Man the battle stations! We have a planet to save!
"Approaching Cyder, Captain," Heather says, keeping to her role. Steve smirks at the use of his nickname.
"Copy that, starting decent," he replies. The ship dips down and Leo holds onto his seat. He's still bouncing in his seat.
'The people of Balandar need me to be serious about this,' Leo tells himself, 'You need to focus, like what Master Bācharu tells me. Need to be focused.' Leo nods to himself and looks up with a determined look.
"Initiate landing sequence." The wheels come out below them and the cockpit jerks from impact.
"That could have gone better," Heather comments.
"Yeah," Steve says, flipping a few switches, "I'd like to see you fly." He grins in her direction and they unbuckle from their seats.
"The inhabitants of this planet are hostile to Pro-Balandar. I suggest plasma shields and blasters," the ship tells them. A compartment opens up, holding three blasters and three padded gloves for the right hand.
"Do I take one?" Leo asks. Heather nods, choosing hers. Leo puts on the glove and presses a button on the wrist. A illuminated shield comes from it.
"Whoa," he says, then he grabs the blaster.
"Please don't fire that in me. I'd prefer to stay whole," the ship says. Leo puts the gun in his belt, where an empty holster is waiting. He joins Steve and Heather at the entrance to the ship. The ship opens and a brief fog enters. Heather walks down the ramp and the others follow. She holds up a device that locates the piece. She points to the left.
"That way." She takes off in that direction. The guys follow. Leo looks around. The trees are thick but sparsely placed, with moss hanging off their branches. The ground squishes underfoot and he's glad he has boots on, because some kind of liquid seeps out at each step. "Almost there," Heather tells them.
"So, what do the people on this planet look like?" Steve asks, seeing large spider webs in the tree tops they pass.
"Uh, arachnid like people. They aren't that civilized, and they have spiders to ride, like horses. So be on lookout."
"I'm not scared of spiders," Leo says, putting his shield up. They come to a campsite where the people of Cyder live. There are webs all over and large, rideable spiders walk around the sight. There are a few people, who have trappings that make them look spider like. But mainly, they seem human. Leo doesn't let whatever fear he has show, he said he wasn't scared, so he won't be.
"Will they attack us?" Steve asks. Heather looks around.
"There!" She points. In the center of the camp, there is the first part of the staff. It's a golden piece, part of the handle. "Leo, we'll distract the enemy long enough for you to get the piece, alright?"
"Got it."
"Okay, let's go." Heather and Steve charge forward, blasters out. Leo takes his out too and keeps behind them. Heather shoots a spider and leaps over it, shooting another one that had started charging.
"Get the intruders!" An native yells. The others come out of the buildings and attack. Steve and Heather hold off their own sides as Leo runs through an open path between them. He puts his hand around the piece and pulls. It comes out of its stand and it ceases to glow. He looks to Heather. Should he help them now?
"Go Leo, we'll be right behind you!" Steve yells. Leo listens and runs back to the path they took. A native stands in his way. Leo runs right at him and goes under his legs. The bigger of the two reaches down to catch him, but falls over on his head. Heather shoots him on her way to the path. Steve is not too far behind.
Leo runs, hoping nothing is following him. He sees the ship. He also sees a few natives around it, looking around. "Get back!" He yells. He takes out his blaster and tries to shoot one. It misses hitting a tree. But the noise scares the natives away. Leo boards the ship and sits in his spot.
"Leo! You here?" Heather asks, climbing on board.
"I got it!" Leo yells, holding the piece up. Heather takes the piece when he hands it to her and places it in a spot on the wall, where it will be safe.
"Next stop," Steve says as the ship powers up, "the battle station."
The ship is in space again and they can see the station in the distance. "Switch to stealth mode," Heather says. The lights dim and come back as a light blue. "Leo," Heather says as she turns her chair, "this mission requires stealth. You've been learning that in training, am I right?"
"A little," Leo admits.
"Well, Leo, we aren't going to use our blasters unless we absolutely need to. And we need to be quiet. Follow Steve and me, we'll know where to go."
"Okay." The ship lands in the docking bay and none of the soldiers inside notice their arrival.
"Stealth mode on," Heather says. Steve repeats and then Leo can't see them anymore.
"Stealth mode on," Leo says. His helmet changes hues and he can see the others, they are just glowing. "Whoa."
"They can't see you, but they can hear you." Leo follows Steve and Heather as they exit the ship and into a corridor. Leo takes in the look of the ship. It looks like Space Heroes!
'I'm in my own Space Heroes story!' He cheers in his head. They turn down another corridor and into an elevator. No one else is in the elevator, so it's okay for them to talk.
"Remember how we get there Leo, so you can get back to the ship," Heather reminds.
"Okay, elevator and two halls. Then there's the ship," Leo relays what they've done so far. The door opens and Steve goes out first. They walk in a circular hallway and there is a double door. Steve opens it and then the others follow. The second piece of the staff is near the back wall. There are guards with blasters posted next to it and along the other walls.
"Get the piece, we'll handle the guards," Heather whispers. Leo nods, knowing she can see him, "Then hightail it out of here." Leo nods again and gets ready to run. "Go."
Leo runs at the piece. When he is halfway there, the guards next to it fall, alerting the room of intruders. Steve and Heather take out the other guards while Leo grabs the piece and runs out into the hallway. 'Elevator,' he thinks. He gets into the elevator and rides it down. The alarms go off throughout the whole ship. Once the doors open, he runs out, dodging people. 'Hallway, second hallway,' he says as he turns the corner. 'SHIIP!' He runs at the invisible ship, which he can see with the stealth mode on.
He gets on board and puts the piece in its spot, next to the other one. He sits and waits for the others. But they are still out there. He walks to the ramp and looks out. His team is at the entrance to the hallway, fighting the soldiers. He takes out his blaster, wanting to help. He aims into the group and fires. Someone falls. He fires again and hits a plane on accident. He looks at the gun.
'Stupid thing. No wonder ninjas don't use you.' Leo thinks for a moment, 'How does Captain Ryan do it?' Heather makes it to the ship and see Leo waiting.
"Is the piece here?" Leo nods. "Good. Start up the engines, Steve needs more time." Leo gets back to the cockpit and looks around.
"Start engines," he says, hoping it will work. The roar of the engines reaches his ears and he smiles. He sits in his seat and looks behind it, waiting for the others to arrive. Then Steve is helped up the ramp by Heather and it closes.
"Leo, can you fly? Steve can't." Leo looks at the pilot's spot and slowly gets up. He buckles in and takes hold of the wheel like device. "Lift it up," Heather directs as she has Steve sit down in Leo's place. Leo listens and pulls the wheel up. The ship lifts off of the ground. "Now push forward." Leo does so, and the ship moves out of the dock, into space. "Follow where the arrows show," Heather says as red arrows appear on the glass shield, "They'll show you where to go."
Heather sits in her spot and looks at Leo. He's concentrating, turning when he needs to. She focuses on helping. When Leo sees the next planet, he tells them.
"Alright, now Leo, do you want to use the weapons system, or pilot?"
"I'll pilot."
"Copy that," Heather takes hold of the targeting system and waits for ships to attack, "follow the path laid out for you and we'll get through this."
"Is Steve okay?" Leo asks.
"I'm alright Leo," Steve assures. This was planned from the beginning, so Leo can pilot a little. He's the only one that doesn't know what is going to happen.
Leo sees the red arrows point down, so he positions the ship to dip. Heather takes this opportunity to shoot a few fighters. Leo follows the arrows, maneuvering around ships and finally getting to the main blockade. He sees where the arrows are pointing, right through one of the large ships. He shakes the fear away and pushes forward. He gets through the space.
"Yes!" Heather cheers. Leo smiles at their victory. "Do you want to land?"
"No, you can do it," Leo is tired from concentrating on flying. And, being his first time, he doesn't think he's ready enough to do that. Heather lands them safely to the ground. They leave Steve on the ship and bring the two pieces to the city they parked near. They find Counsilman Onno in the main square.
"Counsilman Onno!" Heather yells. The alien turns around. He's holding the final piece, the top of the staff. Leo holds the piece he is holding for Onno to take. Heather does the same. The staff is assembled.
"Now we have a chance against the Alenge!" He yells, so the people can hear him. They all cheer and call Heather and Leo heroes. They walk back to the ship and find Steve standing beside it.
"How did it go?" He asks.
"We won!" Leo yells. "We won and the planet is safe! This mutation day is the best!"
"Time to go back now," Heather says, "Jarvis, disable program." The barn comes back and they put their sim-g's back. "Ready for something else Leo?"
"What's next?" Leo says, jumping from excitement.
Who's the luckiest turtle in the world!?
LEO!
More birthday fun in the next chapter, once I get it up.