AuthorsNote: Hey Hey, Long time no see amiright? Sorry it's been a while, I have been given good teachers this quarter at school, and with good teachers come lots of work, add to that the fact that my schedule is twice the size then what most at my school have. (6 Classes by the way, and very little time for each of them) All this adds up to me being really pressed for time, plus lots of stress (pretty sure I'm going to fail at least two classes), Have been a cramp on my writing. Anyway, enough of my bad news, how about some good stuff?
Well, first off, 4 1/2 pages of pure, damn, awesome, That's what follows, so enjoy Chapter 19: War Jumping (Gosh I love turning something I learned from school into a clever chapter title) Plus, lots of news at the bottom.
Two months later the Phoenix was in orbit around Marcadia where the Void-Gate was being constructed. The ship was almost unrecognizable, she had been stripped of almost all her outside armor and her systems had been gutted. Work crews had been working on it for the past 3 weeks, swarming over it like flies. She now sported a dull blue hull that pulsed from time to time was the new cooling system fit it to cool it off. The systems had been revamped and everybody was hopeful for this last ditch effort to stop the Fire-Lords. It seemed as if the Galaxy had pulled together for this last mission, which was true since what was remaining of the Galactic Army and its citizens had pulled into a five planet ring around Marcadia.
The Solona Galaxy was fighting its hardest to survive, and the odds weren't good. The Fire-Lords got closer with every passing day. The only good news anybody had was that the Void Gate was complete and with the thirty fighters, four frigates, and two cruisers including the Phoenix, were done being refitted and were going to ship out in just a few hours through the gate.
Ratchet ran through the halls of the Phoenix double checking loose panels and making sure the various heat gauges and oxygen scrubbers were working right. All over the ship similar things were happening, the Phoenix was bursting at its seems with warriors and ships that were going into the attack. Ratchet stopped and tapped a valve with his wrench to check the pressure when a red light started to pulse throughout the ship.
He gave a soft curse and ran towards the bridge tapping into the comm system as he moved.
"CR-3, whats going on?"
there was nothing but static for a little bit before CR-3s voice crackled out.
"Sir, Get up here right now! The Fire-Lords have launched a massive assault, I think we may have them worried with our massive amount of activity here in the ship yards. We need to launch the gate and move through ASAP, whats left of the defenders are being blown apart. They estimate only 2 hours till they reach Marcadia."
"Shit!"
Ratchet quickly swapped comms.
"Sasha"
"I know Ratchet, I'm already escorting Sky and Stella to the escape pods right now, then I'll meet you on the bridge for the warp."
Sasha closed the comm before putting her hands back on her kids shoulders urging them down the hall with gentle squeezes. In almost no time at all, they reached the Escape Pods. She stopped before one and keyed in the start sequence.
As the door popped open she dropped down to her knees in front of her children. "Listen, however hard this is for you two to hear this. No matter what happens, remember, you father and I love you both so very very much, and were doing this to keep you guys safe."
Stella's eyes were already red from crying and Sky's fur around his eyes was tinged with wetness, although he tried to keep them held back with rapid blinks.
Stella's body shook gently with sobs "Mom, come with us, please, don't leave us alone."
Sasha leaned forward and pulled her into a strong hug "Oh, honey, we're not leaving, we'll never leave you, we're just making sure you safe. The best way for that is to have you here in Marcadia while we go off to save the Galaxy."
Sky stiffened and blinked a few more times "Let us help you then, just don't force us to leave you two, please."
He jumped a little bit when he felt a hand clasp on his shoulder and he glanced up into the face of his dad "Sorry Sky, its for your own safety. But I'll tell you what, when we come back I'll teach you both how to fly starfighters."
Stella and Sky locked eyes for a long moment, she finally nodded and Sky blinked before turning and giving his dad a hug around his waist and running over to kiss Sasha before ducking into the escape pod. Stella gave both of her parents a hug and a kiss before stepping into the escape pod as well. Sasha placed her arm across Ratchets shoulders as he put his hand over the launch button.
"Remember, we love you" and with that he pressed the button and the escape pod sealed before blasting out of its groove and heading for the hidden bunker where they were going to be staying for the duration of the battle. Ratchet and Sasha watched the pod spiral out, Ratchet felt Sasha nestle her head in the crook of his shoulder. He held her while she sobbed.
Eventually she stopped and raised her head to his "Did we just do the right thing?" she asked him softly.
He didn't hesitate "Yes, if worse comes to worse, I would rather die knowing they are safe on Marcadia and we did out best to protect them. Rather then them being on here if we fail."
Sasha nodded and took a deep breath, she stood up straight and looked down at Ratchet "Alright then, I think its time you got into your new armor. I'll meet you on the bridge in ten for the gates opening and the Pass."
"No time, get the warp going, I'll throw on my Armor and get the ships ready for the assault in the hanger."
Sasha nodded and ran off towards the bridge while Ratchet ran towards their quarters and his new armor. He tapped into a comm line "CR-3...It's time"
Three minutes later found Sasha pacing the overlook on the bridge, giving out the orders to open the warp gate.
"Energy Cycle!"
"Charging 22%"
"Gate Field!"
"Deploying."
Outside in the blackness of space sat three large spheres, the sides of each one opened and a host of smaller spheres tumbled out. They formed up in between the larger spheres forming a giant gigantic circle.
"Gate Field Deployed."
"Energy?"
"44%"
"Focus Crystals?"
"Lined up."
"Coordinates input into the focusing beam?"
"Coordinates 48, 65, 7820 locked into beam computer, ready to fire as soon as the field is active."
Sasha took a moment to wonder about their plan, they may have given it loads of thought, but the fact of the matter is that this was still new technology. Based off a theory no less, Clank said he had run some tests on Veldin, but those were small scale. Nothing as big as the Phoenix had been through one of theses gates, Clank had assured her that the ship would survive the trip. It was just a matter of increasing the factors involved.
"Energy Cycling at 100% Ready to charge the field."
Sasha nodded at the Ranger who called out to her, she pressed a button and the view screen changed to show Ratchet doing a last check on his Starfighter. He was wearing his Infernox Armor, but it had been drastically retooled, instead of emitting fire, and glowing orange, it pulsed a pale blue and frost seemed to roll off the armor. Everywhere he stepped he left little frost outlines of his foot prints like he was walking through snow, and every time his suit pulsed a new wave of frost rolled over it.
"Ratchet."
Ratchet turned to face the vid-screen "Time?"
Sasha nodded "We're cycling energy at 100% in a moment we'll activate the field and then blast it. If everything goes as Clank predicts we should be able to see the Fire-Lords Home ship."
Ratchet nodded and turned back to the Hanger "LOAD UP" He called out as he started waving his arms "IT'S TIME, EVERYBODY INTO YOUR SHIPS AND BRACE FOR WARP"
Chaos ensued at his words as the organic and the Galactic Rangers rushed to get through the jam packed maze of ships in the hanger and into their own. Ratchet turned back to the Vid-screen, he gave Sasha a thumbs up and a wink.
"Sasha, be a dear and knock on the Fire-Lords door for us so we can go say 'good-bye'"
Sasha chuckled before severing the link and going back to the gazing out to the ring.
"Activate Gate Field"
Outside the three large spheres lit up a bright orange and began to pulse, soon after bolts of orange light shot out of them and into the smaller spheres, it chain linked across the entire circle in a matter of moments and the ring started to bounce around as the spheres moved.
"Stabilize"
A pulse shot out of the spheres and the lightning solidified into a solid line with the smaller spheres barely visible. The space inside the ring began to glow orange as the energy spread out, light flashed as three large bolts of orange lightning shot from the spheres to meet in the center where they formed a large circle that spread out to the edges. Sasha could still see though the field and nodded her head. The ring flashed and the color solidified
"Right this is it, We are the last hope for the Solona Galaxy, and if we fall, I don't see the Fire-Lords sitting happily on our ashes and leaving the rest of the Universe alone. It's time to take the fight to their home, and its time to kick them out of our galaxy."
She turned to face a Cezar scientist "Hit it"
He nodded and pressed a button, the main guns below the Phoenix bridge glowed before sending a pulse of green out into the middle of the field. Sasha held her breath as the pulse made contact and a shockwave of green passed over the field.
Nothing happened for a moment, then two, sound faded for Sasha and all she could hear was the pounding of her heart. Then something happened in the field, what looked like a army of cracks were covering the orange. In no time at all it looked like a spiderweb had been thrown over it. Sasha blinked and stepped back as Space seemed to shatter.
Where once had been orange there was now a view into a empty bit of space and in the distance just a little bit sat a gigantic orange ship that seemed to burn as bright as the sun it was sitting next to.
"Status?"
"Gate stabilized, we're ready to move in"
Sasha nodded and spoke into her comlink her voice being echoed throughout the ship.
"All hands, brace for the jump we will be passing through the gate in five seconds."
The Phoenix's thrusters kicked in and threw most people off balance, Sasha stood tall hand still held before her mouth.
"Four"
Less then 1000 meters till contact
"Three"
The tip of the bridge touched the gate and Sasha felt her fur stand on end as a electric charge passed through the ship
"One"
The tip punctured and space seemed to shatter around Sasha, she felt hot, cold, nauseated, and erotic at all the same time. She leaned heavily on the rail and took a few gasping breaths. The only ones who were unaffected seemed to be the Galactic Rangers who were busy helping the other organics on the bridge who hadn't fared as ware. As she stood up taller she brought her shaky hand back up to her mouth.
"Frigates, the way is clear, we're through, follow through but brace all organics brace yourself, its quite a trip. As soon as you're through deploy your fighter screen around the ship and bring long range guns to bear on the planet ship. I have no idea how long it'll be till they notice us, but I would rather hit them with no warning."
Sasha shook her head one last time before opening her comm line "All fighters are cleared for launch, form a defensive net around the Phoenix. Do not engage until the rest of the fleet has arrived or we have no choice. Your main goal is to protect the Phoenix while we charge out waver cannon, with any luck we should be able to end this quickly and get back to bolster the defensive field around Marcadia."
"Commander"
Sasha turned to face the Cezar scientist who was pointing to a heat read out for the ship. The temperature was climbing slowly, even with all the cooling gear they had. She patched back into the comm line.
"Watch those heat read outs, even with our cooling systems in place the temperature is climbing on the ship, try not to get to close to that star if you can help it, or that ship. My last words to you are that we are officially on borrowed time, let's end this and go home."
Sasha watched as one of the Frigates seemed to appeared next to the Phoenix it quickly deployed its fighters which joined the growing net around the Phoenix. Ratchets fighter buzzed close past the bridge and Sasha blinked and whispered under her breath.
"Good luck Hotshot"
Sasha got a bit of a shock when the last three more Frigates blasted into existence and started dropping fighters, she was even more surprised when a forth frigate dropped out next to the Phoenix.
"Wha – find out who those guys are and what they are doing here."
A Ranger spoke up from a console "We're receiving a hailing line from them Commander."
Sasha turned back to face the Vid-screen "Accept."
She was set to give a stern lecture but was quickly stilled in her action as she shot an automatic salute as the Galactic president showed up on the Vid-screen.
"Madam President, With all do respect what the hell are you doing here?" she asked
Aquagirl was dressed in some ceremonial armor and had a large blaster strapped across her back, "If it's not obvious I'm here to lend my ability's into this battle. I'm not content to sit on the side lines as the war for the Galaxy I lead gets fought. My Frigate will serve as rear guard, our cooling systems are enough for us to lend some of out heavier fire power to the long range portion on the fight."
Sasha opened her mouth to argue, but really, she was grateful for the help.
Sasha saluted again "Very well Madam President, I hope to see you on the other side of this then."
Aquagirl returned Sasha's saluted "The same to you Commander." She turned to face her command crew as the link was severed. Sasha did the same, sitting down in the Commanders chair and bringing up a Holo-display in front of her.
"All ships, this is Commander Sasha, giving official commands to lock targets. Ratchet your in command of the fighter net."
She nodded at her Scientist on deck who turned and began operation his control panel.
"We're charging the Waver now, it's going to take longer because of the massive heat around us so keep those guys off our back."
She paused and took a breath "Let's let them know we're here."
Oh, I'm so evil, what an awesome cliff-hanger. Now, stay tuned loyal readers, for the conclusion to the Fire-Lord War is next chapter, and I'm sure a lot of you can guess whats going to appear next on the horizon. But until then, here is some cool news"
First off, once again sorry for the long time for posts, aside from school I've been playing a Lot of Call of Duty on my 360 (Not Black Ops, god that game is awful, Modern Warfare thank you) plus Enslaved, Scott Pilgrim (the movie, game, and comics), Fallout: New Vegas, and Minecraft have been great factors in eating my time. I apologize for that, but sometimes, when I get home from school (night school for your information, so I get home close to midnight) Last thing I want to do is think, so I drop into some mindless violence and shut down my higher functions for a few hours of shooting fun.
Where was I going with this?
-Mind Reboots-
Oh.
Right...
Second, My Forums have been updated with the Official Rules (which mostly consist of the normal Fanfiction Net rules) for my Ratchet and Clank Christmas story contest, I may add more, but those ones are solid. When you're done with your story, go to the forums (go to my profile page and click 'My Forums' and look for 'So heres the Official Submission section for Christmas Stories.' that's where you post your story link.
Third, If I get enough submissions to the contest, not only will you see my Christmas fic, but a deleted chapter from 1) Nightmares of the Past 2) Back to Bogon and 3) Earth Bound. These chapters are rough at best, and I dropped them for what I believed to be the stories own good.
Forth, Don't forget that the Revelation Project gets revealed next chapter as well, I hope you will all like it.
Fifth, My Friend Dudeman858 made a spin off on the Earth Bound Universe (with my permission of course) he posted his original idea and a version I wrote on his account, go check it out, cause you'll only see it there. the story is called The Final Stand
Sixth and final, Something that I hope all of you will find very, very, very, F!#% Awesome:
I'm in negotiations with a artist/animator friend for a Digital Line Art drawing of Stella, considering some of that other stuff of his I've seen I'm hopeful for it, the coloring will be done by yours truly, but the Line art will be displayed on my DA account (which I still need to set up) plus the winner of the contest, by popular vote of course, will receive a high quality .Tiff version of the image after I color it, (Digitally) signed by the Artist and Myself, which prolly wont be on my DA account as its purely personal for me. Not to mention, if it turns out well, and I have the money I might get him to do one of Sky as well.
Whew, I think that's everything...
I hope...
Peace,
Emile.