Myrlha eased from the bed in the small hours of the morning, having noticed Sho's absence just minutes before. Her bare feet found the cool floor as her eyes adjusted to the dark and picked out her surroundings. She cinched the belt on her robe and stepped out to where she knew he would be; the picture window in the main room of their chambers.
The window faced west, which allowed in both the setting sun and moon. She stopped on seeing him silhouetted in the moonlight, its pale glow playing over his muscles and revealing the tension within them. She stood silently and watched his unmoving form. Just as things seemed to settle down once again, life seemed to have decided to go insane once more. Grune, The Cyborgs… SiverHawks… David, Shadowmane, and the oncoming threat of the PGF.
"Can't sleep either?" Sho asked without turning.
"Guess we both have worries," she said while walking up and wrapping her arms around him from behind. His tension seeped into her, his muscles thrumming with it. She had never seen him so agitated so…
The word you're looking for is terrified, her mind reported. If someone as powerful as Sho could be so afraid…
"Talk to me, honey," she said softly. She pressed into Sho's back and recalled some of the feelings of her fingers raking across his chest. He remained silent for minutes, yet she waited as she eased her hands down his arms.
"I knew him," Sho said after several moments of silence. "I can't deny that." Myrlha briefly brushed her lips over the side of his neck, a gesture of love and affection. She then felt a slight tremble in his limbs.
"Do you think he's telling the truth?" she asked.
"I know he is." She felt the heat in those words, simmering at the moment yet - like a pot on dangerously high heat - could boil over in an instant. "Goddamnit." She looked up at their faint reflection in the glass and, for a moment, imagined she saw a faint blue glow in his eyes. It was gone in less than a blink, but…
But she had seen it.
It also scared the hell out of her.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Lion-O emerged atop the Observation Platform atop the head of Cat's Lair and was not surprised to hear his father's voice.
"You are troubled, my son."
"I am," he replied. "But I've learned that goes with being king."
"Heavy hangs the head which wears the crown," Claudus said as he approached. "I wasn't terribly surprised to find that those words exist here as well. I also would not be surprised to find that you feel your crown to be heaviest of all." Lion-O did not answer as he drew up beside his father at the railing. The lights of New Thundera stretched before him in the night, and he wondered again what its fate might be, if those lights would continue to shine or if they would be engulfed in the darkness.
"Guyvers can have that effect on you," Lion-O said once he placed his hands on the rail.
"I apologize," his father replied. "Talk to me, son."
"I know why you did this to me."
"I…"
"Father, no," Lion-O said. "I was able to put it together. Hell, the signs were there all along. I'm not stupid. I don't know the details, but…"
"Please forgive me," Claudis said in a voice that was suddenly weak.
"I'm honestly torn on that," Lion-O said. "I really am." Lion-O grimaced at the look on his father's face at that, yet he pressed on. "I love you, father, but…"
"You also hate me." The self-loathing in those words took him aback.
"No. No, Dad." Lion-O turned to see tears leaking from Claudis' eyes. "Jaga knew?"
"He did," Claudis said after a few moments of silence. "It was a last resort…"
"I figured," Lion-O said. "And it paid off." Lion-O gazed into the night for several moments. "Hell, if you and Jaga hadn't done this, we wouldn't be here right now."
"There is more," Claudus said. "You should know all of it."
"I'm listening."
"I had another plan in place. Panthro helped implement it. We had intercepted intelligence that Plun-Darr was experimenting with advanced propulsion, that they were experimenting with the light barrier."
"That had to start somewhere."
"That compelled me to order Panthro to experiment with a new drive system. It was only fully installed on the flagship, but he had let other designers in on it."
"I guess it was a success."
"We're not the only survivors of our world, so yes. It did," Claudus said. "In the years which we had to prepare, this engine design was made public. Our engineers retrofitted every ship they could with this new design. Sadly, it was still untested and many of the other disciplines needed for it had not existed."
"Dad, I know we don't have FTL,"
"We didn't develop that. It was near FTL. I'm not sure how well I can explain it."
"I'm listening."
"Panthro explained that the closer a vessel got to light speed, the more… time bent I guess you could say. He called it time dilation. Years would pass outside the ship while weeks or months would seem to pass inside."
"That actually explains some things," Lion-O replied with wide eyes. "But not why Jaga died on the trip. I know he was old, but."
"That was a major downside." Claudus took a deep breath, staring out at the night with sightless eyes. "Two, actually. The revised engines could only reach what he called one-third C. C, meaning light speed. Please don't ask me to recite the…"
"E = MC Squared," Lion-O provided. "Panthro's jaw dropped when he saw that in the SANDALWOOD archives. I don't get it either," he added with a chuckle, "and when he read the works of that Einstein guy… wow. Just wow. I though he was going to pass out." Both laughed briefly at that, yet it was strained. "That human also claimed FTL was impossible."
"No one is always correct," Claudis said, and an awkward silence stretched between them.
"What was the other one?"
"Any ship traveling as such would be a terribly energetic source of X-Ray radiation. Not only would that make them easily spotted, it would flood the ships with enough X-Rays to make them into death traps. Each ship's Suspension Capsules were thoroughly shielded."
"The auto pilot had been disabled on our ship," Lion-O said, his blood chilled.
"He exposed himself to massive amounts of radiation," Claudus said. "He knew he was condemning himself to a painful death. Gods, I don't want to think about that, but we owe him far more than we can ever repay." Another silence, this one pregnant with mourning. "It'll be first light soon."
"Dad?"
"Yes?"
"Thank you for telling me this," Lion-O said.
"You deserved the truth. I apologize for not being there in your youth. I apologize for what we were forced to do. For stealing your childhood."
"Yeah."
Claudus turned to leave the observation platform. Lion-O remained silent, his steady breathing the only sound he made. His heart heavy with the regrets, Claudis found the handrail and guided himself to the door which led inside while his sightless eyes stung with tears.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXx
The sun was still low in the sky when David awoke and slid out of bed. Sleeping in was something he'd long lost the ability to do. He did, however, sleep deeply and was always groggy on awakening as a result. He cast his bleary gaze about the spartan quarters in which he'd been housed and tried to cudgel his brain into functioning. After a few moments of this, he realized that his first order of business was a shower, which he found operated just as those he was familiar with though the water grew hot faster than he was used to.
He emerged feeling moderately refreshed and, on padding back into the main chamber, reached for his clothes. A quick smell test, and then he donned them once more. He trodded toward the door when it sprang open to reveal a Thunderian male in a brown and tan outfit holding a tray on the other side.
"Hi," he said, "name's Kat. I come bearing gifts."
David could smell said gifts. "Enter in peace, bearer of the coffee," he said with mock gravity. He took a steaming cup from the tray this Kat was holding and had it finished before the other could set his burden down. He looked down at the urn on the tray, and Kat wasted no time in taking the cup back and filling it. "No need for the other stuff," David said.
"Ah, you take it like a man," Kat said as David sipped the elixir. "So, you didn't like the clothes?" David took a moment to process that.
"They weren't to my liking, no," he said.
"You like wearing ripped clothes?" David looked down at the small tears left by brambles from his journey to New Thundera.
Another sip. "Rips in denim are marks of character. These'll grow with experience," David said as he waved a hand over the scratches and tears the flora of Third Earth had been given a chance to bestow. The coffee was doing its wondrous work, yet many things were standing in its way. The state of the world, his new place in it, Lisker…
"So, you're a Guyver," Kat offered.
"Never denied it." God, this coffee is good! "I have to meet the worker of this miracle." David was far from a coffee snob, but even his palate could detect many of the subtle flavor notes.
"His name's Snarf," Kat said. "You… uh… any good in a kitchen?"
"More than fair," David replied. He briefly recalled his desire to enter culinary school. What he didn't see was the subliminal contortions of Kat's facial muscles. "Gotta wonder how you get the beans, though. They don't grow locally. Do they?" The caffeine was beginning its work.
"I don't know exactly where," Kat began as he poured a cup for himself - this with loads of sugar and what had to be honey, "But I know it's traded in bulk."
"Uh-huh," David said before another sip. "Still gotta wonder how that came to pass."
"From what we've gathered, Third Earth's shifted on its axis. Y'know, since those days." David mastered his expression before his jaw could drop. What in the hell was that last fight like? He asked himself as he took another sip. "So, how well do you know Sho?"
"Hoping for some embarrassing stories?" David replied while an uneasy feeling began to gnaw at him.
"I mean, he mentioned ships."
"What ships?" Red flags started to vaguely wave in the back of David's brain.
"Those… Uranus ships…"
"Ouranous." David felt a chill race up his spine and met with an uneasy feeling, then held a quick conference that determined that something just was not kosher.
"Yeah, those. What did they look like?"
"Kinda ovoid," he said after another sip. "Fins down toward the bottom." After another sip, the cup was almost empty… David paused for a moment.
"Okay," Kat said. "Sorry, just idle curiosity." A more alert David snuck a quick look at him, then a searching one that found its goal. The circular insignia at his waist. He just ambushed me, he thought. Kat met his gaze. The appearance of nonchalance was suddenly as thin as a politician's promise.
Oh, shit, David thought. Not a bad attempt. A classic ambush, and he'd damn near walked into it. "We should go," he said finally. David followed Kat out into the corridor. As he marched behind the feline young man, he recalled what he had seen, some of the humiliations Kat had suffered. He wanted to confront him, yet he knew that all he would get were denials. If he wanted to head this off, he had to aim higher.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Polgara felt transported. Her eyes flitted about what Panthro had called the Depot in wonderment. She had never once thought she would ever see the workspace of the man whose written works and recorded lectures had guided her on her path. It was a study of organized chaos. What seemed to be random placements of tools and sundry components was, to her eyes, absolutely deliberate. He knew where each piece was. Those not needed were in their proper places with those that were or would be kept near the work areas.
"Pol," the voice said from the communicator on her wrist. "Pol?"
"What is it, ATAC?"
"You do know that I'm tracking your vitals right now?"
"What about it?" Her eyes fell on the two-wheeled vehicles Panthro was showing to Shadowmane.
"It's just that you're on the edge of losing your shit," ATAC said. "I'm monitoring you and… well… I'm getting concerned. I get it, this guy is incredible and all, but…."
"He built our civilization here from scrap parts. He did it twice," she breathed.
"Okay, okay. Deep breaths." She wandered about the Depot while taking in the finished and half-finished machines. A ThunderTank, unlike any model she'd ever seen. Some airborne vehicles, one that clearly split into three and another meant for exoatmospheric travel, along with one fitted with a large turbine for VTOL. All of it from scavenged junk and repurposed tech from other species! Just getting the parts and software to interface with each other was a marvel! "Yes, yes it was," ATAC said, snapping her out of her reverie.
"Huh?"
"Getting them to interface was damned impressive. By the way, you said that out loud." She rolled her eyes and sagged in embarrassment.
"I am so geeking out," she muttered.
"By the way, you've got five seconds."
"Huh?"
"Four… Three… Two… One…"
"Allow me to introduce my chief engineer," Shadowmane's voice said from behind. Polgara jumped and spun to find her captain and Panthro looking down at her. The spit dried in her mouth as the Thunderian grinned down at her.
"I'm told you did a hell of a job with the engines on his ship," Panthro said.
"I wanted to join the Engineering Academy back on Thundera," she said with far more confidence than she felt. "I had all the files of your lectures, Sir Panthro."
"Must be nice to have a fan," said a female voice. Polgara looked left to find a blonde-haired human woman striding over. She wore a gentle smile beneath blue eyes that searched her briefly as though for weapons. "Seres Mandora," the human woman said with an extended hand. Polgara took it and noted its strong grip. "Meeting's in ten," she said after turning to Panthro, who nodded. Mandora then leaned in and kissed him on the corner of his mouth before turning to walk away.
"I'm glad for you," Shadowmane said. The look between them spoke volumes that she missed entirely.
"Thank you," Panthro replied. "Polgara, my Depot is yours. Shadowmane sent me specs of the changes you made."
"Y… yes…"
"Same goes for you, ATAC."
"You knew!" the AI's voice burst from her communicator.
"You and me, we're gonna talk later," Panthro affirmed.
"ATAC, initiate Protocol Five," Shadowmane said.
"Shadowmane," it said uneasily, "you sure?"
"I'm sure."
"You got it. I'll need about five hours or so." Panthro and Shadowmane took their leave.
"ATAC, what the hell just happened?" Polgara asked.
"Something with about a billion to one odds against," he said.
"Which tells me nothing," she replied. The Depot had emptied out.
"Sorry, Pol," he said. "I wasn't allowed to tell you this. It's nothing bad, no worries."
"So what the hell is it?"
"Remember when we first met? When you asked about who made me?"
"Yes."
"You're gonna get the answers to that."
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
"You want to do what?" Tygra asked. The session of Council had been moved into the commissary given the number of people present and the dismissal of the staff. The other ThunderCats stared at Panthro in incredulity.
"You've always mistrusted such intelligent systems in the past," Claudus added.
"I know Lera's work."
"Your sister?"
"She's alive," Shadowmane added, "and safe on Edea. Not to mention thousands more of your folk."
"Explain," Lion-O blurted. "Please."
"Since you asked so nicely," Shadowmane replied before reaching into an inner pocket in his tunic and producing a small datapad which he slid to the center of the table. Lights began to course across its surface in bright green lines before lancing into the space above and forming a face made of a wireframe of lights.
"Man, I've been out of the loop for too long," Stargazer said
"Howdy!" the face said. "Name's ATAC. I'm the central control system of the good ship Zelgadis. Pleasure to meet you." The face rotated about to take in all attending. "Sorry about not putting on my face, but the emitter tech in this thing can only do so much."
"You're an artificial intelligence?" Tygra asked.
"Weeellll… That depends on how you define things like sentience. I'm intelligent, though, make no mistake and I can be a big help to you."
"Let's cut the sales pitch," Lion-O said.
"Aw, why?" ATAC replied. "I've got charts, graphs, even advertisements!"
"Let me apologize for ATAC," Shadowmane said. "He can be a tad enthusiastic."
"No shit," David said while staring up at the image of the intelligent system.
"First off," ATAC said, "It's a good idea to meet your neighbors." The graphic shifted to a view of the Sol system, which shrank to reveal a massive swath of space colored purple. A patch of deep azure rested outside its borders.
"Goddamn," Stargazer breathed. "The PGF's grown. They only had half that territory just a century ago."
"And given what's been happening ever since the Vertis incident," Corman said, "the power of the militant parts of the government's been growing."
"That's on me," Sho said with downcast eyes.
"My ass," Lion-O said. "That had to be done."
"Even so," ATAC said, "it did bring some attention you didn't need."
"We have no idea what Thorson may be up to, but take our word that it's coming," Corman stated.
"He wants the Guyvers," David said, "or he wants us gone."
"Give the man a cookie," ATAC said as his wireframe face spun to look at the human.
"Let's just assume he has no stops on how that happens," Tygra said.
"Best case," Shadowmane said. "Now, as I said, there are a lot of your people on my home planet." ATAC then highlighted a small pinprick of light in the azure section of the map, which expanded into a solar system with only four planets.
"They must stay there," Claudis said at once.
"My thoughts exactly," Shadowmane replied. "We can keep them safe, but I'm not sure for how long."
"Quantity has a quality all its own," ATAC said, "and Thorson has that in spades."
"Long story short," Shadowmane began, "you see the amount of space between Third Earth and Edea."
"Several hundred light-years," Pathro said with fading hope. "Even with hyperspace, that's one hell of a long way."
"Yeah," Shadowmane agreed. "I can't do as much to help as I'd like. We have some awesome tech, but the PGF has us outnumbered and they don't like us all that much."
"We have some good routes into this system," ATAC said, his face now shifting into a more canine and less humanoid form. "Even so, the PGF has some damn good scouting systems. Getting past those is not easy."
"And we will not risk the refugees harboring on our planet," Shadowmane added.
"You did answer our hails," Claudus said.
"Yes," Shadowmane said. "We just didn't know what kind of forces were arrayed at Thundera at the time. It was, to put it bluntly, a shitstorm."
"We showed up to find an entire mutant fleet preparing for the final transit to Thundera," ATAC provided. "We engaged them, but some got through; it took us a while before a few ships of our fleet could break off and get through the jump point, and by the time we did, it was too late to rescue as many as we had intended."
"We rescued all we could, and rounded up a few other ships that were fleeing the mutant ships," Shadowmane added, "but our ships were damaged. We had no choice but to retreat to the homeworld."
"They planned the attack well," Tygra said.
"But, here we are," Shadowmane said.
"Now," Stargazer said, "about this X-Metal."
"Figured you knew something about that," Shadowmane said.
"Not much," the elderly cyborg replied. "We knew ass-all about it back in my day."
"If I may," interrupted ATAC, "it's a sort of protometal. It can take on the traits of whatever substance is added to it. Thing is, there's no way to predict how it could end up. Fortunately, it's really rare."
"The supply I lifted from the PGF is the largest ever gathered," Shadowmane added. "You can call that the capstone to my illicit days. PGF security worked against them on that run, and I made sure it was safely out of anyone's hands. I did take some samples back to Edea and, well, things didn't turn out like we'd hoped."
"And you brought that shit here?!" Sho yelled.
"It's not like we stopped researching it," Shadowmane said. "We've made some progress."
"Hence, me," ATAC said. "I helped on the research. It's still not an easy thing to work with, but we made some progress and I have the data."
"So what happens if something goes wrong?" Cheetara asked.
"Nine times out of ten, it becomes inert junk," ATAC said.
"And the tenth time?"
"We call that Explodium."
"Cards on the table," Panthro said, "now."
"We've been able to make better hull alloys using small amounts," Shadowmane said. "This substance can… it can also change the molecular properties of the metals it's added to. With the right mixes and techniques, you can make some impressive stuff though not in large amounts. On the other hand, a little dab'll do ya."
"The Zelgadis," Lion-O said.
"Among a few other ships, yes," Shadowmane said. He caught the glance Panthro, Bengali, and the King shared.
Holy shit, Panthro thought, this could be it! He thought back to his notes on the energy requirements for that FTL drive. Traditional materials could not make hulls strong enough to stand the strains of that kind of drive nor channel the power necessary. This X-Metal could be the key if it could unlock its secrets.
"So, ATAC, where do you figure in?" Claudus asked.
"Gonna be honest here, full integration is a bad idea," it said. "What I have to do is transmit a copy of my core coding into a dedicated system. My advice is to connect it slowly."
"If this copy functions as you say…"
"I'm not something you can just plug into any old system," ATAC said. "I mean, it would work on a temporary basis, but this is a lot more involved. This other me has to have time to learn your tech. Yeah, it'll behave just like me once everything's integrated, but it's gonna take time. Fortunately, I have a lot of safeguards in place to help with that. However, transplanting a system like me isn't like plugging in a new device and hitting the switch."
"Panthro," Lion-O said. "Get started." Before anyone else could voice a concern, "The PGF is coming, and we know that peace is not on the agenda. We only have a limited time to prepare. We can't afford to waste it. If Panthro trusts Shadowmane, then I have no reason not to do so as well. Mandora, Corman, Stargazer, Quickpick. Any ideas what he could bring?"
"Thorson was PGF fleet, not CONTROL," Mandora said. "God only knows what he can whip up."
"Those SilverHawks are also still out there," Quickpick added. "We'll have to deal with them, I think, first."
"The PGF might go in for bells and whistles," Stargazer said, "but they don't update core tech much. I think I have a way to at least neutralize them. I'm gonna need a strong transmitter, though."
"We'll be on Third Earth for the rest of this week," Shadowmane said. "Sorry, but we can't stay any longer. However, I'll broach to my crew the chance to stay. That's as long as I can give them to decide, and that's the most I can do. I'll keep up shimpments to Third Earth, but anything past that has to be run by the Ruling Council."
"I assume Edea - therefore you - have a network in this area of space," Cheetara said.
"Can't be a courier, or a smuggler, without one," Shadowmane replied simply, "and I've been both."
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
"One hundred ninety-nine…" Lion-O chanted as he raised the weight-laden bar over his head, "two hundred!" He placed the bar back into the braces and sat up just as Sho walked into the gym.
"Going light?" Sho asked as he drew near. The weights had been set at four hundred kilograms.
"Just a warmup," he replied. He took one look at Sho's face and knew. He had been dreading this and knew how badly it could and likely would go, but it had to be done. "You think we don't trust you."
"It's occurred to me," Sho said in a sharp tone.
"Look, Sho, I know you're more mature than this," he said in a voice no less sharp. "New guy shows up and your nose is out of joint? You're better than this." Panthro would have been a better choice, but the other ThunderCat was busy. Also, he didn't have the title of king.
"It's not…"
"Bullshit," Lion-O said, his voice stern. "You think I don't know? Come on, kid, I'm not stupid."
"People are depending on me!" Sho burst out as Lion-O reached for a towel to dry off the sweat.
"We can depend on ourselves," Lion-O countered. "We've been doing that for thousands of years. Try again."
"Not like this," Sho said. "I don't remember much, but I do know that more threats are coming and this happy asshole is just…"
"Just what?"
"Aggrandizing himself! I don't know why he's holding back…"
"Sho." The flat tone in Lion-O's words actually worked like a garrotte." You want to protect everything you've helped build. Jaga knows I respect that. Everything that's happened lately has you rattled. I understand it."
"You know what's at stake here," Sho said.
"I do. Believe me, I do," Lion-O said. "I also know what this looks like. Sho, we do trust you, but that has to go both ways. Whatever this power is, however it manifests itself, you can't force it." Lion-O softened his expression. "I've gotten the same treatment."
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
"So this is home base," David said as he entered the command center of G Corps. A large command chair sat on a swivel in the center of a circular array of instrument panels. It reminded him of various SciFi shows he had seen on television in his younger days. Cheetara sat in said chair and faced him with crossed legs and a stern expression. "But, you're not gonna ask me about the Romulans."
"The what?"
"Sorry," David said with palms raised in apology. "Sho did warn me about making references. I should have taken that."
"Noted." The Queen of Thundera crossed her arms beneath her bosom. "I didn't ask you here to learn about Sho's past."
"Not even any embarrassing stories?"
"There's no time for that, and I have some of my own."
"Oh." David felt himself beginning to smile and to like this Cheetara. "When we get time, please share." She seemed to be as no-nonsense as Randall West had been but easier to deal with and far easier on the eyes. He also sensed a warmth about her, paired with a core of steel. "I have no issues obeying your directives." It was even true, despite the fact that her earliest ancestors had likely been children when he'd last been among the living.
"Why not sit?" She asked, indicating a chair. David obliged. "I'm worried about Sho."
"Not just you," David replied. "And I'm worried about a lot more. I know," he said with a raised hand, "I'm the source of a lot of that. I wish I wasn't."
"Wish in one hand," she said. David nodded, knowing how that axiom ended. His father and Running Wolf had been fond of it.
"I'll cut to the chase," David said. "The Sho you know is the one you all built and he's… Let's be honest, he's almost exactly like the man I first met. I thank you for that."
"It's the other I'm curious about."
"You've seen traces of him already. Messing with his friends and loved ones ends badly." It was a vast understatement, and David was certain that Cheetara knew it to be so.
"I've seen him tear apart an army who tried." There was a trace of awe and a healthy amount of respect in her voice.
"That was just one and not even the worst," David said before catching himself. He looked up at her face to see, to his surprise, a look of understanding. "You need to understand something. When Mizuki died, his restraint…"
"Died with her," she said. "I know he holds back, David. Even at Fortress Plun-Darr he held back. What I don't know is how much."
"Once I see all his fights since he woke up, I can give you a good estimate. I even charge good rates," he added with a cocky grin.
"Good to know," she replied with a raised eyebrow. "But, I'd like an opinion."
"Sure, but this is arbitrary. I'm no scientist."
"Neither am I." A wink eased the mood.
"Okay." David took a deep breath. "If I had to estimate on what I have seen, and these are rough estimates, Sho is currently at about forty percent. Maybe forty-five."
"Are you lowballing this?"
"Are you gonna let me finish?"
"Sorry. Please continue."
"This next one is really shaky, but Lisker is at around seventy. You saw how he kicked Sho around that time. Also, that was a really brave move on your part."
"Flattery will get you nowhere. But thank you anyway."
"As for me, and I am not tooting my own horn, I'm close to maximum and please don't say it."
"Say what?"
"Okay, good. The real limiter is restraint; the bio-booster gives us all the same powers. It's our subconscious that determines what we can access. We hold ourselves back." David snorted. "Hell, I was always pissed that Sho could turn invisible, and I could never pull it off."
"Wait, what?"
"He hasn't re-discovered that?"
"Tygra can do it. Sho said he couldn't do it."
"Well… yeah. Sho can."
"I'll be damned."
"I wouldn't recommend it."
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
"You've proven yourself time and agan," Lion-O said. "The Mutant Army, Safari Joe, the Vertis… Sho, there is no doubt of your loyalty and dedication."
"Then why…"
"I also know it's not your full potential," Lion-O added. "You said it yourself."
"I did…"
"I spent time in the Book, and it revealed to me the full power of the Eye of Thundera," Lion-O said, "and I got the same thing you're getting now; it sealed the knowledge away until the time is right to unleash it. When the time is right. Hell, I have no clue what power this is gonna be or when it'll come out. Do you really think that doesn't weigh on me? Do you think it doesn't keep me up at night?"
"Your power has rules," Sho said. "Mine apparently doesn't."
"It has your rules."
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
"Sho did say that the Guyver could be made more powerful," Cheetara said.
"When?" David replied with rising concern.
"It was just over two years ago. Why?"
"God, that fast?" David muttered.
"He's already remembering that power," she said.
"Spirits help us all," David said. "It's worse than I thought."
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
"You could have killed Shiner," Lion-O said. "You could have wiped his entire crew from existence."
"I killed more than a few of them."
"You only kill in the heat of battle," Lion-O said before clapping a hand on the human's shoulder. "No one can judge right or wrong in that circumstance, but the results speak for themselves. You saved people who would have been sold like livestock otherwise." He grasped Sho's chin and turned the other's face toward his. "Do you think we judge you for that?
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
David turned away from seeing the records of Sho's activity among the ThunderCats. "He really hasn't forgotten," David said. "God, what you've done with him…"
"Tell me," Cheetara said.
"Sho was a true hero," David said. "You, all of you, brought that back out." He felt close to tears as memories paraded past his mind's eye. "He brought me back from the edge."
"Oh?"
"It was before I met General West," he said. "I'd gone public against Kronos. It was stupid, I know that now, but then? They went after me. My whole family, my friends, they took them all. They changed them. It took them less than three months to push me past the breaking point." He controlled his breathing.
"They used their experience with Sho to deal with you." she commented.
"There I was, all piss and vinegar, and they just owned me. Then they took over the world. I had a gun to my head, I said 'fuck it', and I pulled the trigger. I woke up in the armor with my brains on the wall. This thing won't let us die," David said. "Not until it's done with us."
"Then what matters is what you use that power for."
"No wonder he turned out like this," David replied with a slight grin. "He told me much the same thing way back when."
"Sho's a good man."
"No argument here," David said. "Okay, cards on the table. You need to understand by the time West reached out to me, I had reached the point where I was no longer caring about collateral damage. West kept me from stepping off into the Abyss. Sho, pulled me back from the end, but before that I did things I am not proud of. I did somethings I regret, and other things I am ashamed of. And Sho got to see some of my darker moments before he managed to pull me back to sanity."
"He's going to remember all of it," Cheetara said, "and it's going to agonize him."
"Pretty much, and remind me never to play cards with you," David replied. "If he seals this power away out of fear, we are screwed."
"Just as we are if this sends him over the edge."
"Yes." He could say nothing else.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Pumyra looked at the results of the medical scan for the twentieth time and still could not believe it. Nor could Siberias, who had taken the seat beside her. They stared at the projected progress of cellular mitosis and gaped.
"This can't be possible," Pumyra said at length.
"Tell that to the results," her mentor retorted.
"It has to be a mistake," she said in a voice that did not quite dare to believe it.
"We've recalibrated the instruments again and again."
"I just can't accept this!" she shouted. "It just can't happen!"
"The odds are stacked against it," he said in his always calm voice, "but the results are plain to see."
"Shit," Pumyra spat. "I said this couldn't happen. I was positive of it!"
"And yet…"
"And yet…" Pumyra allowed herself a few deep breaths. "Do you know what this might mean?"
"For now, it means nothing," Siberias replied. "There other possible explanations."
"True," she admitted ruefully," but I have never known Panthro's equipment to fuck up this badly."
"We can't discount it," Siberias said.
"I know, but look at it!"
"It is compelling," he said as he again beheld the readout, "and I am loathe to doubt his skills or yours." He shook his head as he glanced over the displays of bloodwork and bioscans.
"This, if true, could change everything."
"Or end in a disaster," Pumyra added. "This just had to happen now," she said in disgust. "Also, if this goes pear shaped…"
"One thing at a time." Siberias said.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
"I saw how you greeted him," Lion-O said. "That didn't come out of nowhere."
"That's true," Sho agreed, now seated at the end of the weight bench. "And I spent time in his head."
"And lying in the Mindscape is supposed to be impossible," Lion-O added. "You and Lisker have said that."
"He felt familiar," Sho said at length. "He felt like a cocky son of a bitch."
"I'm not a psychiatrist, Sho, but I think you're not seeing him through the right filters."
"Swiss cheese memory. I get it." Sho stood then. "Thanks, Lion-O. I mean it." Sho then turned and left. For his part, Lion-O remained seated. He had gotten through; he knew he had, but had it been enough?
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
"It's kinda cramped in here," the voice of ATAC's copy said over the speakers in the Depot. The installation had gone without a hitch, much to Panthro's relief, yet more remained to be done. He and Shadowmane knelt before the terminal, which housed the nascent IS - short for Intelligent System - and was busily installing boards that would increase memory space for ATAC to expand into. Minutes stretched into hours until, at last, "AH! Much better!" the system exclaimed.
"We'll be expanding on this hardware later," Panthro said. "We can't install all of it tonight."
"I get you," ATAC said. "It's cozy enough in here for now. Until then, night folks." The lights within the open panels dimmed as ATAC powered down.
"Well, that's…" Shadowmane stopped as Panthro's hand appeared on his shoulder. "Yeah. She's doing fine, Panthro."
"Good to know."
"Join me tonight?" It would be the two of them, Mandora having drawn the night watch for the week and was currently sleeping.
"Did she…"
"Since Titania? Once or twice but it never worked out. You know how she can be."
"She didn't make it?"
"No."
"Damn." He felt his heart break for his erstwhile sister. "Those two really had a chance."
"Hey, you know Lera," Shadowmane said. "She's married to her work. Nothing's gonna change that. Hell, I thought the same about you until, oh, getting here. Nice catch."
"Mandora?"
"Don't even. Man, I can almost smell it. She's got you bad."
"Yeah." There was too much history between them for a lie to go undetected.
"I don't need the details…" Shadowmane said.
"She does this one thing…" Panthro began before engaging his brain. Shadowmane barked out a laugh.
"Save it for tonight."
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
It happened far sooner than either of them expected or wanted.
Sho rounded a corner to see David coming the opposite way.
They locked eyes for a brief moment, neither certain of what to say. Silence stretched between them.
"Brother," David said.
"You keep saying it the same way," Sho replied without keeping the anger from his voice. "A hint of arrogance mixed with dread and a hopeful finish." He saw the hurt those words caused in the other's eyes, and a twinge of guilt made itself known.
"Goddamnit, Sho," David began with the growing heat in his voice, "I know you don't believe this but I'm trying to help you!"
"Then do it," Sho snarled. "Give me what I need!"
"I am, Sho. This isn't something you can just whip out!"
"People are in danger!"
"When aren't they?!" David retorted, heat rising in his own voice. "Sho, please, there's more riding on this than you know!"
"And who the fuck are you to tell me that?!" Sho nearly screamed.
"The one who knows!" David returned. "Think! Do I want anyone here to suffer and die? Do I want to see everything you built be destroyed? Goddamnit, Sho, I WANT TO HELP! For fuck's sake TRUST ME!"
"You show up out of nowhere, you claim to know me, you call me brother…"
"ENOUGH!" Both young men snapped upright at the commanding voice of Cheetara as she rounded the corner behind David. "What in THE HELL are you two doing?" Her voice echoed in the confines of the hall and brought them both up short. "For fuck's sake, get to the council meeting. NOW!" Both departed, leaving her breathing heavily.
"Hey, some free advice here," Lisker offered as he came up behind her.
"What?" she asked in a flat and tired voice.
"Remember that gully where Sho and I threw down?"
"Oh. Yeah," she said. "Good point and well made. I'll have some sensors put out. Not bad, Lisker."
"Yeah," he said. "I just hope this won't end in a disaster."
"You and me both," she said, her voice weary. They neared the door. "You're quiet."
"I'm still on your shit list." Cheetara turned to face him.
"I won't deny that," she began, "but Jaga help me for saying it, I'm beginning to see that I actually do need you." She exhaled between clenched teeth. "Look. Three humans equipped with super weapons are currently in this colony and tensions are running stupidly high. Much as I love and trust Sho, I do not know David. I do know you. You at least seem somewhat level-headed right now. Even if David wants to kill you."
"Let me worry about that," Lisker said. "You've got enough on your plate."
XXXXXXXXXXXX
"I went through the data again," Panthro said after the meeting had been called to order, "especially the so-called junk data from the archives. Turns out there was something buried there after all."
"What is it?" Lion-O asked.
"A command prompt," Panthro said, "And voice activated to boot." He noticed David's eyes light up at that. "I ran it into our own computers, but…"
"It's keyed to us," David said.
"I kinda thought so, but an explanation would be nice."
"West was a paranoid son of a bitch," David said, "and that was a video file?"
"Yeah," Panthro said. "Out with it."
"Bring it up, please." There was no mistaking the hope on David's face. Panthro, at a nod from Lion-O, engaged the packet in a secure section of the Lair's main computer.
"Voice input is online," he said. The main screen of the Command Chamber flared to life with a single red disc at its center.
"Input command," it said in a flat voice.
"Jackson," David said, "David L.W. GS-117 Whiskey Tango Foxtrot."
"Assessing," the prompt replied. "Acknowledged. Guyver Four recognized. Recalling system message." The screen went blank for a few seconds. "Enter personal access code."
"One. One-A. Two-A Access A." Another few moments.
"Code accepted. Decryption fifty percent unlocked. Full unlock will be possible with codes from Guyver One. Please return to main access for second input code. Alert," the vaguely female voice said, "visual message from sysadmin West, Randall, is flagged for priority upon access. Playing now."
"Atten-SHUN!" screamed a booming voice from the speakers. Sho and David rocketed up ramrod straight just as the image came into focus. Their eyes and mouths dropped open at the sight of the clearly elderly human sitting at a desk of dark wood. His pate was bald, his jowls sagging, his skin marked with liver spots, yet his bearing in the chair was almost regal, and his posture ramrod straight. But for David, he was looking at a man who was some forty years older than when he had last seen him.
"Well fuck me, I don't know how you found this, but you clearly did," the image of Randall West said. "And it had to be you, David. Also, I'm sending this to you, Sho. For God's sake when one of you is in the shit, the other isn't far behind."
They looked at each other. "EYES ON ME, DAMNIT!" the image of a long-dead man roared, and both boys shifted their gaze. "Better," the recording said.
"Now, David, you're accessing this. I am sorry, son. First off, I have no idea if you're watching Sho, or if you are even active again. But you deserve to know that we tried. David, you killed Miribalis. I don't fucking know how, but you did. We got the target, but Archanfel arrived and took you out. It hurt your brother, though. It hurt him badly. Aw, shit,"
Another series of coughs. "Again, David, if you're seeing this, then you have to know Sho defeated Aachanfel. Couldn't record the data… Satellites down… But he did not come back." Several moments of raspy breaths. "It's over… At least for now…" The image of West closed his eyes for a moment, clearly gathering strength, then opened them.
"We discovered where you were being held in their Las Vegas facilities, I sent teams out, and none came back. Chinooks dropped them off, and none returned. Again, David, I apologize." The image of the wizened man paused for a second before opening its eyes once more. "That was forty-two years ago. I've heard nothing since." He took a deep and shuddering breath, a man clearly near the end of his life. "David, I tried. I'm sorry as all hell, son." Tears gleamed in his eyes.
"After Archanfel took you out, Sho lost all memory of you, of Tetsuro and Mizuki. He lost it all. I can only hope some of it comes back. He's gone now, and I can only hope he's at peace. All I can do now is safeguard this bastion of tech and hope that whatever inherits this planet after us doesn't inherit our mistakes."
"Sho. God, how do I say this…" Silence for a moment. "Fuck it. I never minced my words and I won't do it now. I have no idea if you're seeing this. If you are, then some shit is going down. It always is with the two of you. Trust each other. You did here, and God did you do a lot of damage. David, keep the faith. Sho, you do the same. And, as a message to anyone else seeing this…"
The image of West paused for a moment. "If Sho and David meet again, and I don't doubt they will, may God have mercy on anyone who pisses those two off. Randall West, General, Commander of humanity's last hope, signing off." The image faded.
"Shit," Bengali said. All eyes locked onto David and Sho, who stared at the now blank screen.
"That about sums it up," Panthro added. "Wait.. wait…" Panthro stared as data began to decrypt onto the screen. After several moments, one thing became clear. "What in the hell is Site B?" Everyone stared up at the screen just as a prompt appeared atop a black screen. A map appeared with two blinking red lights atop the map; one held the name "Sandalwood Site - A," and the other held the name "Sandalwood Site - B."
"Hook Mountian," Panthro said. "Why am I not fucking surprised?"
"Ain't this a kick in the nuts," Torr said.
"Thorodin Peak," Lisker said.
"David," Lion-O said, "What in the fuck is down there?"
"Total shopping spree," David said. "All the military tech of our world aside from nukes."
"But is any of it still viable?" Tygra asked.
"That's what we have to find out," Lisker replied.