest of the enemy coming at you! Hurry up!:
:Don't yell at me!: Aiden snapped. Two seconds later he finished drawing, "there. Everyone stand back!"
"Do as he says!" shouted Chief Tokugawa. Everyone in the engine room stood away from The Wave Motion Engine.
"Alright then," said Aiden as he pressed his wrists, "Let's do this!" he touched the Grand Arcadium circle and activated it. The engine room was then bathed in the yellow Alchemic light as Aiden's power repaired the Wave Motion Engine. Within seconds all the damage inflicted by the enemy's dark EMP was fixed and The Wave Motion Engine came online again.
"And that's that," said Aiden. He then passed out from exhaustion.
"Get Dr. Sado down here now!" shouted Chief Tokugawa.
The bridge of The Yamato came alive as all of the systems reactivated. "All power has been restored!" said Sanada.
"Firing maneuvering thrusters!" said Shima.
"Captain!" exclaimed Yuki as she looked at the radar screen, "the entire Gamilus taskforce is coming towards us!"
"Signal all fighters to land at once!" shouted Captain Okita, "Shima, prepare to Warp! Kodai! Fire all guns! Fire the guns!"
"All guns fire!" shouted Kodai into the communications microphone. Outside the ship the shock cannons and pulse lasers fired at the incoming Gamilus ships. Three destroyer escorts, one destroyer, two light cruisers and one of the battle cruisers were destroyed by the first barrage from The Yamato, while the other cruisers and one of the battleships were damaged. The remaining Gamilus forces were drawing back from The Yamato.
"How soon until our fighters are all recovered?" Captain Okita asked.
"Less than two minutes, Captain," said Kodai, "the enemy is drawing back, but the Hakonian ships are still advancing."
"Forget The Keyblade Brats!" snapped Grekor, "just destroy The Yamato! I want those humans to suffer!"
Just then a highly irater Commander Heinz called on the forward screen, "your plan has failed, Hakonians! Half my taskforce is either destroyed or damaged because of you!"
"My strategy was flawless!" said Ikura, "it was the brats, I'm sure they did something to restore power to The Yamato! If you should blame anyone, blame the Keyblade Wielders!"
"Oh I'll blame them," said Commander Heinz, "right after I blame you. I should have realized an alliance with outsiders was a bad idea. Lord Desler will hear of this!"
"We can still salvage the situation," said Grekor, "ignore The Yamato, just focus on The Keyblade Wielders."
"Didn't you just say to destroy The Yamato?" Orkal asked.
"Silence!" Grekor snapped. He then addressed Commander Heinz, "I understand that you are feeling for the loss of valuable soldiers and equipment."
"Those were my men who died, you alien bastard!" snapped Commander Heinz, "men whom I've fought alongside for years, who trusted me to lead them to victory and eventually home. Now they will never see our world again, and it's your fault!"
"But we can still save face with our respective masters," said Grekor, "we can still destroy our enemies."
"Yes," said Commander Heinz gravely, "we will destroy your enemies and mine. But know this. As soon as the mission is accomplished, as soon as The Yamato and that other ship are destroyed, I will destroy you!" With that the transmission abruptly ended.
"I think he hates us now," said Orkal.
"Gee, it must be 'obvious day' at 'camp stupid!'" said Ikura.
"Never mind all of that!" said Grekor, "just focus on destroying The Keyblade Brats!"
"But you just said to focus on The Yamato," said Orkal.
"I know what I said!" snapped Grekor, "just kill them!"
"But kill which ones?" Orkal asked.
"Just kill something!" snapped Grekor.
"Something's wrong," said Kairi as she looked at the tactical display, "neither enemy fleets are attacking. They're just standing there in space."
"Maybe they've learned their lesson," said an vindicated Donald.
"Or maybe they don't know what to do," said Goofy.
"I think that makes the most sense," said Tess, "now that The Yamato can fight back, they're not sure how to proceed.
"Then I think we should take advantage of the enemy's confusion," said Riku, "let's go before things get heated up again!"
"But we shouldn't run!" said Tess, "if the enemy's confused, then we should attack! If we run they'll only chase after us. We need to destroy them now!"
"But if we attack, then we risk destroying The Yamato," said Sora, "we can't do that to Kodai and the others, their mission is way too important. Let's just go."
"Go where?" Kairi asked.
"Somewhere The Yamato can proceed on her mission," said Riku, "we've involved The Yamato enough in our affairs. We'll figure out how to stop The Hakonians ourselves, somehow."
"Then let's focus on getting out of here," said Sora, "wait, shouldn't Aiden be telling us to beam him back?" He then used telepathy, :Aiden? Are you done over on The Yamato? Aiden? Aiden!:
"Intrepid Heart to Yamato," said Kairi through the communications terminal, "what's going on with Aiden?"
"Yamato to Intrepid Heart," said Yuki, "Aiden completely restored The Wave Motion, but it exhausted him. He's currently in our sickbay recovering."
"He was amazing," said Shima, "Chief Tokugawa said it wasn't like anything he'd ever seen before when Aiden used that power of his to fix The Wave Motion Engine."
"That's Alchemy for you," said Sora, "we'll be right over to pick him up. Riku, bring us closer to The Yamato so we can beam Aiden back."
"Rodger," said Riku as he did so.
"I don't think we'll have a chance to establish a transporter lock on Aiden," said Kairi as she looked at the tactical screen, "I think the enemy has made up their mind."
"Just destroy them both!" Ikura snapped, "just move forward and attack both ships! Now! Or I'll castrate the both of you!" She then looked at the forward screen that had Commander Heinz on the line again, "and then I'll come over and castrate you as well, you blue-skinned bastard!"
"Whatever you say," said a slightly nervous Commander Heinz, "all ships, advance and destroy!"
"The same with our ships!" said Grekor. With that the two fleets moved towards both The Yamato and Intrepid Heart.
"They're coming right for us!" said Tess, "I told you we should have attacked them first!"
"Well it's too late for that," said Riku, "Captain Okita, can you Warp out?"
"I'm already preparing to do so," said Shima, "it's just a matter of waiting for the right time, but we can warp inside a minute."
"I don't think you've got a moment," said Kairi.
"Just go!" said Sora, "we'll follow in hyperspace. Good luck, Captain."
"And to you, Captain," said Captain Okita.
On the bridge of The Yamato, Shima hunched over his consul, waiting for the right moment in time to send The Yamato through space and time. On his screen a light was moving up and down over display that showed time waves. He was waiting for the right moment when the time waves converged, "another 30 seconds."
"All hands!" said Captain Okita into a shipwide intercom, "prepare to Warp!"
In the infirmary, Aiden was just regaining his senses when he heard Okita's warning.
"Wait," said a still groggy Aiden as he tried to get off the examination table he was on, "I have to get back to my ship!"
"I'm afraid you're not going anywhere, young man," said Dr. Sado as he and a nurse helped Aiden lay back down on the table, "you're in no condition to leave yet."
"But I can't be here," said Aiden as he tried to get up again, only to be pushed down again by the doctor and nurse, "my friends!"
On the FTL console, the light then touched the converging lines, "now!" shouted Shima, "Warp!" he pressed the button.
From the point of view of everyone onboard The Intrepid Heart, The Yamato seemed to shimmer and vanish out of reality, "did they Warp?" Sora asked.
"I'm detecting a raised level of tachyon energy," said Sidney, "they did indeed Warp."
"And they took Aiden with them as well," said Kairi, "he's not going to like that."
"The Yamato just vanished, Master Grekor," said the lesser Hakonian at the sensor screen.
"I can see that!" snapped Grekor as he pointed to an empty spot on the forward screen.
"The human's luck still holds," said Commander Heinz, "but it's not a total loss. There's still the other humans."
"That's right!" said Grekor, "destroy the brats! Surround and destroy them! Destroy The Keyblade Wielders!"
"Finally, he makes up his mind," said Orkal.
"Do we have their transponder signal yet?" Sora asked, "we can't use our own FTL until we know where to go."
"I'm not reading the subspace beacon yet," said Sidney, "they're probably still disoriented from traversing hundreds of light years in the blink of an eye."
"I can only imagine how rough that must be for Aiden," said Kairi. She then saw the two enemy fleets converging on them, "oh crap! They're coming again!"
"They'll have us surrounded in less than a minute!" said Tess.
"Sidney, where's that transponder signal!" Riku asked as he tried to get The Intrepid Heart away from the rapidly encircling enemy ships and Heartless, but they were too many and moving too fast.
"I'm reading the signal!" said Sidney, "it's closer than I thought it would be, but it's there!"
"Plot a course and jump to hyperspace!" said Sora, "get us out of here!"
"Course locked in!" said Riku as he worked faster than he thought he could, "jumping to hyperspace…now!" With that The Intrepid Heart leapt into hyperspace.
"They're gone," said Orkal, "great, now what are we going to do?"
"You idiots can do whatever you want," said Commander Heinz, "I unfortunately have the unpleasant duty of reporting this fiasco to Lord Desler. It'll probably mean my head on a platter, and my men will be severely punished as well, but at least we will be doing our duty." With that the transmission ended.
"We also have an unfortunate duty," said Ikura, "Maleficent will be expecting a progress report, and she did not send us here to waste our resources chasing after The Keyblade Brats."
At that Grekor sighed, "I will deliver the unfortunate news to Maleficent. She'll probably skin me alive for this, but there's still a chance to salvage the situation. Ikura, scout the surrounding systems for Uridium. We may be behind the mining schedule, but there's still time to make our quota."
"What about me?" Orkal asked.
"Just stay where you are, you useless buffoon," said Grekor.
To Aiden, Warping was like getting split in two and forced back together, followed by floating upside down for an hour, followed by being turned inside out, all the while the colors he was seeing kept changing wildly. The weird and unpleasant sensations lasted for what seemed an eternity, but when he suddenly felt normal, he realized that less than a second had passed.
"Feeling better?" Dr. Sado asked.
"Much better," said Aiden as he sat up, "do you go through all that whenever you Warp?"
"It's only that crazy when you Warp for the first time," said Dr. Sado as he smiled, "you'll get used to it."
"I'll stick with normal hyperspace, thank you very much," said Aiden as he tried to stand up, but he still felt exhausted from his gargantuan alchemic work.
"You're still exhausted," said Dr. Sado, "here," he then grabbed a nearby bottle of sake, "this will help get your energy levels up in no time!"
"Never before five with me," said an uncomfortable sounding Aiden as he refused the sake bottle. In truth, although he never told Sora and the others, Aiden can from a family that were strict teetotalers, in more ways than one. Aiden hated all forms of recreational drugs, from alcohol to tobacco, from marijuana to heroine to LSD and beyond.
"Suit yourself," said Dr. Sado as he eagerly helped himself to the sake, "more for the rest of us."
'If you don't mind," said Aiden as he carefully made his way across the sickbay to the door that lead to the hallway, "I'd like to get to the bridge. My friends will be looking for me and I'd like be there when we make contact with them."
On the bridge the crew recovered from the effects of Warping with the ease of practice, "That was wasn't so bad as the others," said Kodai, "did you do something, Shima?"
"I'd like to know that myself," said Captain Okita, "Shima, status report."
"Captain, I did do something differently this time," said Shima, "we're still on course for Iscandar, but instead of the normal 1,200 light year Warp, I only took us 600 light years."
"Why only 600 light years?" Yuki asked.
"To help Sora and the others find us quicker," said Sanada, "and to confuse the enemy. No doubt by now Gamilus knows that we Warp in increments of 1,200 light years, so they'll have a search radius of that far. With only a Warp of half that distance, we'll be inside their search radius and can slip away when the Wave Motion Engine is ready."
"Something like that," said Shima in a modest tone, "you didn't exactly give any specifics as to how far we were to go this time, Captain."
"That I didn't," said Captain Okita, "still, good job showing ingenuity in the face of danger, Shima. I'll note it in the log. Now, would you mind telling us where we are so I can record our position in the log as well?"
"I'll get right on it, Captain!" said Shima. He then activated the forward view screen, showing a green and blue planet with several rings and four small moons. The planet was orbiting twin yellow stars at a distance that gave the planet a pleasant climate.
"What a beautiful world," said Yuki.
"It's nice," said Aiden as he and a slightly tipsy Dr. Sado walked onto the bridge, "but call be crazy, but I've got a bad feeling about this place. There's something wrong, I just know it."
On the far reaches of the solar system that The Yamato just entered, creatures cold and remorseless towards those they perceived their enemies observed the newly arrived Yamato, observed and debated on what to do about it. The bridge of their ship was dimly lit and the controls were circular shaped, as if something round was meant to manipulate them. In the background the machinery of the ship produced a low double beeping that was almost hypnotic.
At first what could be seen of the creatures was each a single blue light that glowed without emotion.
"AN UNIDENTIFIED VESSEL HAS ARRIVED IN THE TARGET SYSTEM," said one of the creatures as they observed The Yamato on their view screen, when it spoke, two smaller white lights above the blue light flashed with each syllable.
"THE UNIDENTIFIED SHIP POSSESSES TECHNOLOGY UNKNOWN TO US," said another of the creatures, "THEY USE A DIFFERENT METHOD OF FASTER THAN LIGHT TRAVEL."
"THEY ARE AN UNKNOWN ELEMENT," said a third creature, "UNKNOWN ELEMENTS ARE TO BE EXTERMINATED!"
"NOT YET," said a fourth creature. This one moved into a more brightly light part of the bridge, revealing a mehcanoid that vaguely resembled a human-sized salt and pepper shaker. It had a black metal casing with a round, rotating top that had a long stalk that had the glowing blue eye and two smaller lights on top that flashed when it talked. The lower part of the body was much longer in the front and was covered in hemispherical bumps. It had a plunger-like manipulator arm on the left and an energy weapon on the right.
"WE WILL INVESTIGATE THIS VESSEL," said the creature, "WE WILL EXTRACT ALL KNOLEGE THAT CAN BE EXTRACTED. WE WILL LEARN ABOUT THE SPECIES THAT USES THIS SHIP. IF THEY ARE USEFUL THEN THEY WILL BE USED. THEN, WHEN THEY HAVE SERVED THEIR PURPOSE, WHEN THEY ARE OF NO FURTHER USE, THEN AND ONLY THEN WILL THEY BE EXTERMINATED!"
"WE OBEY!" said the other two creatures. The first creature spoke further, "WE WILL NOT BE DETERED FROM OUR MISSION. DALEKS WILL NOT BE DETERED! DALEKS CONQUER AND DESTROY!"
All the creatures, Daleks, then began chanting, "DALEKS CONQUER AND DESTROY! DALEKS CONQUER AND DESTROY!"
The end of chapter 5.
That's right, the baddies from Doctor Who are none other than The Daleks! But what are they doing in the universe of Space Battleship Yamato? And what diabolical plan are they concocting? And what will they do to our heroes? You'll just have to wait to find out. Reviews will be rewarded with cake and pie. See you next time!