As his heart began to beat faster, feeling like it was pounding in comparison to the slow, steady rate that he'd experienced during his time in his teknopod thus far, Spear began to feel the life slowly coming back to his body. He'd all but forgotten that he'd even had a body over all this time; so much of Lord Darkon's attention had been focused on his mind. Now, feeling sensation spreading downward from his neck to his shoulders, waking up the rest of his body as his blood began to circulate faster, Spear smiled and began to breathe more deeply.
His body was starting to feel warmer as his blood circulated faster, though really, it was just going back to its normal rate; but after so long in stasis – both inside his teknopod and inside the hyper-sleep chamber onboard the Argos – even his normal heart-rate felt like the result of running a marathon.
As his body slowly returned to full functionality, skin and muscles tingling in the wake of fresh blood flowing into them once again, Spear wiggled his fingers in the fluid that still held him suspended. As more life returned to his limbs, Spear began to unfold from the fetal position that all Teknomen were kept in while they were undergoing the Teknoprocess. His body still tingled something fierce, but the feeling was just like the times that one of his limbs had fallen asleep, so Spear welcomed the sensation as a prelude to his true awakening.
His fingers and toes brushed against the boundaries of the teknopod holding him, and Spear began to explore the boundaries of what had been his entire world ever since he had awakened as a Teknoman. The walls of the teknopod were soft, almost fleshy in the way they yielded to his touch; it was almost exactly like what he remembered of his infant siblings' skin, all those years ago when they were young. These walls even had that same warmth; almost like a womb, which was really appropriate when you thought about it.
The just-awakened-from-a-long-sleep tingling in his body was beginning to subside now, allowing Spear to settle back down without feeling the need to pinch any nerves in an effort to make the sensation go away. Concentrating on his breathing, both to revive himself faster and to banish the last of the tingling in his limbs and body, Spear opened his eyes and looked out ahead; the healthy green glow of a viable teknopod greeted him.
Shara and Sam were still safe, still alive and waiting to take their respective places within Darkon's ranks; he was glad to see that his youngest siblings were all right.
Then, just as he was beginning to settle back down, Spear began to notice a change in the fluid surrounding him. It was starting to thicken, becoming almost like jello that had been put in the refrigerator to set; strange, how such an esoteric place could serve to remind him of happy times back at home. As his body began to curl back up, almost of its own volition, Spear began to feel a strange warmth on his skin; it wasn't the warmth of his own body, he knew, and as he opened his eyes to get a look at what might be happening to him, Spear saw strange, glowing, red lines tracing themselves onto his arms.
They moved up toward his shoulders, but even as they did, Spear found his eyes drifting closed once again; it felt like someone was putting a large, warm, heavy blanket over him, nice, but strange all the same.
101010001
When he met with Slade and Saber, explaining the specifics of their mission as it had been laid out to him during the briefing that he had attended during the end of the twins' last mission, he could see a slight difference in the way the young men held themselves. They seemed to be more settled, more dedicated and sure of their purpose. Still, they also appeared as if they could have used a bit more sleep.
There wasn't anything he could do about that, however, aside from to offer the two of them what support he could, and to hope that it would be enough.
"While your parts in this operation will be diversionary in nature, they are still vital to the success of the plan as a whole," he informed them, in response to Slade's expression of annoyance.
"I know," the young man said, still appearing less than pleased with his appointed role.
He didn't say anything more, nor did Saber, and so he dismissed them with orders to prepare themselves in whatever way they felt was best for them; whatever way would ensure that they were not only physically prepared for their roles in the upcoming operation, but mentally so as well. When Slade and his brother had left Comm. One, Jamison returned to perusing the files on the operation they were about to undertake.
He needed to know everything that this latest mission that his Space Knights had been assigned, both for his own peace of mind, and so that he would be able to give his people the most complete and hence useful information that he could. They would all need it, if they were to complete this mission successfully. He did not honestly believe that this alone would defeat the Radam, but it would be an important first step.
110010001
(So, it looks like we're not going to be working too closely with the Military,) Saber said, and Slade watched as his brother folded his arms behind his head and stretched his back. (That's good; O'Roarke notwithstanding, they're a bunch of miserable, power-hungry bastards.)
Chuckling softly, Slade slung his left arm around his younger brother's shoulders as Saber dropped his own arms back to his sides. He felt his brother leaning into him, then wrapping his right arm around him in turn. (So, since we have some free time before this new operation of ours commences, and since we're both going to need to be at our best for this, what would you say to some breakfast, and a bit of light sparring?)
(I wouldn't say no, brother.)
Answering Saber's grin with one of his own, Slade unwrapped his arm from Saber's shoulders as his brother did likewise, clasping his younger twin's hand as the two of them made for the cafeteria. They quickly settled down at their usual table, with their usual plates piled high with food, and began methodically to eat.
Once they were finished, Slade took their trays and dishes over to the storage area so they could be washed and used again. Then, he and Saber left in the direction of the gym. Bumping his brother's left shoulder as they fell into step with one another, Slade smiled as Saber clasped his hand again. They made it to the gym without running into anyone who was in their small circle of close friends, something that he was pleased with since he wanted to get in at least some sparring with his brother before the two of them were lead off somewhere by one or more of their fellow Space Knights.
Stripping to his under-shirt while Saber did the same, Slade folded his shirt and vest and hung them over the side of the waist-high wall that bordered the sparring area on one side. Removing his boots, since this was just a friendly spar between brothers, Slade waited until Saber had gotten his own boots neatly outside of the sparring area, Slade took his stance and waited for his brother to make the first move.
Wearing a slight, amused smirk, Saber did just that.
00010010
When she had gone to look for the twins, Star hadn't quite known what she would find them doing, but when she began to hear their voices drifting down the corridors, Star quickly turned to follow them back to their source. She quickly found that the twins had gone to the gym, and when she looked inside she found that the two of them were sparring.
Slade seemed to favor a more aggressive style, attacking his brother head-on and trying to strike him; by contrast, Saber seemed content to wait for his brother to come to him, using Slade's own momentum to slam him into the ground, or just cause him to trip and go sprawling across the floor. It was kind of interesting, she reflected, how their fighting-styles reflected their personalities so well.
Slade was really the more straightforward of the twins, while Saber always seemed to be looking for ways to work around whatever problems he faced.
Finally, the two of them finished their sparring, and Star walked into the gym; she hadn't wanted to distract either of the twins while they were engaged in even this kind of tame, friendly sparring. Waiting until the twins had returned from cleaning themselves up, both of them wearing a new tank-top, Saber with his hands in his pockets and Slade with his left arm around his brother's shoulders, she smiled as she walked over to meet them.
They were talking quietly, their voices low enough that she could only pick up a subdued mutter from their direction. She wasn't going to try listening in, though, since the conversation was more than likely to be private. Waiting again, this time for one of the twins to take notice of her, Star smiled slightly as Saber looked her way.
"Oh, hey Star," he said, smiling at her in that rakish way he sometimes did; she was never quite sure if he was flirting with her or not, but she didn't think he was serious.
Saber wasn't really serious about anything; at least not when it didn't involve the Radam, or someone trying to threaten his brother.
"Good morning, Saber," she said, smiling at him and then shifting her gaze to his brother. "Good morning, Slade." She smiled a bit wider when she said that part, but she didn't think Slade noticed.
Although, if the sly look in his eyes was any indication, Saber noticed it.
"Come on," she said, before Saber could start to think too much about the way she had looked at his brother. "There's something I want you to hear."
"All right," she heard Slade say, after she had turned to lead the twins to the secondary briefing room; the one that was used by the Space Knights in general rather than just Commander Jamison in particular.
They reached the room just as Ringo took the podium at the front of the room.
"All right, you jay birds, knock off the gab and listen up. We've got a lot of ground to cover before we launch."
"Likes to talk, doesn't he?" Slade muttered.
"He's got a lot to talk about," she said, ignoring the expression on Slade's face and the way that Saber rolled his eyes. "He was brilliant in school; he could have done anything, but he joined the Space Knights."
"Make sure you've got your heads on straight out there. We're going to be moving around on the Space Ring; now, the axial rotation of the station itself-"
"I remember this from twenty years ago, last time I was up there," an old man sitting toward the front of the room said, loudly enough that the entire room was able to hear him clearly; even her and the twins, standing just outside the doorway.
"Hey, Pops, you mind? This is important," Ringo said, pointing the man out so there couldn't be any doubt about who he was talking to.
"I know," the old man said, looking up at Ringo as he spoke. "The axial rotation of the Space Ring is what makes the artificial gravity. In the outer sections, you'll feel heavier."
"Yeah," Ringo said; he looked sheepish, scratching his head briefly the way he did when he'd been caught off guard. "So, you were up there twenty years ago, huh? I don't suppose there's anything else you'd like to share with us?"
"Sure," the old man said, rising quickly from his seat to make for the podium; Ringo's dumbfounded expression was obviously amusing the twins, or at least Saber, since he was snickering. Slade's slightly amused "uh-oh" told her that Saber wasn't the only one. He said something in a low tone to Ringo, but she didn't quite catch it. "When you're going into action where you've never been before, it's best to listen to people who have. Now, are there any pilots here?"
"Yes. Uh, me," one of the youngest of the Space Knights in the room, rising out of his seat and standing stiffly at attention. "I'm fully qualified. As a pilot, I mean."
Most of the troopers in the room laughed at him; she thought that it was brave, for someone that young to put himself forward in front of so many people who weren't likely to take him entirely seriously precisely because of the age difference between them.
"Hey, what're you laughing at?" the boy – young man, really – demanded, raising his fists and staring down the people who were laughing at him. "I'm just as good as any of you are. Probably even better!"
Star could still hear some of the disparaging remarks of the older pilots around him, and apparently she wasn't the only one who wasn't entirely pleased: Saber looked annoyed, and Slade had his eyes closed in what she suspected was the same emotion. Both twins sighed, Slade opening his eyes as she glanced back up at Ringo. He was speaking to the old man, smiling slightly as he did, though the words themselves were too quiet for her to hear.
"Good," the old man said, his hand on the young man's right shoulder. "But this isn't going to be a simulation on our video screen, it's the real thing." The old man pushed the young pilot gently back into his chair as he finished speaking.
"I know just how real it is," the young pilot said forcefully, standing back up. "Nothing's going to keep me out of this fight!"
"Son, you've got guts; me, I respect that."
"Yessir," the young pilot said, saluting.
"Still," the old man went on, now clearly speaking to the room at large. "Just having guts isn't going to be enough; we've also got to keep our heads and remember what it is we're doing out there! There's a job to do and we're the ones to do it! Are you with me, men?!"
The room erupted in cheers from the pilots, while Ringo turned away, a hand to his head in obvious exasperation. Both of the twins seemed to find Ringo's predicament funny, though as usual Saber was laughing more openly than Slade.
"And look, here's the young men who are going to be watching our backs today," the old man said; she and the twins looked up, surprised. "Well, don't just stand there, boys! Come on up here."
Looking at the twins, Star saw them glance at each other, shrug, and head into the briefing room. All of the pilots were clapping for them now; Saber was starting to grin, as he waved to them on his way to the front of the room. Slade was, as always, more reserved than his brother, but Star thought she could see a hint of a smile on his otherwise impassive face.
"So, how'd your pep-talk go, Ringo?" Saber asked, smiling wryly at the man in question.
"Real cute, Saber," Ringo said, giving Slade's brother a companionable shove; Saber smirked at him.
"Now," the old man said, drawing the attention of the occupants of the room back to himself. "Just because we're going to have their protection, that's no call for recklessness; I'm sure we all have people we care about here on Earth, and I think that I speak for everyone here when I say that all of them would be devastated if anything happened to you up there. Whether the mission is completed or not, I won't consider it a victory unless every one of us comes back safe and sound!"
There was a rousing cheer in response to that statement, and even Saber joined in with the applause; Slade just smiled and briefly squeezed his brother around the waist.
When Saber stepped up to the podium, the old man stepping back with an expression of interest on his face, Star wondered just what he was going to say. Saber had never seemed to be the type to make speeches; of course, Slade didn't either, since he was always so quiet.
"He's right, you know," Saber said, his gaze sweeping over the assembled pilots. "Just because Slade and I are going to be out there with you, that's no reason to be reckless. My brother and I can't be everywhere at once."
"Well said, Saber."
Star turned, watching as Commander Jamison came striding into the room.
"I certainly hope I'm not interrupting anything," the Commander said, in a tone that indicated he would be genuinely remorseful and apologize if he were, but that he also had important things to do.
"Of course not, Commander," the old man said, stepping back from the podium to allow the Commander to speak if he wanted.
The Commander stopped just short of the podium, however, taking in her, the twins, and Ringo with a single, sweeping look. "If the four of you are finished here, it's time for us to leave."
"Right, sir," she said
They'd come to this part of the Space Knight Command Center to check up on their other pilots, and now that that was done with, it was time for them to return to the main hub of the Command Center and see to their own preparations. Even though they were going to be just one part of a larger campaign, that didn't mean that they could ignore their own preparations. They may not have been fighting alone this time, but that didn't mean they could afford to be careless.
Too many people depended on them for that.
000101000
Opening the door and watching the Wonder Twins climb into the back of the Commander's Jeep, Ringo wasn't surprised to see Star settle herself into the seat next to Slade. She was clearly starting to have feelings for the big lug, something that Saber had also clearly noticed, if the sly, under-the-eyelashes looks he'd been shooting his brother whenever Slade and Star were together and neither of them were looking in his direction were any indication. Settling into the passenger seat as the Commander himself sat down in the driver's seat, Ringo decided that he would have a few words with the kid when they had a few moments alone.
It was probably going to have to wait until after the mission, though; the Wonder Twins were going to have to load up on calories if they were going to be any good in the coming fight, and they always sat together when they ate.
"You'll be primarily a diversionary force," the Commander informed them all. "It won't be easy, but it's crucial to the overall attack."
"No problem," he said, turning to wink over his left shoulder at Saber; the kid grinned back at him. "Piece of cake."
"We'll need to get them to concentrate their defenses on us," Star said, clearly thinking hard about what was going to be happening today.
"Well, that's what they usually do when they see us," Saber said, with a rueful sort of chuckle. "For some reason, none of the Radam seem to like us very much."
Laughing, Ringo almost missed the beginning of what Slade had started saying. "We're a lot better at real fighting than this diversionary stuff," the kid grumbled.
Ringo resisted the urge to reach back and give Saber's brother a good smack upside the head. "Listen, Slade, if you want to be a cowboy, you're going to have to get that Teknobot of yours a saddle."
Saber's laugh and Star's soft chuckle pretty much drowned out the annoyed noise that Slade made, and he grinned. There wasn't anymore conversation as the Commander's Jeep continued on its way back to the main hub of the Command Center, so Ringo just continued to watch the elevated road as it passed by beneath them. It was really kind of ingenious, he thought, the way the group of mesas that made up the Command Center had been linked together by these elevated roadways.
He didn't get much of a chance to see them, not with having to spend so much time in the Command Center's main hub, but every time he did he was struck again by just how much work it must have taken to lay out the roadways that connected each of the Command Center's individual hubs. Not something that could have been done in a day, or even a few weeks; even with the level of technology that humanity had possessed back when the Command Center was being built, it still couldn't have been easy. There wasn't much of a chance of them building something like it again anytime soon; not with all of the damage that the Radam and their army of monsters had done to their infrastructure.
Not to mention the sharp reduction that the Earth's population had been going through ever since the invasion had begun, seven months of near-constant attacks: lasers, Spider-crabs, and Teknomen raining down from the sky had not been good for the general public; what was left of it, anyway.
Sighing at the morbid turn his thoughts had taken, the one they always seemed to take lately, Ringo looked ahead to the Command Center's main hub. They were nearly there, and that meant that this new mission of theirs was just about to get underway. Right after the Wonder Twins got the sustenance they needed to fight at their best, of course.
1010011110
Within the confines of Darkon's damaged ship, under the debris from his crash-landing on the dark side of the Moon, one of the teknopods rippled and bulged outward. Within this teknopod, the Teknoman who had been named Spear opened his covered eyes as his pod burst upon the floor of Darkon's ship. The thickened fluid that had sustained him while he had been undergoing the transformation process evaporated even as it fell to the deck in a sodden mass.
His armor dripping with still-evaporating pseudo-amniotic fluid, Spear rose slowly to his armored, pointed feet. Tilting his head back as his eyes adjusted to the level of light, or rather the lack of it, within this chamber of Lord Darkon's ship, Teknoman Spear took his first deep, full breaths of oxygen. True, it was not the oxygen of the outside world, but it served to clear his lungs of the last of the fluid that had once accumulated within them all the same.
"Spear," the deep, powerful voice of his Warlord echoed through the room.
It was the first time that Spear had heard it in the waking world, and yet the voice was already intimately familiar to him. "Yes, Lord Darkon," he said, his lungs clear of the fluid at last. "I am awake."
"You are the foremost of my warriors," the Warlord- his Warlord, said calmly. "And now your time has come."
"Yes, my Lord," Spear said, bowing his head. Don't worry, little brothers, I'll come for you soon. I won't abandon you on Earth, he hissed through his teeth, bowing low one last time before he left the chamber where he'd been reborn. Not like our father did.
111010010
They were all gathered together inside the Blue Earth again, running through the preliminary checks that they always did when they were about to leave the planet. Saber's hand was on his shoulder, and Slade smiled slightly as he worked. He and Star both reported to Ringo that their systems were green and they were all ready to go.
(Here we go again, brother,) he said, leaning back in his seat and smiling slightly as Saber reached forward to clasp his hand.
(Yeah, here we go,) Saber said; he turned to share a grin with his younger brother.
He was glad that their father had managed to get Saber out; he didn't want to imagine what it would have been like to have his own twin brother fighting for the Radam.
Letting go of Saber's hand as the Blue Earth began to coast up the launch-ramp, Slade closed his eyes as the ship's acceleration pressed him into his seat. He could still feel his younger twin's right hand on his left shoulder, and he smiled. Even the fact that they were going into battle against more of Darkon's forces, and the fact that he had sort of a niggling, weird feeling about today, couldn't get him down. That was good, since there were a lot of people that were directly depending on him and Saber today.
Moreso than usual, at least; both squads, the Space Knights' "Queen Squad" and the AEM's "King Squad", were depending on them to not only keep most of the Spider-crabs off their backs, but to deal with whatever else the Radam in general and Darkon in particular saw fit to throw at them. Slade knew that the warlord still had the rest of his and Saber's family captive inside that ship of his, wherever it had ultimately ended up after Father had shoved him and Saber into that escape pod and blasted them out into deep space, and he also knew that it was only a matter of time before they were forced to face one of their family members in combat. Dealing with Gunnar had been hard enough, though, so Slade tried to keep hoping that this relative quiet would last just a bit longer.
It had been almost like a vacation, only having to fight Spider-crabs; anyone with any experience knew that Teknomen were several orders of magnitude more dangerous.
As the Space Ring was thrown into stark relief against the backdrop of interplanetary space, Slade took a deep breath and let it out slowly. Now wasn't the time to think about the past, and he wouldn't have wanted to think about it even if there was time. The past was pain, or at least theirs was; best if it stayed forgotten.
"Quite a sight, huh guys? All right, let's go to work." Ringo said, drawing Slade's focus away from thoughts about his and Saber's shared past. They were now staring at the Radam hive that had been made aboard the Ring, the place where pretty much all of the power that Darkon's forces had been bringing to bear against the people of Earth was coming from. It looked like some kind of hideous, oversized hornet's nest; Slade thought it was appropriate.
"Right," he said, rising from his seat as he heard Saber doing the same. "Time to do some damage, little brother."
"Right with you, big brother," Saber said with a laugh.
Passing his younger twin as the both of them made for the main air lock, Slade put aside all of the misgivings and dark musings he'd been mulling over. Now wasn't the time for them; he and Saber had work to do. He could hear the sounds of the machinery whirring as Pegas was brought up into the upper area of the air lock.
"Pegas, power on!"
"Tekno-power!"
Leaping into Pegas' interlock-chamber even as Saber was surrounded by the bright blue light of his own transformation, Slade felt the familiar rush of energy, as well as the muted sensation of movement as Pegas was launched into space. Fully transformed, he waited a few seconds for Pegas to eject him, then quickly caught up with Saber as his brother landed on Pegas' back behind him.
(Well, here we are, brother; back on the front-lines as usual,) Saber said.
(You nervous? That's not like you,) he teased.
(Whoever said anything about being nervous?) Saber shot back. (It's just a bunch of Spider-crabs, big brother. I eat Spider-crabs for breakfast.)
(I hope you don't mean that literally.)
Laughing as Saber gave a brotherly shove, Slade turned his attention back to the job that he and Saber had been assigned. It might have been just a diversionary tactic this time, but the Commander had said that their part was just as important as any of the others; maybe not in so many words, but he'd long since learned that he could trust the man to have their best interests at heart. Unlike that bastard General Gault, Commander Jamison wasn't the type to send the Space Knights into danger unless he had to.
"All right, everyone," he said, transmitting to both Pegas and Saber. "We've got work to do."
As if on cue, a large swarm of Spider-crabs came racing out of the Space Ring, moving quickly to intercept them.
(Meet up with you in a bit, brother,) Saber said; Slade looked back over his shoulder as Saber jumped off of Pegas and darted off at a right-angle to the swarm.
(Right; see you then, brother,) he said, spinning his lance to deflect a spray of Spider-crab venom that had been aimed at his head.
Slaughtering his way through the Spider-crabs that were trying to hem him and Pegas in, Slade growled deep in his throat. He knew what their plan was now, but the infuriating thing was how well it could work. Still, that didn't mean he had to play along; not when he understood Darkon's plan.
(Saber, they're trying to slow us down,) he called, as his younger twin swept past the now-much-diminished swarm, his teknolance almost a blur as he hacked, slashed, and carved his way through them. (Meet back up with me and Pegas; we have to get into the Space Ring or we're not going to do much good during the operation.)
(Right, brother,) Saber said, breaking off from the remaining Spider-crabs and flying back to land on Pegas with him.
"Pegas, head for the station's upper-platform!" he ordered, then he had an idea. (Saber, stand back-to-back with me; hold your lancer at an angle to mine,) he said, trying to project a mental image of what he had in mind while he listened with half an ear to Pegas' acknowledgement.
(Got it, brother; good idea.)
(I have my moments,) he said, with a slight smirk.
(Not many of them, but you do have them.)
(Wiseass,) he said, rolling his eyes briefly, even as he began to spin his teknolance in concert with his younger brother's.
They plowed through the remaining Spider-crabs like a lethal wedge of whirling, high-speed steel, but unfortunately new ones came to replace the ones that had died almost immediately. Grumbling slightly as Saber sighed, Slade decided on their next course of action quickly.
"Pegas, battle-mode!" he ordered, leaping off the back of the back of the mecha and tugging Saber off with him.
"Tekno-power battle-mode!" he and Saber shouted together, and he felt his armor begin to fold down into its more streamlined, dynamic configuration.
As the energies almost exploded out of him, forming a corona of bright, green light around him, he landed on Pegas as the mech swept under him. Saber's own livid blue energy blended with what was being put out by him and Pegas, and the Spider-crabs were obliterated in their wake. The space in front of them was clear, but since he didn't know how long that was going to last, he ordered Pegas to move faster.
The Space Ring loomed ever closer as he, Pegas, and Saber cleared the remaining distance, and Slade could already see the Spider-crabs that were beginning to mass into another swarm to try to keep them outside. Checking both sides, and taking a moment to calculate their respective speeds, Slade realized that it was going to come down to a matter of a couple of feet between the three of them and that new swarm.
(Hold on tight, little brother, things are about to get interesting.) "Pegas, full-throttle!"
"Affirmative."
Laying his hand on both of Saber's, since his younger twin had wrapped both of his arms around his waist, Slade prepared to move. There wasn't really anywhere he could get inside, at least not without being a little creative about things. Still, it wasn't like that was any bad thing.
"Pegas, fire blasters!" Pegas' lasers ripped into the armored wall of the Radam's hive-construct, and Slade smiled slightly. "All right, Pegas, take us inside!"
They flew inside the Radam's hive, and Slade was only mildly surprised to find that the inside of it was festooned with growths that actually made it look like a hive. From the information that the Radam had forced into his mind, he knew that this was most likely some kind of a breeding chamber for the Spider-crabs. He wondered, for a brief, fleeting moment, just where the new Teknomen that the Radam would try to create would come from.
Then the swarm of Spider-crabs that had been chasing them caught up then, and they were quickly joined by another, smaller swarm from inside the hive itself.
"Look, brother, it's the un-welcoming committee," Saber said cheerfully, and Slade felt his younger brother moving slightly back and away from him.
"Yeah," he chuckled. "I think we should go greet them."
"Yes, I think you're right," Saber said, and out of the corner of his eye Slade saw his younger brother go charging into battle with the swarm of Spider-crabs that had just showed up from within the Space Ring.
(Oh sure, take the easy job,) he teased, raising his teknolance as he turned Pegas to confront the larger swarm of Spider-crabs that were beginning to come in through the hole that he had just made in their hive.
(Far be it from me to horn in on your fun, big brother.)
Rolling his eyes, Slade headed into the midst of the swarm to deal with them.
1101001011
Watching the monitors that had been trained on the twins, Star continued to pray quietly for their safety. She knew that they were both incredibly powerful fighters, and probably the only ones who had any real chance against the Radam and their horrible Spider-crabs, but she still couldn't help worrying about them. Slade and Saber were still both very human under that armor of theirs; they could be hurt not only physically but emotionally, though neither of them was quite the type to let anyone know about the latter.
That was why she made it a point to watch them carefully; well, that was why she made it a point to watch out for Saber, at least.
"Queen Leader, Queen Leader. You are to proceed to reinforce King Leader at once, move out!"
The transmission from Military Command brought her awareness sharply back to the present; back to the operation that all of them were a part of. However, she couldn't obey the order that she had just been given; not without leaving the twins in more danger than they already were facing from Darkon's Spider-crabs.
"Command Center, this is Queen Leader," she transmitted back. "We can not, repeat not, get to King Leader to help!" Sighing as General Gault tried to order her to pick them up, she cut the transmission and contacted the people she knew would be able to do something about the trouble that King Squad was so obviously in. "Saber, Slade; King Squad is in danger," she informed them over the comm. "Do you think one of you could go help them?"
There was a yell transmitted over the comm., one that sounded like Saber was going through a particularly thick knot of Spider-crabs headfirst, and then Slade called out to his brother and the both of their voices began to overlap. There was another half-minute of battlecries from the twins, and then the channel fell silent except for the sound of their heavy breathing.
"Star?" Slade asked, seeming to have noticed the open comm. channel at last. "Is something wrong? Why did you contact us?"
"I wanted to know if one of you would be able to go and help King Squad," Star said, though she was starting to suspect that neither of them would be able to. "They've run into some steep odds, and it sounds like they're in trouble."
"Hold that thought for a minute," Slade said, sounding distracted; the shrieks of approaching Spider-crabs let her know just what it was that Slade had been so distracted by.
With the comm. un-muted, she clearly heard the shouts, taunts, and battlecries of the twins as they engaged the latest swarm of Spider-crabs that were trying to attack them. When the latest batch of Spider-crabs were as dead as the last one, Star sighed. She couldn't ask either of the twins to abandon their own sibling to this kind of horror; they were all in danger here, and the situation couldn't be helped.
She would just have to hope that King Squad could hold out on their own.
"What was that you wanted to ask us?" Slade asked again. "Sorry; things got a bit hairy here. We were distracted."
"It was nothing," she said, trying to sound calm. "I just wanted to know how you two were doing. Remember: we're all on a deadline here."
"We'll keep that in mind," Saber said, chuckling softly. "Thanks for the heads-up."
Deactivating the comm., she spared a hope that King Squad would be all right when they all pulled back to return to Earth.
"Brace yourself, Star," Ringo said, sounding almost bored by now. "Here comes another wave."
"Right," she said, bracing herself against the bucking and jolting of the Blue Earth as they maneuvered out of the way of more of the Spider-crabs that had been sent out to attack them. "I'll check in with Military Command."
"Go for it," Ringo said, clearly absorbed in aiming and firing and aiming again at the Spider-crabs all around them.
"Command, Queen Squad is still on station," she said, as the Blue Earth made another tight, looping turn. "What's Operation Status? Joker deadline is in ten minutes!"
Another person, this one transmitting on another channel, cut her off from Military Command, and Star was left to wonder just what was going on. Ringo was doing a good job of keeping the Spider-crabs off their backs, but the clock was still running. Three clocks, really: one for Operation Joker itself, and the two counting down over Slade and Saber's heads.
"What's our current status?" Star demanded, when the airwaves cleared and she was able to get through to Military Command again. "We're running out of time!"
"Hold on, Queen Leader," the AEM's radio operator said. "What are your orders, General?"
"Send Queen to pick up King," she heard General Gault say flatly.
"We can't go pick up King!" she shouted; even the twins were being overwhelmed by these odds, there was no way that she and Ringo would be able to make it to King Squad.
"We're bottled up out here," Ringo informed Military Command over the still-open comm. as he continued to evade and shoot down the Spider-crabs attacking them. "We'd never make it to 'em. Where are those kids of ours?"
"Still somewhere inside the Ring," she said, quickly cutting her connection to Military Command and connecting to Pegas' comm. unit. "Slade! Saber! Hurry! Only six minutes to Joker!"
Her heart was pounding, and it was all Star could do to make herself sit back down and breathe deeply. She'd be no good to anyone if she lost consciousness here and now. Still, everything was just so tense.
0010010010
(Saber, pull back! It's almost time for the big finish!)
(Right, brother!) he called back, slamming his teknolance into the head of the last Spider-crab in his way and jetting off to meet with Slade on top of Pegas.
"Pegas, get us outta here!" he heard Slade shout, and wrapped his arms around Slade's waist as Pegas' rocket-boosters kicked them back out through the hole that he'd blown in the Space Ring. (Any second now,) he heard Slade say, and turned to look back over his shoulder at the Space Ring.
Sure enough, once they'd managed to clear the last stretch between them and open space, he saw the far-off flares of the exploding generators nearest to them. Breathing a sigh of relief, Saber squeezed his brother gently. (Well, now that the fireworks are over, what's say we head back to the Blue Earth? I don't know about you, brother, but I think I could use a nap after all that excitement.)
(You won't hear any argument from me, brother,) Slade said, chuckling softly as he guided Pegas back toward their rendezvous point with their fellow Space Knights.
He was spent, and as he rested his head on Slade's back and let his brother's giant robot carry them back to their spaceship, he reflected that it was a good thing only twenty-two minutes had passed since they'd set out on this mission of theirs. He and Slade had discussed it, during the lulls in combat where they could exchange more than just a few, hurried shouts with one another, and they had eventually come to the conclusion that, while Slade couldn't risk staying transformed for more than thirty minutes or he would end up going over to the Radam, he himself couldn't even stay transformed for that long. He thought it might have had something to do with the crack in his teknocrystal from back when Gunnar had set that little trap of his.
Slade had been worried about what the long-term effects of the damage to his crystal could be, and Saber had ended up promising to at least let his brother take a look at his crystal before he used it in combat again. He wasn't really worried, since the only effect that the damage seemed to have on him was the fact that he couldn't maintain his transformation for more than twenty-five minutes. Still, if it would make Slade feel better to check the damage for himself, then he would let his dearest Blessed Protector do what came naturally to him.
When they came back into sight of the Blue Earth at last, he smiled tiredly and felt Slade gently pat the side of his helmet.
(Don't worry, little brother,) Slade said calmly, his tone kind. (I'll have us back onboard in no time.)
(Thanks; that's good to hear, big brother,) he said, closing his eyes briefly; it was good to be here, safe with his brother by his side.
0100100001
The insects had flown into his protectorate, attacking Lord Darkon's Spider-crabs the way they always seemed to be doing, and he had been dispatched to deal with them. While he honestly would have preferred to be searching for his wayward little brothers, to bring them back into Lord Darkon's fold where they belonged, he had his duties like any loyal servant of the Empire. And he was a loyal servant of the Empire, of course.
Strange, he mused, as he threw his lancer into and through one of the human's spacecraft, detonating it in his wake. I would have thought they would still be here; I sensed them in this area. Could they have left already?
The answer to that question seemed to be yes, and as he hunted down the remaining human spacecraft and dealt with them, Spear felt a swell of disappointment. He had been so hoping that he would be able to meet up with Ness and Cain again, to speak to them and to be able to take them back to Lord Darkon's ship where they would have been able to complete the transformations that they had not been able to. I suppose I have our father to thank for that, Spear thought, hissing between his teeth.
Throwing his lancer at the last ship with a bit more force than was strictly necessary, he directed the mount that Lord Darkon had bred for him as a counter to the combat mech that the humans had built for Slade to make another sweep of the area. It wouldn't do, after all, to leave any of the humans alive to cause trouble. Catching his lancer with his retrieval-line, Spear opened his mind and tried to sense where his little brothers were.
After all, humans didn't require much of his attention; his little brothers, on the other hand, were precious to him.
11001001011
When they'd gotten settled aboard the Blue Earth, with Saber a bit groggy but still awake enough to walk back into the cockpit with a bit of help, Slade breathed more easily. He'd actually felt safe for a few moments, right up until the sense of someone trying to search for them telepathically washed over him. Someone familiar.
"What went wrong out there, Slade? What happened?" Ringo asked, in response to his fist slamming into the controls for the comm. unit.
"Darkon has sent another Teknoman to replace Gunnar," he growled, then slumped back into his seat; he'd actually been stupid enough to hope that that damned Radam Warlord wouldn't be sending out another of them.
To hope that he and Saber wouldn't have to face any more of the people who had once meant so much to them. God, I am such an idiot, he snarled mentally, walling his mind off from Saber so that he wouldn't disturb his brother. Saber had fallen asleep in his seat, and Slade wasn't going to be the one to wake him up.
"Another one?" Star asked, her tone curious but kind. "Who is it?"
"Doesn't matter who it is," Ringo said, cutting into his thoughts before he could say anything harsh in response to Star's query. "Whoever it is, you and Saber'll take care of him, like you took care of Gunnar."
I hope you're right, Ringo, he mused, blocking his thoughts off from Saber even as he turned around to look at the slumbering form of his younger twin. I hope you're right.
1110100100
I suppose I'll meet up with you back on Earth, then, little brothers, Spear mused, as he watched the planet itself, hanging placidly "below" him. All of the humans in the spacecraft he had encountered were dead, their spacecraft shredded almost beyond recognition by the detonation of their engines, and he knew that he should really return to Lord Darkon's ship to make his report, but he stayed for a few more moments to make a final promise.
I'll come for you soon, my dear little brothers; you won't be alone on Earth forever. He smiled slightly. After all, family members should stay together; and you are my younger brothers.
