This is the FF.Net Published Version. For those browsing through the blog archives… what is wrong with you? Use the Fanfiction Index to properly follow these drafts rather than getting mixed up.
Disclaimer: The author of this piece would like to state that 90% of the characters featured here are properties of BVS Entertainment Inc and not that of the author. 10% of the characters featured here are original creations of the author. Also, Windows is owned by Microsoft.
On a side note: Sorry for the delay. The next episode will be up in a few days.
-o-
In a desert backdrop, a sole black hummer can be sighted racing at incredible speeds, causing sand to fly out from under the vehicle. The hummer would soon approach a rock formation and stopped about a mile away. The passenger door opened and out stepped Wes Collins carrying a shotgun. He turned his head to the other side of the vehicle to see his friend and partner Eric Myers, also carrying a shotgun, climbing out of the other side. Both looked at the rock formation ahead of them, knowing the path ahead will not be an easy one.
After a brief moment of silence, Wes spoke with a light tone, “Let’s go.”
-o-
Damn, Carter Grayson thought to himself as he stared blankly at a monitor screen with various figures, why did they change to a new OS?
Accessing the archives was a difficult process because Lightspeed had opted to dump its traditional Windows operating system (the same 98 version they’ve been using since Lightspeed’s inception six years ago) with a new one of their design. This new system had so many new algorithms and coding techniques that it made hacking anywhere from very difficult to virtually impossible depending on the files you were trying to access. The archives, Carter noted, are normally un-protected so that it would be quicker to access.
But when Carter called up for files on the Wraith, he couldn’t get through. Every time he attempted to open up the Wraith files, he was met with a ERROR – ACCESS NOT ALLOWED message. He tried entering his access code, but the system would not give. Carter cursed himself silently as the machine started taunting him with the ERROR – ACCESS NOT ALLOWED message. Carter knew he would have to search for the right code to open those “restricted” files, but he was presented with another dilemma; why would anyone keep him from accessing the Wraith files?
Realizing a plan, he pressed a button on his comm system. “Reno,” he said in a tone suited for an executive officer, “I can’t access the Wraith files. Could you help me with this?”
“Sure,” a rugged voice blurted over the speaker, “I’m on my way.” -*-
Carter stared at the monitor for a moment until he noticed Reno through the window. The door opened at Carter’s command. Walking in was a tall man in his mid-30s, wearing a green shirt with blue pants. He had the look of a bodybuilder and the intelligence of a genius. Some people referred to Reno as the miracle man of Lightspeed since his induction into service two years ago.
Reno saluted Carter (with Carter returning the salute) and approached the system. “Something wrong, sir?” he asked in his usual rugged tone.
Carter turned to look at Reno’s face. “You do realize that anything we do or say comes out of this room?” he asked in a stern voice.
Reno looked back at Carter with a confused expression. He took a breath and stated, “I have no idea what you’re talking about, sir.”
Both men let out devilish grins; in the years that Carter served as commander, Reno had been the former Lightspeed Ranger’s trusted friend and confidant, a role he takes very seriously. Out of all the Lightspeed officials and non-Rangers that Carter has worked with, Reno has been the one to help out with various paperwork and other things that are required of a commander.
Carter pointed at the screen, specifically at the locked Wraith files. “So what do you make of this?”
“Looks like a standard Level-2 clearance file,” Reno answered lightly at he studied the statistics, “so you should be able to access it.”
“Except I can’t,” Carter said impatiently, “and no matter what I do, I can’t seem to override it because of this damned system.”
Carter stood and offered the chair to Reno, who accepted by sitting down. Reno was typing on the keyboard, trying every code that he knows. “This may take awhile, sir,” he bemused, “you may want to sit down.”
-o-
The Astro Megaship has seen better days, Andros thought to himself.
As Andros surveyed the halls of the ship, he could see panels laying around along with various bits of debris. On the up side, the ship had been repaired to the point where it can operate under its own power, but it still required some repair work, specifically in restore lost systems like weapons and shields.
After Cogs finished installing a workable drive, Aradon’s flagship escorted the Rangers to KO-35, where a team of mechanics and technicians would continue to refit the ship. Zhane decided to overlook refit while Andros and TJ stayed with Aradon to discuss battle strategies concerning the Wraith planet-killer.
Unfortunately, no method was developed in tracking its whereabouts, only the trail of asteroid fields that fill the void of rogue planets. After some time, a conclusion was developed by TJ. “Noticed how this thing is going after wasteland planets?” he asked, “with the occasional living world?”
Aradon nodded his head slowly. “It is somewhat of a pattern,” he stated matter-of-factly, “however, that doesn’t help us with finding the Wraith.”
Suddenly, sirens sounded and cogs were seen rushing towards battle positions. The bright white lights dimmed and started to pulsate in a red haze. Andros and TJ stood up looking around at the chaos occurring in the ship. “What’s going on?” the Red Space Ranger asked.
“Trouble” was Aradon’s brief and self-explanatory answer.
-o-
A regular debriefing for former Wild Force Ranger Taylor concerning her involvement in the recovery of survivors in the Mariner Bay incident was nothing special; the usual debriefing procedure that is common with most military forces. She saluted her officials, packed her bags, and left the base in her yellow Jeep, ready to take advantage of her leave.
Riding by the clean Turtle Cove beaches, she contemplated several things; Chad, the Ranger that was uncovered in the debris, was a close friend to the commander, who himself was one. She thought of the time she met Eric and how they acquainted with each other… hard to believe these two met due to a speeding violation. And then she thought of her other Ranger friends. She had not seen them in a long time and sometimes worry about them, despite her somewhat cold exterior.
After riding around the streets for a while, Taylor headed home for a much-needed rest. She couldn’t contribute anything else when she was a Ranger, let alone tired.
-o-
“Man,” Wes Collins complained, “you’d think he’d warn us about the heat!”
Eric Myers looked back at his friend, now wearing nothing but a black T-shirt and underpants, and couldn’t help but laugh at Wes’ expense. “Relax,” he comforted mockingly, “as soon as I find a nice sombrero, I’ll let you have it.”
Wes snorted, embarrassed at himself.
Some time later, the two came across a strange formation of rocks. Looking up, they noticed a structure of unknown origin. The structure seems to be in ruins but from their current position, the Silver Guardian/Time Force Rangers couldn’t tell for sure.
“Since we’re close,” Eric announced, “maybe we should take five.”
Wes nodded in agreement and slumped on the ground while Eric sat down. He then pulled out two pocket-sized silver bags, toss one to Eric, and opened it up. Eric stared at his package for a moment and opened his as well. The package is actually a food ration and contained nothing more than various dried banana slices, cracker crumbs, and other dehydrated crumbs. Wes took a pitch of the contents and dropped them in his mouth while Eric consumed the contents from the bag as he would a drink.
“Nothing like crumbs to fill your batteries, right?” Wes asked jokingly.
Eric didn’t answer, but didn’t ignore his partner either.
Wes’ smile faded and decided to bring up another subject. “So I heard you and Taylor had a date last week.”
Eric looked at his friend as if he was disillusioned. “I don’t believe a visit to the Weapons Museum is considered a ‘date,’ Wes.” he groaned in depression. Noticing his friend eyeing on him, he surrendered his confidentiality. “It went okay,” he said matter-of-factly.
Wes waited for Eric to answer, but nothing. “That’s it?” Wes asked with mock impatience, “It went okay? That’s all you have to say.”
Eric looked up at Wes’ disbelieving face and grinned devilishly. He then announced with triumph, “It’s more than you need to know.” The response was Wes moaning and Eric felt satisfied with himself. “Okay, stop crying,” Eric told him, “we have work to do.”
-o-
The main viewer showed a cross-shaped vessel practically the same size as Aradon’s battlecruiser. The vessel was commonly operated by rogue pirates that served under the banner of the former Alliance.
The bridge of the battlecruiser filled with cogs and infantry-cogs going back and forth, prepping the ship for combat. After reaching weapons range, the cruiser fired its disruptor cannons at the stern of the pirate cruiser. The bright orange energy beams were blocked by a greenish energy field. The pirate ship managed a burst of energy torpedoes directed at the battlecruiser’s engine, but the torpedoes missed their mark, allowing the battlecruiser to fire two more disruptor beams at the pirate vessel, blocking the beams with their shield.
In the tactical center of the ship, Aradon was barking orders to cogs while the two Rangers watched from the sidelines. They were willing to help, but since they don’t know much about the new Machine tech, they opted to stay out of the way until they were needed. Aradon watched the display screen, showing the pirate cruiser launching small fighter craft. They seemed like the new streamlined Velocifighters, except they were moving at a high speed and were firing pulse weapons.
Noticing this, Aradon turned to the two humans. “I assume you know how to pilot a fighter?”
Both nodded.
“Good,” Aradon said, “then get onto Quadrafighters and give us a hand.”
-o-
After a slow and steady climb, Wes Collins and Eric Myers reached the top to survey the strange structure. As it turned out, the structure seems to be recently built. It’s strange because just several minutes prior, the structure was in ruin. Wes and Eric stared at each other for a moment before approaching the nearest wall. On the wall were some designs, not necessarily engraved, but as if it was drawn with charcoal. Wes rubbed off a part of the design and inspected his fingers to find them covered with charcoal.
“I guess this is it,” Wes concluded, “call Tom. Tell him we found it.”
Eric pulled out his cell phone, touched a few buttons, and waited for a signal. On the other line, Thomas Oliver answered with a slight hint of a depressive tone. “Hello?”
Eric noticed the depression on the other side of the line, “You okay?”
Thomas stated it bluntly, “I got my ass handed. What’s up?”
Eric paused for a moment, looking at the structure that had finished forming itself, before answering, “I think we’ve found your wrecked ‘command center…'”
No answer on the other line. Eric probably assumed he lost the signal, but checked that the timer was still going. Finally, Thomas spoke, albeit with a hint of uncertainty, “Are you sure?”
Eric looked around once more before responding awkwardly, “I guess.”
“Okay,” Thomas said, still uncertain, “I’m on my way.”
-o-
The pirate Velocifighters came in swarms, shooting down Quadrafighters with their missiles and using pulse weapons to weaken the Machine battlecruiser’s shields. In the cockpit of one of the Quadrafighters, Andros checked for a weak point in the pirate cruiser’s defenses. Noticing a nearby Velocifighter, Andros veered his fighter for a collision course. At a decent range, he fired the Quadrafighter’s plasma rings at the incoming target, promptly destroying it and proceeding for the pirate cruiser.
TJ had his own problems trying to destroy torpedoes that were further weakening the cruiser’s shields. He fired one of the specially-equipped polaron torpedoes at one of the Velocifighters and watched as the light-blue bolt smashed through one Velocifighter after another until it impacted the pirate cruiser’s stern shield. TJ targeted the cruiser itself and noticed that the pirate ship had one force shield surrounding the ship as opposed to a shield for each side of the ship. Because of this, TJ grinned and pressed on an intercom system.
“Andros,” he yelled loudly enough to make him audible amid the firefights, “the pirate ship only has one shield surrounding the whole ship. Another torpedo should drop the shield.”
Andros didn’t answer his friend. Instead, the Kerovan headed straight for the pirate cruiser. TJ realized his friend’s course of action and decided to provide cover fire for all incoming enemy fighters. One Velocifighter managed to slip by the two R at high speeds. TJ could do nothing but watch as that one suicidal fighter managed to punch right through the battlecruiser’s shields and crash right into one of the ship’s wings.
Within the battlecruiser, computer consoles blew apart and bulkheads flew, resulting in the destruction of several cogs in the room. The tactical center of the ship also suffered, with debris flying and several cables hanging loose from the ceiling. Aradon managed to avoid damage, although his infantry was not lucky enough.
Within weapon range, Andros guided his Quadrafighter above the pirate cruiser. The cruiser fired its own laser weapons, but the Red Space Ranger managed to expertly dodge the incoming fire and retaliated with a couple of polaron torpedoes at one of the ship’s engine. One torpedo was met with an energy shield, but the second torpedo managed to impact the engine, causing a cascade of explosions to occur.
Over the comm, Andros informed the squadron, “The pirate ship is vulnerable! Let’s take it out NOW!”
Ten Quadrafighters began launching their torpedoes at the pirate ship while the others finished off the remaining Velocifighters. The pirate ship attempted to turn for escape, but could not evade or withstand the barrage of torpedoes. In a matter of seconds, the flaming hulk of the vessel blew apart, debris scattered throughout space. The enemy has been vanquished.
“We did it!” TJ declared over the comm system, “we won!”
There were slight cheers over the comm system of the battlecruiser. Despite the damage and losses suffered, they have survived. Suddenly, the celebration halted as quickly as it begun when a warning signal sounded. One of the Cogs still standing in the tactical center checked the scanner.
“My liege,” the Cog said in its mechanical voice, “there is a massive vessel approaching.”
Andros heard the Cog’s warning over the comm. As he looked on, he noticed an spiked, egg-shaped vessel approaching. He recognized the spikes, the red weapon ports, the steam. It was the threat they were chasing after. The Wraith.
TJ observed the ominous ship approach the battered fleet. In his mind, he knows that they do not stand a chance.
Aradon observed the Wraith from what’s left of his throne room. He sat on his battered throne and clutched both hands together, contemplating his next move. He could strike the enemy, but they’re significantly damaged from the battle with the pirate ship.
“What’s our status?” Aradon demanded.
One Cog answered, a slight hint of pity in the mechanical voice, “My liege, the ship is a wreck. Our shield system is malfunctioning, our weapons are at 30% efficiency, and we have almost no maneuvering power. We have lost twenty-two Quadrafighters out of the thirty-three.”
Aradon stared blankly at the approaching Wraith. “Recall all Quadrafighters back to the ship,” he ordered with reluctance, “we have to retreat.”
To be continued…
