It's been 2 chapters already, time for some 1/362, I will try to add new chapters on a regular basis, but now that school has started that will be more difficult now.
GG: The time is almost here, are you ready Admiral?
GA: Ready as I'll ever be.
GG: You're not having second thoughts are you?
GA: Yes I am, I served with them for three years, the time I've spent with them... well it reminds a little too much of the old days.
GG: Don't get wistful on me, I thought you wanted them to turn out different than the old Directorate.
GA: I did and they did turn out different, but some things are still the same, the ideals, the spirit, the loyalty. Some things never change.
GG: You didn't change much yourself, you're still the same old idealistic fool who fought in the revolution.
GA: You don't have any right to speak to me about that.
GG: Hmph, you veterans think you're so high and mighty, waving your old Directorate patches around and boasting about the "good old days".
GA: You weren't there, you don't know what we saw, what we had to do...
GG: You also love beating us "youngsters" over the head with that fact, I've seen the vids, I know what happened.
GA: But you weren't THERE!
GG: Is that all this is in end then? Sentimentality over the newest generation because of the first war?
GA: No, I'm just afraid they'll be forced to experience what we had to.
KND Moonbase: Observation Deck (Operations to begin in 15 minutes)
Nigel walked along the edge of the Moonbase's observation deck, lost in thought. The doctors had diagnosed him with a case of amnesia, and finally discharged him from the medical bay. Unfortunately none of them seemed to have a clue as to why or how he'd lost his memory of the last few years in the first place. What was worse, KND 2x4 engineers had gone over his pod with a fine toothed comb and had found nothing, no evidence to suggest where he'd been or how he'd gotten back to Earth. It didn't make any sense, people don't just forget years worth of memories, he thought.
He squeezed his eyes close and thought as hard as he could, but it was no good, he couldn't remember a thing. He opened his eyes and thought about his last memory before everything got all fuzzy. Fuzzy... he thought curiously, almost like a decommissioning wip... "Hey Nigel" a someone yelled, shattering his train of thought. He looked up rather annoyed, but his annoyance disappeared as he saw the rest sector V walking towards him. "Hey guys", he said, trying to keep a smile on his face, for their sakes, "I'm sorry we didn't have a chance to catch up earlier, things were really crazy." "Aw don't sweat it Numbah 1", said Numbah 4 in a cheerful voice, "we're all just glad your back." "Yeah, so what was it like in space huh?" asked Numbah 3, obliviously. "Uuuh, didn't they tell you I forgot everything?" said Nigel in a confused voice, "well yeah, but I mean come on, when was the last time you forgot anything?" she said. "uuuh" said Nigel as he thought back to his relationship with Lizzie, "probably more than you remember Kuki." "Well, Numbah 5's just glad yo back", said Abby, a wide smile on her face, "things around here have been ten shades o crazy since you left." "So I heard", said Nigel thinking back to his conversation with the admiral, "you guys haven't had any problems while I've been gone have you?"
"Well.." said Abby, rubbing her arm, "lets just say things weren't the same while you were gone." "141 told me you guys lost your edge while I was gone, what happened?" asked Nigel in a confused tone, "I know that it was tough on you guys with me leaving but you guys were still the best, it wouldn't be like you to start slipping up." The rest of sector V looked uncomfortable, "we were a team Nigel", said Hoagie, "when you left we just couldn't function like we used to, it was like every time we went on a mission, every time we made a plan it had a whole in in it, because you weren't there." "Well, I'm here now old friend", said Nigel, placing a hand on Hoagie's shoulder, "and I don't intend on leaving anytime soon." "Speaking of that, do you know when there gonna let you come back to sector V?" asked Numbah 4, "we're dying to go on some missions like in the old days." "Well, the doctors released me with a case of amnesia and since they have no idea how to cure it, I guess all I have to do is to get Numbah 362's permission." "Well it looks like you'll get that chance real soon, cause here she comes now", said Abby, pointing down the corridor, where Rachel was walking towards them, Abby smirked, "come on guys, lets give Numbah 1 some privacy." The rest of sector V grinned and took off down the corridor in the opposite direction, leaving Nigel standing open mouthed in surprise, how did they know that, he thought.
"Hey, Nigel", Numbah 1 turned around to face Rachel, who was making her way across the observation platform towards him. Nigel snapped to a salute, "Numbah three sixty..", he started, but Rachel cut him off, "oh come on Nigel, do you really have to do that every time I talk to you?" Nigel grimaced, "sorry si... Rachel", he caught himself." He gave her a half smile, "old habits die hard", Rachel chuckled, "I guess, never mind though. You doing alright?" "Alright", replied Nigel, "just catching up with my sector." Rachel walked over to the railing with him, it reminded Numbah 1 of the time they'd been together, back at the Supah Convention center. "I know they've been dying to talk to you, any luck remembering anything", she asked, "nothing" he replied glumly.
He looked at her and she looked back at him. She was so cute with her blonde hair and her chocolate colored eyes. They both blushed, "you okay soldier", she asked, putting her hand on his shoulder. "I guess" he mumbled back, still smiling, putting his hand over hers. They smiled at each other and stood watching the stars for a while before Nigel looked back at her and said, "I was talking with the admiral earlier, is it really true that all those things happened because I disappeared?" Rachel's smile faltered a little and her voiced was pained, "yes... I don't like thinking about it, but... yes. After you left, things only got harder for us here at home." Nigel sighed and turned away from her, hanging his head, "you know, I never would have left the Kids Next Door if had known what a mess I'd be leaving behind." He looked back at her, "I guess everyone must kinda hate me for that, you especially." Rachel glanced away, an uncomfortable on her face, "I know what the admiral said and... I feel the same way. But like he said, I know you never would have done anything to harm the KND." She looked up, a smile blossoming on her face, "and right now, I'm just glad your back." "Me too", he smiled back and hugged her.
A look of surprise crossed Rachel's face, this was something new. But it is a nice improvement, she thought, as she gave into the embrace. The two of them stood there for several minutes and probably would have remained like that for several more, if Numbah 202 hadn't passed by the door and yelled out, "hey Numbah 362, we need you up on the bridge and.. what is going on in here?!" Kimberly stopped and gaped at the two operatives, "uuuh..." Nigel and Rachel quickly pulled away from each other, both of them blushing profusely. "Umm, I'll be up there in a minute Numbah 202", called Rachel, with a great deal of embarrassment, "go on ahead without me." Numbah 202 smirked, "take all the time you need sir", she replied in a teasing voice. With that she bolted up towards the bridge to tell everyone the news, oh man, this is definitely going on my blog, she thought with glee.
Nigel glanced at Rachel and, still blushing, said in an undertone, "well I guess duty calls then." "Yeah", mumbled Rachel, also blushing. She smiled and gestured toward the door, "well, shall we?" "After you", responded Nigel in a gallant voice, even going as far to do a mock bow. Rachel giggled and headed toward the door with Nigel in tow. Both of them had bright, happy smiles on their faces. Little did they know that it would be many weeks before either of them would smile like that again.
KND Moonbase: Hanger Bay
There was a light blinking on the console. Numbah 92 saw it out of the corner of his eye, just as he threw down his best yipper card to counter his brother's offensive. He turned away to address the new alert even as Numbah 93 began slamming his head against the table in frustration, "not again! Every time! EVERY! SINGLE! TIME! Why did I ever trade you that card!?" "You're just not using your deck build correctly", scoffed Numbah 92 as he eyed the console, "hey Jeff, are there any supply shuttles scheduled for today?" Jeff groaned and began shuffling his cards for another round, "no and besides, Numbah 362's got the whole base on lockdown ever since Numbah 1 showed up. Why?" He leaned over to inspect the console himself, behind him he heard the door to the traffic control booth slide open. He stole a quick glance at the newcomer, but it was just the admiral.
"Sup Numbah 141", he called over his shoulder, "is this one of yours?" Schmitt nodded, Numbah 93 noticed that he looked a bit tenser than usual, curious. He shrugged it off, it was probably just from all the commotion caused by Numbah 1's return, no doubt that little miracle was causing a nightmare for the higher ups. "I had to schedule a last minute supply run for some of the ships in dry dock here", explained Schmitt as he walked into the room, "didn't have time to get official permission, but I just ran into Numbah 362 and she gave the all clear." "Huh", muttered Numbah 93, "well ok then."
"Hey Jeff, come take a look at this", called Numbah 92 over his shoulder. "One minute sir", Jeff turned back to his twin, "yeah what is it Jake?" Jake was fully engrossed in the console controls now, "this ships not displaying any KND ID and the computer's doesn't seem to recognize its profile." "Well, is it transmitting access codes and a manifest", asked Jeff, sitting down at his own terminal now, "yeah", remarked Jake, "its the usual fleet crud, but..." He looked over at his twin, Jeff nodded, he felt it too, a gut instinct. Something was wrong. He turned back to the admiral, "your transport's not transmitting ID and its profile doesn't register in the central database, what's up?"
Schmitt shrugged, "its a newer model, like I said it was last minute and that was the only ship we had on hand." Jake raised an eyebrow, "I've never heard of a prototype being used for transport duty." Schmitt met Jake's stare, his expression was firm, "is that a problem?" Jake and Jeff shared another look, "I'm gonna have to call Numbah 362 on this one sir." Schmitt shrugged, "go ahead." The twins turned back to their console. Schmitt shot both of them in the back of the head. They fell bodily out of their chairs and hit the deck with a dull thud, totally unconscious. The admiral sighed, holstering his sidearm he stepped up to the now vacant console and typed in the command to open the hanger doors.
Outside, a small, matt-grey shuttle nosed its way into the hanger bay and settled down on one of the landing strips marked out on the deck. Once the bay had finally re-pressurized, Schmitt marched out of the booth to meet the craft. The airlock on the back of the shuttle cycled open with a hiss, behind it a portion of the shuttle's hull swung down like a ramp onto the deck. Down the ramp strode a full squad of heavily armed soldiers, sporting bulky looking combat armor and wielding compact energy weapons. The soldiers stopped at the bottom of the ramp and saluted the admiral, Schmitt saluted back, "I take it you're the General's vanguard unit?"
The officer in charge of the squad dropped his salute, "yes sir, we stand ready to receive orders!" Schmitt eyed the squad, "I was hoping for Federation Marines, but Colonial Forces will do as well. All of you switch on your camouflage and fall in." The soldiers snapped to attention and toggled some form of optical camouflage. Instantly their appearances changed, as the devices shrouded their bodies in holographic disguises, presenting the illusion of a simple band of KND moonbase guards. The soldiers fell into a loose formation around the admiral as he made his way out of the hanger bay and towards the bridge, "and make sure your guns are switched to stun", ordered Schmitt, as they left, "we don't want to kill anyone just yet."
Foreshadowing like hell, I need to revise chapter 4, then it's going up, hopefully in the next few days. Get ready cause it's gonna be a long one and the story's really gonna start picking up.