TCSS _Ithaca_, High Earth orbit, 2300 Station time
"Ensign Hutchence, report to Zeta labs. Ensign Hutchence, report to Zeta labs." The sound of the station's PA system filtered down through the purple and green clouds of Hutchie's consciousness. His annoyance at being disturbed evaporated as he realized that his new super-dee-duper special friend Barney didn't like people who weren't happy. He had joined the Gee-Hawd a few months ago because Barney had asked him to spy on them and, if possible, steal their weapons so his Purple Tech Team could see how they worked and make better ones for his special friends. By a stroke of Barney-given good luck, he'd been assigned to TRES Corps Space Station _Ithaca,_ where Barney had told him one of the biggestest research labs was located. He'd tried to go there once, but he'd been sent back by two meanie guards before he'd gotten halfway.
And now he was being asked to go there. Who knew what he could steal while he was there?
Dressing as quickly as possible, with only a few false tries at tying his shoelaces, he rushed off through the gunmetal-gray corridors.
15 minutes later he paused before the door marked with the symbols of Zeta R&D - the silhouette of a brain, framed by two sabers and a socket wrench. Below it was a warning sign:
Before he could wonder about the meaning of that, the door slid open noiselessly. One of the two guards behind it moved in front of him as he stepped forward.
"Your ID please, Ensign," the guard said, holding out his hand. Hutchie took out his card and handed it to the guard, who looked it over, logged it and handed it back.
"You're expected. Third door to the left - watch the explosions."
Not much encouraged by that comment, Hutchie walked onward, looking around. He quickly came to one conclusion: Whatever Zeta was working on, it wasn't interior decorations. Most of the other sections in the station still looked unfinished to some degree, but here it looked like no one was planning on *starting* anytime soon. Some wall panels were still unsealed, exposing the power conduits underneath, entire sections of carpeting were missing and loops of cables hung down from the ceiling, where they hadn't been secured or covered yet. Hutchie didn't like the coloring, either - more of that silvery gray, with deep blue lines along edges. He walked quickly through the corridor, stopping at the third door and knocking.
"Come in, come in. I haven't got all day." An annoyed man with long hair and a set of protective goggles, wearing a white lab coat, walked up to him.
"So you're the one who put in for a position as test pilot. Hutchence, wasn't it?"
Not waiting for an answer, the scientist looked him up and down.
"Hmm. You'll fit. Good. Come this way."
Again before Hutchie could put in an answer, the scientist turned around and walked off through a doorway at a brisk pace. Stumbling a bit, Hutchie hurried after him.
The testing room was _big._ The ceiling was at least ten meters away, and a football field could have rolled over in the floor area. Shrapnel and debris littered large areas around several mock-ups of Barney, as well as Baby Bop and BJ. Hutchie's throat constricted as realization sank in: people used this room to learn how to shoot at his bestest friend in the whole world! How could they? How dare they? His eyes started brimming with tears, but he forced them back. He'd show all these meanies.
"Hey! Give me a hand here!"
Hutchie turned around to see the scientist struggle with a human-shaped doll. No, it was a suit of armor. Walking over, he grabbed one of the suit's arms while the scientist shifted his grip to the other, and together they hauled it to the center of the room, where the scientist opened it up and nodded to Hutchie.
"Okay, in you go."
While Hutchie was struggling to get into the suit, Rens pulled out a pocket recorder.
"R&D log, August 12th 1997. Project name: Nighthawk-class battlesuit. Rens Houben recording. We believe we have found and fixed all the design flaws we're capable of finding without post-combat analysis of a working model. To this end, one prototype has been built, testing of which begins today. The suit will be piloted by Ensign Hutchence, and a full recording of the test run will be appended to this log. End log entry."
Rens switched the recorder off and turned to Hutchie, who had managed to crawl inside the armor and power it up.
"Okay, we'll start off simple. When I give the word, move into the battle zone and try and destroy everything as quickly as possible. Try to remember that the suit was designed for speed and firepower, and you should be okay.
"Ready? GO!!"
Hutchie rushed forward. As soon as he crossed the red lines marking the danger zone, the dummies and practice drones powered up and started attacking. The suit's HUD immediately flashed an analysis of the battle.
[Targets:
50
Hutchie dove to the left, neatly dodging the incoming laser blasts. Targeting the nearest cluster of enemies, he powered up the laser cannon in the suit's left arm. Rolling back to his feet, he took aim, gunning down the five purple-clad dummies nearest to him before engaging the jump jets and launching himself into the air.
The suit somersaulted and landed directly behind one of the battle drones. Twin Jihaddium blades extended from the suit's upper arms, and Hutchie ran the drone through before rushing the next one and gutting it, too.
[Targets:
45
Whirling and firing, dodging and weaving, Hutchie worked his way through the entire area, never remaining in one spot long enough to present a target to the various drones. At one point the crossfire got too heavy for him to dodge, and a blast hit him in the shoulder. Whirling around, Hutchie fired his left arm cannon and reduced the offending drone to shrapnel.
[Damage:
Hutchie fired the jump jets again, moving away from the nearest cluster of drones.
Rens stood outside the combat zone, making notes on what to improve in the next model, when the comm next to him beeped. He hit the switch without taking his attention off the fighting.
"t'Kharn here."
"Hello, lizard-boy," came the voice from the speaker.
Rens sighed. Plugging Dan Wood's AI core into the starbase's majordomo system had seemed like a good idea at the time, but could be a bit trying at times...
"What is it, Dan?"
"You've got a message from Councillor Kline of the Verthandic Rangers. It sounded kinda urgent."
"Nexx? What's the matter?"
"How should I know? I'm not authorized to access your messages..." Dan replied.
Rens nodded. "I'll take it in my office." Hitting the switch that disabled all active drones, he said, "Thank you, Ensign, that'll be all for today. End simulation and let's get you out of that suit."
The suit walked towards him. When it reached a distance of a few meters, it stopped and extended it's arm blades.
"You aren't going anywhere, Gee-Haw-Dee meanie! I'm taking this suit back to Lord Barney!"
Hutchie started stalking forward and continued in what he hoped was a low and menacing voice, but what came out as a pouting, Stryfe-like whine, "...and you won't be in any position to stop me."
Rens tried to hide a grin. "Probably not..."
Hutchie smiled a fierce smile as he raised his blade and ran the meanie through, ripping out his internals.
Tried to raise his blade, to be exact. The suit's actuators all locked up simultaneously, leaving him frozen in mid-move.
Rens grinned at him. "Now Dan, on the other hand, has his metaphorical hands on the metaphorical override switch. Now, if you'll excuse me, I've got to go.
"Dan, could you call security and keep our friend here occupied until they arrive to pry him out of that suit and into the brig?"
"No problem."
As Rens passed through the door, he heard Dan intone, "Now, what dance steps do you know?"
As the door closed the unwitting minion in the suit snickered mildly. <What could a program do to me? Zap me in the kneecaps?>
Realization hit Hutchie the moment the opening noises of the Macarena started blaring at full volume. "Y'know, I should really turn this down, you appear to be in pain," Dan stated as the minion gnashed its teeth.
"I know, I'll just raid some of Sir Chuckles' CD collection. What are your feelings about _For Whom The Bell Tolls?_"
Rens walked into his office, taking off his lab coat and throwing it in the general direction of its peg below the 2x4 Escher poster. It hovered in mid-air for a second, then draped itself neatly over the peg. The answering machine switched itself on as Rens walked around his desk and sat down.
"If this is Domino's Pizza, then you've heard the order correctly. Twelve pepperoni, four quattro stagioni and a double special - no anchovies. Deliver to the toolshed outside town, and don't be late. If this isn't, please leave a message after the beep and I'll keep a slice warm for you. [Beep]"
{I still don't see why you think that's funny.}
*I don't.*
{Then why do you insist on making anyone who calls you listen to that message until they go nuts...} Shadur's mental voice trailed off. {Ah. I see.}
Rens only grinned, but his smile died as he heard what Nexx had to say.
"Shad, Kat's been kidnapped, they've taken her to Marraketh so VR is going on a search and rescue. Let the right people know, okay? Just in case..." her voice trailed off. "Bye." The message ended.
*Holy shit...I/we've got to help her.*
{Not to put too fine a point on it, but how were you planning on getting down from here any time soon? Next scheduled shuttle isn't until tomorrow, remember?}
*Who said anything about taking a shuttle?*
{Well, how _are_ you planning on getting down?}
*Like this. [complicated image]*
Shadur was struck speechless for a minute.
{You can't be serious...}
*Why not? I'm pretty sure it'll work. Scared?*
{SCARED? ME??}
*Fine. That's settled, then.*
Rens ignored the half-hearted sputtering of his partner. Half-hearted, because neither of them could ignore a friend in need any more than water could run uphill. Standing up, he grabbed the duffel bag hanging beside the coat and checked its contents, adding anything he felt he might need. Walking out, he paused before a display case that contained a set of crystals, apparently suspended in mid-air. Pressing a stud on the case caused the display to slide aside and reveal a hidden compartment containing an oblong wooden case about the size of a violin. Rens mulled it over, then stuffed it into the bag and walked out into the hallway to the elevators.
"Shuttlebay, deck 57." Rens said as the elevator doors slid shut behind him, then looked up. "Dan?"
"Yah? Lemme guess, you're going after kats and you want me to pass the message on to Minty and the Plant."
"That, and give VR-HQ a call to have a farcaster portal open when I get there."
"And when will that be?"
"You're the one with enough online computing power to crack 128-bit codes in a matter of seconds, you work it out. By the way, better cancel my schedule for the foreseeable time as well. I'm sure you can handle it."
"Betcha. And Shad?"
"Hmm?"
"Good luck."
Main shuttle bay, _Ithaca,_ 0100 station time
{I still think this is a crazy idea,} Shadur muttered as Rens disrobed, stuffing his clothes in the duffel bag.
*If you have any better ideas, now would be a good time,* Rens retorted as he finished packing his clothes and stood up.
Rens' shadow moved of its own accord, wrapping itself around his body and then expanding as if flowing outward to fit a new mold. A few seconds later, a 15 foot high, jet-black dragon stood in the otherwise empty bay. Tapping the console next to him with an onyx claw, Shadur opened the bay doors, then walked toward the forcefield holding the station's atmosphere inside against the cold vacuum of space. The blue-and-white orb of the Earth floated just outside, seemingly so close and yet so far away.
Shadur looked around to the console, and at the duffel bag beside it. It floated up into the air and flew towards him of its own accord.
{Well,} Shadur muttered as he secured the bag on his back, {Here goes nada.}
A tendril of telekinetic force flicked a switch on the console and caused several things to happen: 1) the ambient lights went from a pleasant white to a strobing angry red; 2) alert klaxons started blaring in warning; and, most importantly, 3) the force field dropped away, causing the bay to explosively decompress and blasting everything not attached to the station out into space.
In this case, "everything not attached to the station" included one dragon.
*HIKEEBAAAAAAAAAAA!* Rens yodeled as the force of the decompression blew them forward, at a respectable speed of several kilometers per second, towards Earth.
A country road outside Alamosa, 2230 MST
"Derek, look! A falling star!" Ashley pointed at the starry sky, where a fiery trail streaked east across the dome of the night.
Derek looked up. "Yeah, it's real pretty, Ash. You get to make a wish, too - what the fuck?"
The couple stared in speechless astonishment as the trail seemed to change direction on a dime, heading southwest before vanishing altogether.
About 26 miles above sea level, a blob of shadow shot toward Blanca Mountain, descending rapidly towards the headquarters of the Verthandic Rangers.
To be continued...