Kihonne: Hi everyone. I hope you're all doing well. It's been a spell since we last chatted, hasn't it? I'm so sorry about that. Life just got super crazy for a while. It still is kinda crazy, but not as much, so I have brought a chapter here with me today! And it's definitely an interesting one, if nothing else. But before we move onto that, I've got a few shoutouts to do, so here we go.
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LabGirl2001: Yes, they're alive! I know, it's exciting to see them. And the kids certainly have a story to tell their parents…I see them reacting well to all that news. I'm glad you liked the comedy in the chapter. I hope you like this chapter too!
SyzmonS: Apparently, the surprise is meant for you after all, lol. I'm glad you liked the city layout – I was trying to go for something that would stand out, but also be kinda familiar to readers. The team 100% did not think to ask anyone for photos of the Venusians, you are absolutely right about that. This was by far the worst planned out rescue in history. Actually, it WAS the Winter Formal of 2015. Kira's comment is in response to Ben's question, not his internal monologue. Yes, the Broadman have a kind of twin empathy, rather than telepathy. It'll come in handy sometime in the future. I miss Bree and the others too. They were fun to write. But so are the kids, especially Kira. She's like a cute Energizer bunny with fire powers. The kids did have a good plan. I think it goes to show that they do have the ability to be good strategists and such, but they need to take the time to plan things right. They were in such a rush on Earth because they didn't want to get caught that they didn't plan things well, and…things went wrong. But when they plan things out…well, they still went wrong, but it wasn't their fault this time. Lord Jax and Lady Jaya's motives will become clear before too long, I promise (yes, J is as popular on their planet as S and E is on Caldera). I'm so glad you've enjoyed the season so much so far. It's definitely different than anything I've done so far. I think you're really going to like the rest of season, so I hope you enjoy this chapter too.
MightyMedNerd: I mean, I've got no room to judge. I drop off the face of the earth myself anything I get busy/have writer's block. You definitely came back at an interesting time though. It's been a crazy road, and the crazy doesn't stop here. I think you're gonna like the chapter.
Munat: So sorry for the super delayed update, but I hope you enjoy the chapter!
XxDreamDustxX: It's been a while, that's for sure. I'm sorry things sound like they've been rough for you, especially being stuck in another state. I hope at least that's resolved since you reviewed. If you want to PM, I'll be keeping an eye out on it.
TheatreGeek2019: Hi, it's so nice to hear from a new reader! I don't hear from too many of you this far in the series, so it's a nice treat. I'm so glad you like the series so much. Noah and Sera are a cute ship, aren't they? They'd be fun to get together. Sera's entire family is pretty cool too. (Yes, it's Challa and Kani, and Bree and Jaden are Braden). I promise, you will see at least a tiny bit more of Skylar and the other Elite Force members. I'm so glad you're enjoying things so far, and I hope you like the rest of the series too.
Amazingchichi741: I hope you enjoy it!
Mnm456: Another new reader, that's awesome! I'm so glad you love the series so much. Chase is definitely in for a bit of a surprise when he finds out that bit of news. Anyway, I'm glad you like the story so far and I hope you enjoy this chapter too.
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Kihonne: Oh, and before anyone thinks I've forgotten, I do remember that special surprise I promised anyone who reviewed on the last chapter. Within the next 24 hours, I will be PMing all those who already reviewed on the last chapter with details about that surprise, so keep an eye out for that. Anyway, on with the chapter!
Kaz: Kihonne doesn't own Lab Rats, Mighty Med, or the Elite Force. She only owns this story, all the OCs, and anything else you don't recognize.
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SEPTEMBER 2038
Chase's POV
"No, you're definitely cheating." Dani was mid-accusation when I walked out of the main deck and into the lounge area on the viewing deck. She, along with most of the others, were in the booth near the large viewing window playing Yahtzee. Oliver was the only one absent, having just relieved me from a six-hour-long shift of flying the ship.
"You can't cheat at Yahtzee, Dani." Bree pointed out, rolling her eyes as she handed the dice to Jaden. She glanced over at me as I approached the table. "Do you want to play? We're only one round in, so you can just go twice."
"Yeah, sure. Why not?" I shrugged, not having planned on going to bed just yet. Kaz slid over to give me room. "We never play at home."
Jaden smirked, rolling the dice. "CeeCee still hates the game?"
"Yeah. One day, she is going to tell me the story behind that, I swear." I replied, shaking my head. He chucked, glancing at the dice before choosing a few to save. "Emmy loves it though. You know she has a secret game under her bed? She, Charlotte, and their friend Ava play when Calla's not home."
"Are you serious?" Kaz laughed out loud, eyes bright with amusement. "That's awesome. The biggest 'secret' either of the twins have is Kam's so-called secret love of romance novels."
"Of course it is." Skylar smiled, glancing at me. "It's her birthday today, right? Emily?"
I nodded, glancing at my Davenwatch, which was still set to Earth time. "Seventeen-years-old as of 3 hours and 16 minutes ago."
"I'm sorry you had to miss it." Bree gave me a sympathetic smile. Seraphina, Kameron, and Kira were all summer babies, o we should return home their birthdays pass, but Emily, Noah, and Justine would all have celebrated theirs while we were gone. "I'm sure Calla will do something special."
"I know, and we already talked about how to make it up to her." I replied. "There's a pet-friendly student dorm in Cambridge. It's more expensive than the regular student dorms, but Calla and I are going to splurge and get a suite there so she can take Helix with her."
"Oh, she'll love that." Dani grinned. "She's about as attached to that dog as Kameron is to Josh."
Kaz suddenly laughed. "Oh, I totally forgot about Josh. How do you think Calla is going to react when she realizes that Josh isn't a guinea pig?"
I looked at him, confused. "He's not?" I asked.
Kaz shook his head. "Josh is a tarantula, man."
I stared at him for a long moment. "I am not responsible if my wife kills you." I declared, just as the ship suddenly shuddered violently, as if we'd hit something hard.
"What the hell was that?" Bree questioned, bracing herself against the table.
Skylar slid out of her seat, rushing towards the main deck. "Oliver?" She called as we all followed her. "What was that?"
"I don't know!" Oliver shouted as we ran onto the main deck. He was at the helm, frantically pressing buttons as the ship rattled again. "I think we were just shot."
"By who? We're in the middle of deep space, Oliver. No one is shooting at us." Kaz argued as I slid past him in order to get a better view at the scanner on the left of the helm's controls.
"Someone is shooting at us." I confirmed. Kaz's eyebrows raised in surprise.
"I stand corrected. I apologize." He offered. Oliver nodded.
"Thank you, I appreciate that." He replied calmly. Bree rolled her eyes.
"Who's shooting at us?" She demanded, looking at me.
"No idea. Move." Oliver didn't have to be told twice, sliding out of his chair the moment I spoke so that I could take control of the ship. I gripped one of the control sticks in my right hand, the left swiping through the scanners to try and determine exactly what our situation was. Behind me, the others were all abuzz, asking questions of both Oliver and I to try and figure out the situation. I tuned them out, taking in all that the scanners were telling me.
"Alright." I cleared my throat, getting their attention. "Four unidentified ships on our rear, two on the left and two on the right. Skylar," the Calderan woman straightened up when I said her name, "the defense systems are in the stern. Kaz, Dani, turrets." All three of them ran off to their assigned stations. "Jaden, you're on comms. Everyone else, sit down, strap in, and shut up. I need to focus."
It was pretty blunt, but I didn't have time to be nice. Thankfully, the others all had the sense to follow my orders without argument.
"Ready." Skylar announced a few moments later as I pulled on a headset.
"I see them." Dani added. "Cool ships."
"Identifiable?"Jaden questioned from his seat across the room. I could just make out the window he'd pulled up on his screen; it looked like the Coalition's intergalactic database of ships.
"They're...dark? I don't know. Sorry, Jay." Dani apologized.
"Hey, Dee. First to hit their target gets to pick next year's vacation spot?" Kaz suggested. I rolled my eyes, using one hand to bring the radar up to eye level. I could see the four ships closing in on us. They were all smaller than our ship, likely single-man crafts, but they were wicked fast.
"Skylar, defenses?" I demanded as I pulled up on the controls, increasing our altitude in hopes of getting out of their immediate range of fire. If I could get Dani and Kaz into positions where they had clear lines of fire, we might be able to get rid of them.
"Front shielding is at 89%, rear shields are at 67%." Skylar announced just as another blast shook the ship. "Make that 56%."
"Alright," I paused for a second, mentally calculating the power of the ships' blasts, "pull power from the front shields – they're firing on us from behind. But just take what you need - I don't want the front shielding to drop below 60, you hear me?"
"Copy that." Skylar confirmed. "Won't last long if we can't take these guys out quick though."
"You mean like this?" Kaz called, sounding triumphant for a second. Then, with an annoyed curse, he added, "Never mind; that did not go as planned."
"What happened?" Bree questioned from where she and Oliver were seated, both looking particularly frustrated by the fact that the most they were able to do to help was put on headsets and listen in on the others.
"They're shielded. It's gonna take more than single shots to take 'em out." Kaz explained, his voice strained, the sound of him and Dani firing in the background.
"Ships that size don't typically have shielding." Oliver mentioned, sounding surprised.
"I bet you're glad Douglas suggested the weapons systems now." Bree commented. I didn't have a chance to voice my agreement as I swerved and dodged with the ship, trying to avoid the blasts from the ships, but they had the advantage of numbers.
"Guys!" I shouted, gritting my teeth as we took another hit.
"Front at 61%, rear at 62%." Skylar warned. I cursed.
"Take reserve power from the frontal weapon systems." I told her, not having many other options for her. "Dani, Kaz, stop screwing around and get rid of them now."
"Hey, do you want to switch places?" Dani retorted before suddenly letting out a delighted laugh. "Ha! Finally!"
"You shot one down?" Oliver asked hopefully, grinning.
"Nope, but I did break through the shielding." She exclaimed.
"And now I'm gonna finish him off." Kaz added.
"Not if I do it first." Dani argued. A moment passed, and suddenly the entire ship shook from the force of a violent explosion. It was immediately followed by something heavy hitting us from behind. I didn't know what it was exactly, but it was enough to knock us off our current trajectory, despite my efforts to stay on track. The lights on the deck began to flash red, warning of serious damage having been done to the ship, and an alarm began to echo through the entire ship.
"If one of you missed and hit our own ship..." I warned. For a number of reasons it should have been physically impossible for them to do that, but Dani and Kaz had proven many times in the past that anything was possible for them if it were chaotic enough, so who knows?
"We didn't miss!" Kaz protested.
"Yeah, but we did make the enemy ship explode." Dani added, tone sounding unexpectedly concerned by what should have been a triumph.
"And why is that a bad thing?" Oliver questioned.
"Because the explosion threw the other ship into us. It crashed through our shields, Chase." Skylar warned. I glanced over at Jaden, craning my neck to try and see his screens from here. Mine told of damage and warned against continuing this space battle, but his would have the specific details on how badly we were hurt.
"Jaden?" I called, turning my attention back to the sky. One of the remaining ships had flown ahead and began targeting us from the front. Unfortunately, this ship was never meant to be a warship and Skylar had taken what was left of the power for the frontal weapons.
"Severe damage to the left engine and several internal functions." Jaden announced. "Not to mention, the left side's shielding is completely done."
"If we take a hit there..." Skylar trailed off as I continued to try and dodge the incoming attacks. With that kind of damage and only one of the attackers out of the picture, there was no way we were going to walk away the victors of this fight.
"Understood. Jaden?" I glanced over at him. "Is the hyperdrive operational?"
"It is." He confirmed after a moment. I nodded.
"Alright. If you're not strapped in, I highly recommend it." I instructed, hitting a button on the right control stick, then pulling back on both of them. "Brace yourselves!" I shouted before punching both control sticks forward, sending us hurtling into uncharted space.
Kaz's POV
I let out a breath as the ship finally slowed to what felt like a normal speed. The sound of the enemy firing on us were long gone, as were the sounds of the ship's alarms. The lights in the turret were still that ominous red, but without the screaming alarms, they seemed to lose some of their edge.
I took a moment to steady my breathing, letting my stomach settle a little – I'd never liked the hyperdrive because of the way it made my stomach flip, though I supposed we didn't really have a choice in using it to escape the attackers – then adjusted my headset. "Is everyone alright?" I asked, flicking the switch for the microphone. I frowned, confused when I didn't even hear static come through the headset. "Dee? Oliver? Anyone?"
The line stayed dead. I pulled of my headset, concerned, and quickly slid down the ladder from the turret into the viewing deck. To my relief, Dani was already below, one hand still hanging onto a rung of her ladder. "Are you alright?" She demanded, wide eyes scanning me for injury. I nodded and gestured at her. "I'm okay. My comms are dead though."
"I turned off the comm system." Chase announced, suddenly appearing behind us. Dani and both jumped, neither of us having seen him in the dim light.
"Jesus!" I swore, my heart beating out of my chest. "Don't sneak up on that people like that, man!"
"Sorry." He replied, pulling out a flashlight. He flipped it on, shining the beam onto the floor. "Better?"
"Marginally." Dani replied. "Why'd you turn off the comms?"
"We don't know how much damage we took. I want everything unnecessary off until we figure out how screwed we are." He explained. Dani and I exchanged looks.
"Sorry about that." "Our bad." We both apologized at once. Chase waved it off.
"Not your fault." He assured us before nodding further down the hall. "I'm gonna go check out the engine, see how badly things are damaged. I'll meet you on the main deck in a few."
He didn't wait for our response, too focused on his task. I turned to Dani and gestured towards the direction Chase had come in. "After you," I offered. She smiled and rolled her eyes before beginning to lead us back to the main deck. "So, just to be sure we're on the same page, I did win, right?"
"What?" Her brow furrowed, confused. "No, I won. I shot him down."
"I'm fairly certain it was my shot that blew him up." I argued. She shook her head.
"No, it was mine." She insisted. I narrowed my eyes at her, still thinking I was right. "Okay, I wanted to go to Paris, where did you want to go?"
"Disneyland." I replied, surprised she hadn't been expecting that. She gave me a loving, exasperated look. "It's the last summer before the kids start their superhero training, Dee. I want to make it special."
"By going to Disneyland?" She asked, laughing a little.
"We go to Paris every four years." I pointed out. She shrugged.
"Well, if you didn't want me to love it so much, you should have proposed to me on Splash Mountain instead." She pointed out. I half-shrugged; she had a point. "I think there's a Disneyland in Paris."
"Deal." I grinned as we walked onto the main deck. Bree was in the pilot's seat now, keeping her eyes straight ahead while Jaden looked over the scanners. Oliver and Skylar were over at the comms station.
"Hey," I greeted as Dani and I walked over to them. "What're you doing?"
"Chase didn't have time to put coordinates into the hyperdrive, so we're trying to figure out where we ended up." Oliver explained.
"And where we are is light-years off course." Skylar muttered.
"How bad is that?" Dani questioned, her tone serious. Skylar sighed.
"I know it was his only choice, but..." She muttered before leaning back in the chair and looking up at us. "The hyperdrive was already installed in the ship, but we were never going to use it."
"Because it drains too much in fuel." I nodded, remembering how relieved I'd been when Chase had explained that at the start of the trip - I really hated hyperdrives. Skylar nodded.
"So, we're light-years off course with a lot less fuel than we'd originally planned." She confirmed.
"With a severely damaged engine and life support system." Chase announced, stalking back in.
"The life support is damaged?" That distracted Bree from flying. Chase nodded solemnly. "But we need that to breathe."
"Calla installed a back-up system as a precaution. Rightly so, apparently." He explained. "But it's not strong enough to fully replace the original – it'll only last twelve hours. The engine won't even last half that, which, by the way, we're gonna have to shut off in order to repair."
"So, we have to land." Jaden sighed. He looked at Skylar. "And you just said our fuel wouldn't last."
"How off course are we?" Chase questioned. Skylar shook her head.
"If we don't use the hyperdrive, it'll delay our arrival by three weeks, which we thankfully have just enough supplies for." She replied. "If we do use the hyperdrive, we can make it there in the same amount of time, but we risk running out of fuel mid flight. And if that happens..."
The 'we're screwed' went unsaid, but we all knew it. "Alright." Chase rubbed his forehead. "Alright, either way we have to land for repairs."
"And then?" Bree pushed. Chase looked at us.
"And then we'll vote on whether or not we risk the hyperdrive. Something like this should be a group decision." He assured her. We all exchanged looks.
"So, where are we supposed to land?" I asked the obvious question. "I don't see any planets out the window."
"There's a planet, about five hours from here." Oliver announced, looking over the star charts Skylar had pulled up. "Benzia?"
"Uninhabited, but oxygen levels are pretty close to Earth's." Skylar mentioned. Chase nodded.
"Let's just hope the engine lasts long enough for us to make it there." He glanced at his sister. "Want me to take over?"
"No, I'm more refreshed than you." She offered him a smile. "I've got it."
"Okay, now that we've got a plan, can we talk about what all that was?" I questioned. "Who were those guys?"
We all exchanged looks. None of us had an answer, but we all knew now that this trip was not going to be as simple as we'd initially thought.
Chase's POV
"Pirates, really, Oliver?" I heard Bree laugh as she zipped between where Oliver was working on the engine and where I was sitting at the life support control system. The wiring between the life support systems and their power source had been damaged beyond repair, so I was trying to reroute how they took the power. If I couldn't get it, we'd risk them malfunctioning mid-flight, but I thought I finally had a handle on it.
"Pirates?" I echoed my sister, shaking my head. "That's your theory?"
"Do you know how many patients we got this year alone because their ships were attacked by pirates?" Oliver argued. "Like, 8."
"That doesn't sound like a lot." Bree pointed out.
"It is for pirate attacks." Oliver informed her. "It's like, twice the intergalactic average, and-huh." There was a pause. "Chase?"
"Yeah?" I got up when I heard his tone. "What's wrong?"
"How much fuel did you say we had left?" He questioned.
"76%." I replied, frowning.
"That's what I thought you said. We might have a problem, then." He announced. "We're down to 73%."
"That's impossible." I told him, walking over. He wordlessly handed me the tablet with the information on it. I studied it for a moment - it did say 73% now, though I was sure it'd been 3% higher before – and then jogged up the platform into the ship, through the cargo bay and into the engine room. My fears were immediately confirmed. "Shit."
The massive engine (the part that was only accessible from the inside anyway) filled up most of the room, leaving just about a 2-foot wide path from one end of the room to the other, a path that was now slick with a thin layer of translucent, amber liquid: fuel.
"What's...oh. That's not good." Oliver realized, he and Bree coming up behind me.
"What's going on?" My sister asked, unable to see past us with the doorway being as narrow as it was.
"There's a leak in the fuel tank." I explained. Her face paled when she realized the implications. "Bree, you go let the others know and walk, don't run. The last thing we need is your speed kicking up sparks. Oliver and I will handle the spill."
"Okay..." She didn't move at first. "Are we going to have enough fuel to finish the trip?"
"Bree, go." I encouraged. She nodded and didn't delay any longer, slowly making her way out of the ship.
"Do we have enough fuel?" Oliver prompted. I glanced at him, the calculations already spinning around my head.
"Let's focus on dealing with the spill." I told him. "Then we'll see."
Kaz's POV
"I think it was pirates." I nodded to myself, sure that I was right. The others all exchanged amused looks. Jaden, Dani, Skylar, and I were standing around a rock formation fairly close to where we'd landed while we waited for Oliver, Bree, and Chase to finish working on the ship. We would have offered to help, but frankly, we'd probably just be in the way. "Oh, c'mon, Oliver's always talking about the pirate attacks in space."
"I'm still struggling to believe that there are actual space pirates." Jaden chuckled to himself. Skylar rolled her eyes.
"It just means someone who attacks and invades other ships. No eye patches or hooked hands or whatever you're picturing." She told him before turning to me. "And Oliver talks about pirate attacks for weeks after they happen. I don't know why you two find them so fascinating..."
"Because pirates." I insisted. "I'm serious."
"We know." Skylar and Jaden said in unison.
"Hang on, I think he might have a point." Dani held her hand out to stop them, smirking a little. She glanced over as Bree jogged over to us. "Hey, the boys done fixing the ship yet? Can we go?"
"No. We have a problem." She announced.
"We know. We were attacked, possibly by pirates." I replied easily. She pointedly ignored me.
"What's wrong, Bree?" Jaden asked, crossing his arms, and looking at her, his brow furrowed.
"The fuel tank is leaking." She announced. Instantly, the relaxed atmosphere evaporated.
"Oh no." Dani glanced at me before looking at Bree. "How screwed are we?"
"I...don't know." She admitted. "But I suspect we won't be risking that hyperdrive now."
"So that's three more weeks before we land on Venusia." Skylar sighed. Jaden grimaced, but nodded.
"Three weeks, it's not the end of the world. The kids will understand why we're a little late." He reasoned, though he sounded as disappointed as the rest of us felt. He glanced back at Bree. "I think we'll get back after Noah's exams though. You think CeeCee will be okay with him moving in with her for a week or so before we get back?"
Bree nodded, but Skylar sighed. "It's not the kids I'm worried about. Sera could benefit from spending time with kids her age. But…" a pained expression crossed her face, "the longer it takes us to get to Venusia, the longer the war will go on and the more people that will die."
I sighed, not knowing what to say to that. I'd known that there'd been a war on Caldera and I, of course, had been worried about Oliver, Skylar, and Sera, but any time we talked, they made it sounds like it was a distant thing and that they were okay. Like it was happening on the other side of the planet and white it was sad and awful, they were okay. It was too easy to pretend that they hadn't been in the thick of it, watching the people they care about die.
"Skylar, I'm sorry." Jaden apologized to the Calderan, eyes sad. She nodded and licked her lips, clenching her fists. She took a deep breath, then turned to Bree.
"Is there anything the boys need? I'd like to get off this planet ASAP." She asked, her tone too even, too controlled. Bree hesitated, obviously not wanting to say no.
"Well, they kicked me out, but you can..." The speedster suddenly trailed off, eyes lifting to the sky. With a sharp breath, she pointed past Skylar at the pale green sky. "What is that?"
I followed her gaze, turning. For a moment, I couldn't see what she was talking about - sure, the sky was a weird color and there were a couple of birds flying in the distance, but that wasn't anything to get worked up about. Then, I realized; those weren't birds.
"Ships!" Skylar called unnecessarily as the ships sped toward us, slowing as they approached. "Dani, go get Chase and Oliver."
"Got it." Dani nodded, about to run off towards our ship when suddenly, the bottoms of both ships, now hovering in front of us, slid open. Out pour a dozen or so aliens, pale-skinned with blue or purple hair, carrying shields and spears.
I didn't recognize them, but Skylar straightened up immediately. "Venusians." She explained quickly to the rest of us before raising her hands slowly. "Hello there! We're the Elite-"
Skylar cut herself off, ducking just in time to avoid getting shot in the head by a blast coming from one of the Venusian's spears, weapons I did not even know could shoot until they all started shooting at us. We all immediately ducked for cover, using the outcropping rocks to shield us from the incoming series of blasts.
"We're here for the peace treaty!" Skylar shouted. If the Venusians heard her, they certainly gave no indication, choosing to instead continue showering us in waves of plasma blasts.
"Why are they attacking?" Bree demanded, trying to get a good view of the enemy without making herself too much of a target. "We're trying to stop the war!"
"I don't think they care, honey." Jaden commented, sitting on the ground next to her. His head was ducked as he pulled a small blaster out of an ankle holster I did not even know he had.
"Calla gave you a new toy?" Dani called from where the two of us were hiding behind another rock. Jaden chuckled, clicking off the safety.
"She didn't completely trust that things were going to go smoothly. Guess she was right." He called back before twisting around the rock, firing a couple of quick shots at the Venusians. The two blasts, light blue balls of energy, flew towards the Venusians. At first I thought they were going to miss - Jaden didn't have time to aim properly and as such, his shots went wide - but to my surprise, the blasts changed trajectory midair, locking onto two of the Venusians and slamming straight into their shields. "Thank you, CeeCee."
"This is going to put a real damper on the peace negotiations." Dani commented, craning her neck to try and get a better look. I chuckled, crouching partially above her.
"I go high, you go low?" I suggested. She smirked.
"Let's go." She replied, pushing herself off the ground, swinging her arm back, and throwing a ball of electricity along the ground towards the Venusians like a bowling ball. I flew into the air and sent a wave of fire towards the nearest three Venusians. I didn't manage to really scorch any of the Venusians, but I did get them to stop shooting for a moment and to back off. We were outnumbered almost 2-to-1, so getting them on the defensive instead of the offensive was the best play.
Out of the corner of my eye, I could see one of the important to remember that we Venusians surrounded by a blurry circle, most likely Bree speeding around the Venusian, while Jaden was still shooting from his spot behind the rock. Meanwhile, despite the shooting, Skylar had managed to get close enough to one of the Venusians to grab hold of his spear, and the two were currently grappling over it.
"Who are these guys?" Dani demanded, managing to hit one of the Venusians right in the chest, knocking him to the ground. But before she could really knock him out, two more took his place, targeting her. She dropped behind one of the outcropping rocks, then went to send another ball of electricity at the Venusians. She stopped mid-throw though. "Kaz!" She called, pointing. Following her gaze, I saw another Venusian ship approaching, this time from the other direction, and heading for our ship.
"Chase! Oliver!" I shouted at the top of my lungs, sending another wave of fire towards the Venusians, who were still shooting at us. Our ship wasn't that far, but there was no way they could hear me from there, and no way that I could reach them to warn them, even as Venusian fighters descended from the bottom of the newest ship.
"Kaz!" Dani shouted again, tone hardening, and I ducked instinctively. A shot went over my head, missing me by inches, and I was forced to turn my attention back to fight in front of me and away from the newest batch of enemies.
Chase's POV
"Well, we aren't going to be able to use the hyperdrive now." I grumbled angrily, shaking my head. The fuel tank had been an easy enough fix, thankfully not being too badly damaged, but it had already lost a significant amount of fuel before we could.
"How screwed are we?" Oliver asked, pausing in wiping up the fuel spill to glance over his shoulder at a muffled sound coming from outside, most likely Kaz, by the sounds of it. He was probably messing around, trying to pass the time until we were finished. Thankfully, that was going to be really soon. Oliver had managed to clean most of the spill in the time that it'd taken me to fix the fuel tank, but we were still going to need to wash it down first. The last thing we wanted was a fire in here.
"I don't want to jinx it...but if nothing else goes wrong, we'll still make it. Three weeks late, but we'll get there." I stood up as the sound from outside got louder, transforming from muffled bangs to something almost familiar. "What are they doing out there?"
"It's just Kaz and Dee." Oliver dismissed it. I shook my head.
"No, it's not." It sounded a bit like the sound of their blasts, but there was something else there. Oliver stood up, frowning, but with me between him and the door, it wasn't like he could do anything. "I'm gonna go check it out."
I squeezed out of the engine room and started towards the open cargo door but stopped short when I saw what was going on in the distance. It looked like the others were engaged in a firefight of some kind, facing off against at least a dozen enemy combatants. I could hear the sound of the battle more clearly now and realized that the weapons the enemies were using - sticks with blaster options, apparently - sounded almost exactly like the sound of Kaz's fireballs. More pressing, however, was the issue of the half a dozen blue-haired attackers approaching the ship. I ducked instinctively as they began to fire into the ship, and backed towards the engine room, throwing my shield up.
"We have company!" I shouted, mentally cursing myself for not picking up on the fact that we were in danger. I was the one with bionic hearing, I should have recognized that the sounds of their blasts were different than those of Kaz's, but I'd been too pre-occupied with the fuel tank.
Oliver was behind me in an instant, but I was blocking the door. "You want to move so that I can fight?" He questioned, sounding confused as to why I hadn't moved.
"You want to risk one of those shots hitting the floor or the fuel tank?" I shot back. He hesitated, realizing where we were standing. As it was, my shield was only able to block a portion of the room from the attackers - Venusians, if I was correct.
Not for the first time, I cursed my shield for being so small. Its size made it easier to use, especially in motion, and it was significantly more powerful, but there were times, like this, that I did miss the bubble-like force field I used to have.
"Alright, but it's gonna get a little chilly." Oliver warned seconds before a wave of ice pushed past me. It bit into my side a bit, but most of the attack blasted past the shield to hit the nearest attackers. The one on the far left took the full brunt of the hit and was pushed to the ground by the force of it, while the one directly next to him was only knocked back a couple of steps. The other attackers kept coming, gaining ground every second. "This isn't going to work."
"You don't say." I commented, pressure making me sarcastic. I had various ideas on what to do, but most of them were only half-made plans that I was sure wouldn't work anyway. I couldn't fight back without dropping my shield, but that would leave the engine room wide open. Oliver could create an ice barrier behind us to protect it, but that would take time, during which the Venusians would be over top of us, or create one in front of us, but that would trap us in engine room. That didn't leave us with a lot of options, so I decided on the only one that had a shot of working. "Alright, on three, hit them with a giant wave. We need to push them back."
"Why wait 'till three?" Oliver chimed in. I smirked.
"Three." I announced, dropping my shield, stepping to the side, and using my telekinesis to push the attackers back, all in one fluid motion at the exact same time that Oliver sent a giant ice wave towards them. I grinned as our combined attacks sent the attackers flying backwards, some of them even being flung clear of the ship.
"Don't you dare." Oliver growled, raising his hand towards one of the remaining Venusian soldiers, who had managed to keep hold of his spear. The soldier glowered at Oliver, wary of his powers.
"For the glory of the New Venusian Republic." He growled before firing. Oliver blasted him at the same time, deflecting the shot and knocking the weapon out of the Venusian's hands. But the shot had already been fired and I watched as it flew towards the engine room. I raised my hand, telekinetically throwing a storage box at the shot in hopes of stopping it. But it was too late; I watched, helpless, as the shot flew into the engine room and landed in the middle of the fuel-wet floor.
Kaz's POV
"There's too many of them!" Jaden hissed as I landed next to him. I didn't answer, instead raising my hand to send a blast of fire at the incoming attackers. Jaden took the opportunity to reload his weapon, grimacing. "Thanks. I'm almost out though."
"Yeah, I hear you." I muttered, briefly glancing back at the ship before returning my attention to the fight in front of me. The Venusian soldiers were boarding the ship at this moment, with Chase and Oliver trapped inside, but we were too overwhelmed here to help them.
"Are you kidding me?" Dani cursed in annoyance suddenly. I looked towards her in time to see one of her lightning balls hit one of the Venusians. But instead of sending him flying or knocking him out like it would 99% of the criminals we'd faced on Earth, nothing happened. He didn't even slow down.
"I think it's absorbing your electricity." Bree pointed out, voice echoing slightly as she sped by me and lunged at the nearest Venusian. I scowled, sending another wave of fire towards the Venusian, accompanying it with a few fire balls. Jaden was right; there were too many of them already, and with at least another half dozen inside the ship with Chase…we were outnumbered 3 to 1, with limited ammo and Dani's powers (which were arguable more powerful than any of the rest of ours, sorry Skylar) unable to do much against them. I certainly didn't like those odds.
"Well, that's just great." Dani landed on Jaden's other side and glanced at the older man. "I don't suppose Calla gave you a second weapon?"
"Don't worry about that. Go help Oliver and Chase!" Skylar called from where she was fending off two Venusians at once. She continued to fight against them, using her agility to go between one and the other rather quickly. "Your powers work better in close quarters anyway."
"On it!" Dani called, giving me a confident smirk before pushing off the ground and hurtling towards our ship. I had to rip my attention away from her as the Venusians kept coming. Suddenly, something in atmosphere changed. I couldn't see what, but I sensed it the moment it happened. I turned instinctively towards Dani, wanting to stop Dani before she got too far.
I turned just in time to watch in horror as our ship explode, a ball of fire and smoke replacing the high-tech ship and debris raining down on us. I dropped, covering my head as machine bits and ship parts came hurtling down at us. As the debris, still flaming, hit the ground, I raised my eyes in horror to where our ship had been; in its place was a wall of smoke, the ground around it singed.
"Oliver!" Skylar's horrified scream broke through the battle as it came to a sudden stop. Even the Venusians seemed shocked by the explosion. I stared in horror, unable to move my eyes off the still smoking wreckage. Oliver and Chase, they were just in there. They…they couldn't, they…
And then, slowly, agonizingly so, the smoke started to clear. And something in the center of the crater started to take shape. My heart stuttered and restarted as I recognized the blue glow of Chase's shield. A shield he could only use if he were alive. And if he survived, then Oliver had to, right? Right?
"They're-" I shouted, hoping to reassure Skylar and the others, but before I could get more than a single word out, the Venusians began firing on us once more, taking advantage of the situation. I ducked as one of the shots nearly took off my head, using one hand to send a fireball in my attacker's direction as I tried to locate Dani. She'd been flying towards the ship when it'd exploded, but I didn't think she'd been close enough to take the brunt of the blast.
It only took me half a moment to find her, but it still felt like half a moment too long. She was lying half on her side on the ground between me and the ship's wreckage, with a Venusian warrior standing over top of her. To her credit, she looked to be threatening him with what appeared to be a still-flaming piece of debris in spite of the fact that he had his weapon pointed directly down at her.
"Dee!" I shouted, raising my hand as I ran towards her. I took control of the flames and sent them flying into the face of the Venusian above her. He screamed, dropping his weapon instantly as his hands reached for his face. Dani grabbed the weapon with one hand, aimed and shot, hitting him right in the chest. By time I made it over to her, he was unconscious. "Dani." I murmured, kneeling.
"I had that." She ground out through clenched teeth, eyes screwed shut as she reached for my hand. I gently pulled her to her feet, concerned when I saw the pain on her face and the way she was clutching her left side.
"Let me see." I adjusted her free hand so that she was leaning on my shoulder as I gently pried her hand away from her side. Almost immediately, blood started pumping through a massive rip in the side of her uniform, and I clamped my hand down on it, trying to stem the flow. Dani let out a choked cry as I did, hand tightening on my shoulder.
"It's bad." She managed. I shook my head.
"I've seen way worse." I lied, mind whirling. The wound was big and, by the looks of things, deep, too much for me to deal with here, without medical supplies. The others were all still caught up in the fight - it was a miracle, really, that we weren't being attacked right now - and there wasn't a medical facility for hours. "It's gonna be okay. We just need to...figure this out."
"Guys, duck!" A voice shouted over the sound of the battle raging around us. I dropped to the ground, pulling Dani with me just as three massive balls of ice went flying over our heads. I followed them with my eyes and watched as they hit an incoming Venusian in the chest, knocking him back. I raised my free hand, putting a wall of fire between him and us.
"Ollie." Dani murmured breathlessly, voice weak. Sure enough, Oliver and Chase, both miraculously unscathed, came running up behind us.
"You're okay." I would have smiled at him under any other circumstances. Oliver's eyes slid from me to his sister, worry written all over his face.
"But you're not." Oliver knelt down to examine Dani's wound. He looked up at me, face pale. "She's losing too much blood."
I glanced at Chase. "Go help the others." I told him. The faster we could deal with the Venusian threat, the sooner we could get Dani some help. But Chase didn't move.
"I think it's too late for that." He said grimly. I looked up and, just past the fire that shielded us from the Venusians, I could see the others. They were heavily outnumbered, with Bree standing over an injured Jaden (a leg wound by the looks of it, not nearly as serious as what Dani was dealing with but enough to keep him down), and Skylar pinned by four Venusian warriors, a fifth aiming a spear directly at her throat.
"I think we've had enough casualties today, don't you?" The Venusian woman asked, keeping her weapon steady as she looked over at the rest of us. "Surrender."
Chase's face was an expressionless mask as he stared down the Venusian woman. After a moment, he finally spoke. "We need medical attention for two of our teammates."
"No." Dani protested weakly, head moving against my shoulder. Her eyes were closed, her face chalky. I pulled her fully into my lap, one hand clutching her wound, the other on her wrist. The Venusian woman glanced at Jaden and Bree, then at Dani and the rest of us before nodding.
"Jin." She called to one of her soldiers, the one nearest to us. "Take the injured prisoners to our outpost in Hexadoc, then transport them to home base." She instructed before turning back to us. "The rest of you can come with me."
I pulled Dani closer as the Venusian warriors approached. We definitely weren't going to be getting home as quickly as we thought we would.
Chase's POV
The Venusians, as it turns out, weren't the chattiest of people. They'd originally separated us, first into two groups - Kaz, Dani, and Jaden in one ship and Bree, Oliver, Skylar, and I into another - then put us in separate holding cells. I spent days, maybe weeks, pacing my cell, worrying about the others and trying to figure out what the Venusians wanted from us.
Eventually, I'd been brought in for an interrogation. They'd started by asking me about Caldera and their defenses, which I expected, but then had moved the conversation onto Earth. They were careful not to ask anything too specific – just simple questions about the planet's defenses, and then seemingly meaningless ones about the state of the planet. I, of course, hadn't answered any of them, well not seriously anyway. I'd hoped some flippant, sarcastic responses would aggravate them enough to show their hand, but unfortunately, the only thing I'd been able to decipher from their responses was that the sole reason they'd kept us alive was to be a "backup" for something. It was also heavily implied that they wouldn't need all of us for whatever it was, but I couldn't be certain that wasn't just the interrogator trying to frighten me into giving him the information he wanted (I didn't). But all of it made me wonder, what did they want with Earth? Was it their next target after Caldera, or were the two somehow connected as part of a single plan?
After the interrogator had left, frustrated that he could not get any answers from me after hours of questioning, I was brought to a dungeon of sorts. To my relief, it seemed that I was the last to arrive; Bree, Skylar, Jaden, Kaz, Oliver, and Dani were already locked inside, alive.
Unfortunately, despite the fact that we were all together, we weren't able to figure a way out of here. We'd made several escape attempts, desperate to find a ship and get the hell off this planet, but none of them had panned out. The farthest we'd made it was just outside the gate, where we were met by about half a dozen guards and a strange sonic weapon that made my ears ring just thinking about it. It'd been months of trying to make it out, trying to make it home, and we'd yet to come up with anything that would work.
"Don't you miss it when we had villains that spelled out their entire plan?" Dani asked, cutting me off as I proposed yet another theory as to why the Venusians had abducted us. She was mostly recovered from her injuries, the one bit of good news we had in here. "It was so much easier back then."
"Yeah, well, villains adapt. They learn from each others' mistakes." Skylar commented, pacing like normal. She glanced back at the ceiling. "You know, I still think the vents might be a viable option. They're big enough."
"We still don't know where they lead. It could be a dead end into a furnace or something." Bree pointed out from where she and Jaden were sitting one of the cots at the back of the room. "Besides, unless those things go directly outside the gates, we'd still need to fight our way out. I don't think filed-down spoons are gonna be all that helpful, do you?"
"If only we could use our powers." Oliver sent a pointed glare at one of the small, flat circles on the ceiling. In the first month of our captivity, we'd discovered that they let out some sort of signal that interfered with our powers. I'd be impressed with the technology if it wasn't being currently being used against me.
"I mean, we could try to deactivate them..." Jaden mentioned.
"Yeah, no. I got electrocuted the last time we tried to deactivate them." Kaz reminded him bitterly before softening and glancing at me. "Kinda wish we'd brought Emily along. With powers like hers, we would have dealt with these ages ago."
I snorted. "She probably would have agreed to come too, if only to not have to eat Calla's cooking." I admitted, smiling darkly. Suddenly, the sound of footsteps came from above the door at the top of the stairs. I frowned, glancing at the tiny window (barely a foot in diameter, too small for any of us to escape through) in the corner. "It's too early for it to be dinner." I thought aloud – dinner and breakfast were usually thirteen hours apart, at the same time every day, and that wouldn't be for hours.
We all stood up, ready for whatever was coming, when the door swung open and, to our surprise, three figures were pushed in. Two of them got tangled with each other and ended up landing at the base of the stairs, while the third, the smallest of them, stayed near the top as the door was slammed shut behind them.
I didn't recognize them initially in the dim light, but Bree gasped as she neared them. "Noah?" She demanded.
I looked at her, confused, but there was no question about who responded back with an equally confused, "Mom?"
I stared at the pile of limbs at the bottom of the stairs, stunned that my nephew, along with Ben "Aftershock" VanOver were lying in our cell. It was rare that I could be made speechless from surprise - you learned to expect anything and everything growing up the way I had - but even I couldn't formulate words when the smaller figure, Kira Broadman of all people, came bounding down the stairs a moment later.
To be fair, I clearly wasn't the only one taken by surprise. Kaz barely had time to react before his daughter leapt over Ben and Noah, still crumpled at the bottom of the stairs, and threw herself into his arms. Dani was equally stunned, eyes wide as saucers as she approached her daughter. She kept glancing between Kira and the rest of us as if we had some sort of explanation for this, but none of us knew what to say.
Jaden was the first to react really, stepping forward to help the boys to their feet before pulling Noah aside. "Oh, Bug." Bree murmured, pulling her son into a hug. I glanced back at Oliver and Skylar, shocked, but they looked as bewildered as I felt. "Wait," Bree suddenly came to her senses, pushing Noah back to hold him at arm's length. "What the hell are you doing here?"
"Um…" Noah trailed off, glancing at Ben and Kira before turning back to his parents. "We're here to rescue you?"
Kihonne: I figure we were all missing the good old times with the original Elite Force, so I thought I'd give them a chapter all to themselves. I hope you guys liked it. I'd really like to hear what you thought, good or bad. Seriously, I feed off reviews, lol.
Alright, so I admit, I'm a little hesitant to actually give you chapter update dates. It's been a crazy year, as you all well know, and clearly I haven't been the greatest in meeting deadlines lately. That being said, I've always been better at it during the school year (I think the more consistent weekly schedule helps), so I'm gonna give it a shot. So, here's the new update schedule for the month (hopefully):
October 10th: Reunited
October 17th: Homeward Bound
October 31st: Season 2, Episode 12
Now, this schedule is subject to change a bit based on my school schedule. It's been a heavier than normal workload this semester, so it's possible that chapters may be late, but I think it's unlikely that any chapter will be later than a week longer than my initial plans. (I totally recognize that many of you do not believe for a second that the next chapter will be on time, and I totally respect that. I'm gonna do my best to prove you wrong though.)
Anyway, hopefully I'll see you all in a week from now. Until then, enjoy the chapter, don't forget to review, and above all, stay safe folks!