Some people would describe Allen Mercer as a hulking, gung-
ho, battle-crazed maniac with a Hercules complex.  Other, less
fortunate individuals, happened to discover this for a fact.
     The three hundred pound barbell crashed back on to its
support braces sending a light earthquake through the deck
plates.  Allen sat up and grinned, flexing more muscles in his
face than most people knew existed.  He grabbed an old, yellow-
brown towel off a nearby table, which at one point might have
been white.  "You know, I've got to admit, I don't believe half
of this secret base nonsense you and the Admiral have cooked up."
He smeared the ragged cloth down his glistening face.  "But, hey,
I'm a soldier, so if the Admiral says go find a secret base, I'll
go find it."
     The impressive loaf of muscle stood and made his way across
the workout room, each leg working like a hydraulic press.  Ryo
looked down at the weight lifting bench noting how much the
barbell stressed the bench's metal supports.
     "Well," started Ryo, "I certainly believe there's a secret
base somewhere in Arcturus.  If there wasn't, why would those
political goons be tagging along?  Why else would they have a
locked briefcase with sealed orders?"
     "Hmmm," said Allen thoughtfully, though even that was a
sizable strain on his mental capacity.  "Maybe you're right.  I
find it sort of, what's the word I'm looking for..."
     "Dumbfounding?"
     Allen looked at nothing in particular and blinked a few
times.  "Yeah.  That's it.  At any rate, I can't wait to get
wherever the hell it is we're going.  This trip is taking too
damn long."
     "We've got two more days to go."
     Allen nodded and stretched his arms. "Hey, I need to sharpen
up on hand-to-hand.  How about a one-on-one match."
     Ryo shook his head.  "Don't take this the wrong way, but no.
I'd rather keep all my bones intact."
     "I'll dance," came a voice from the back of the room.
     Both Ryo and Allen spun around to face the shadow-cast
corner at the other end of the workout room.  Vista Juno stepped
into the light, the shadows fleeing from her like a thousand
minions of darkness.  She was in tight workout clothes and looked
even more attractive than usual.  She brushed back her long brown
hair and smiled.
     "Sorry, I don't fight girls," stated Allen with a laugh.
     Vista wasn't fazed.  "Being from Odin Squadron as I am, I
haven't had the opportunity to test my abilities against one such
as yourself."  She eyed him in an almost seductive manner.  "Or
perhaps you're afraid..."
     "Afraid?" laughed Allen.  "Only that I might hurt you."
     "Try me."  She took a low crouching stance, and readied her
arms to intercept any attack.
     Allen shrugged and charged toward her.
     With hummingbird agility, Vista spun out of his way.  Allen
was completely thrown off guard, as he had assumed she was going
to hold her ground.  As he staggered past her, she kicked the
back of his left knee, just hard enough to throw his balance,
then followed up by wrapping her right arm around his neck and
driving her left fist into his back.  She forced all her strength
against his back and neck, in opposite directions, flipping him
over and dropping him to the floor.  She ended by gently placing
her foot against his neck.
     "Two point three seconds," she stated.  "You lasted longer
than most."
     "I'm leaving," said Ryo.
     "I can't... breeeath..." gasped Allen.
     "Sure you can," said Juno.  "You can talk, you can breath.
You'll be okay."
     Ryo slipped out the door and stepped into the hallway.  He
didn't even have a chance to start his new workout program, but
the presence of both Allen and Vista would be a bit too
distracting, especially since they were apparently bent on
besting each other.  On the other hand, Ryo sensed that it was
the beginning of yet another romantic relationship.  He smiled
and shook his head.
                            *   *   *
     Taeon took in a deep breath and closed his eyes.  The
Theories of Divological Telekinesis, Fifth Edition, sat on the
table in front to him.  Learning the arts of telekinesis from
books was hard enough.  Without Dr. Palovich present, his
learning rate had been drastically cut.  But Taeon was confident
he could do it.  All it took was a little effort.
     He focused his thought on the e-book, willing it to levitate
into the air.  He could feel his mental hand wrap itself around
the electronic pad, pulling against gravity with the force of his
psychic energies.
     When Taeon opened his eyes a second later, he smiled, seeing
the small e-book floating a meter off the table.  He guided it
toward himself and snatched it out of the air with his hand.
     "With more practice, I'll be able to move people around."
     "Won't that be exciting," stated Lynn as she entered the
small lounge.  She sat down next to Taeon.  "I envy you.  Some
people go through their whole lives and never take the time to
sit back and marvel at the shear awe of the universe.  Divers
seem to always have something new to discover."
     Taeon looked over at her and blinked.  She was sounding
better, hopefully over her initial shock of Michael's death.
"How are you holding up?"
     Lynn managed a small smile.  "I'm okay, I guess.  I'll be a
lot more okay once Briggs is dead.  At least the bastard who
killed Michael is dead, though I wish I'd been the one to get
revenge."
     "Revenge isn't everything."
     "Tell that to General Avenger," said Lynn.  "The General was
quite upset to hear of his son's death."
     Taeon sat back in his chair and placed the e-book back on
the table. "I'll bet."
     "He's even moved from his comfortable shorvey office in
Tokyo to the assault carrier Sri Lanka.  He's taking it straight
to the battle lines.  I guess, for him, the war just got
personal.  To us, the war's always been something personal."
     Taeon nodded.  "People will tell you that war destroys our
humanity; it takes away that living part in each of us that
defines who we are.  Yet, from what I've seen, it's war that
brings out the best of us.  It's sad that it takes death to make
us enjoy and cherish every minute of our lives. Maybe our species
is a warring race after all, with a purpose no greater than that
of the ants."
     "Want a drink?" asked Lynn.
     Taeon nodded.  "Better get me two."
                            *   *   *
     "We're in route to the third planet at this time," stated
Katana Falcon.  "According to our good friend Mr. Ellington, the
world is designated as Arcturus, being the main world of the
Arcturus star system."
     The seven pilots gathered around the table nodded in
acknowledgment.  They had finally made it into the Arcturus
system and now the real work would begin.
     "Our first order of business is to send down a recon team to
any locations which appear to be anomalous, that is,
significantly different from the natural formations of the
planet.  Captain Gray, you will lead the scouting party."
     Destiny stood up and looked around the table.  "Of course.
I'd like to request that the team be comprised of Sergeant
Mercer, Lieutenant Gunn, and Lieutenant Toshio."
     "Very well," replied Katana.  "The rest of you will stay
aboard the ship as backup."
     A soft beeping emanated from the console on the briefing
room wall.  Katana lightly tapped the answer button.  "Yes?"
     Captain Neben appeared on the display screen.  "I wanted to
inform you that we reach standard orbit in five minutes.  We have
technically passed through the lunar orbit zone, but..." Neben
glanced off the screen for a second, then he looked back at
Katana.  "Major, isn't Arcturus is supposed to have one Luna-type
moon?  According to our sensors, there is no moon at all."
     "What?" asked Katana.
     "Impossible as it may seem, the moon has disappeared," said
Captain Neben. "There is no debris or evidence of its
destruction.  However, a geological scan of the planet has
revealed that a massive tectonic upheaval occurred about twelve
years ago.  The sudden loss of a moon of that size would cause a
terribly powerful gravitational vacuum that would generate
devastating environmental effects on the planet below.  There is
evidence that, twelve years ago, there was a ten times increase
in volcanic activity, earthquakes, hurricanes, massive magma
shifts, and tectonic plate movement of several meters on a global
scale. Apparently there was vast flooding and the entire
planetary axis has shifted from fourteen degrees to thirty-eight.
There are quite a few new mountain ranges to say the least."
     "My God," stammered David.
     "Is that possible?" asked Taeon.  "How could a moon just
disappear?"
     "I don't know," stated Neben.  "Changing the subject, our
sensors have also detected a small base in the middle of an
equatorial desert.  There appears to be some sort of activity.
It may be the base we are looking for, or it might be a pirate or
smuggler outpost."
     "It's worth checking out," stated Katana.  "Have..."
     "What the!" exclaimed Neben.  His looked away from the
camera.  "Shields up.  Charge main cannons!"
     "What's going on?" asked Katana.
     "We're under attack," stated Neben.  "One light assault
gunboat approaching from the far side of the planet.  They're
launching missiles.  Go to red alert!"
     An alarm resounded through the ship announcing to those
personnel who didn't have the luxury of a direct link to the
bridge that the ship was under attack.
     A moment later, the ship trembled as the enemy missile
struck home.
     "No damage," stated the Captain, sounding relieved.  "Fire
the main guns."
     For an impossibly long ten seconds, the pilots in the
briefing room waited silently for the Captain to report on the
situation.
     Neben leaned back in his chair and let his captain's hat
slide slightly down his forehead.  "They've been destroyed.  It
seems to have been a smuggler transport ship by the looks of it."
     "The base must be a smuggler outpost then," stated Taeon.
     "Don't jump to conclusions," said Katana.
     "He's probably right," stated Neben.  "Nevertheless, we
could learn something from them.  You have the go-ahead to
launch."  The screen went blank as the Captain terminated the
connection.
     Major Falcon looked at Destiny.  "Captain Gray, you have
your orders."
     "Yes, ma'am."
                            *   *   *
     Four mecha launched from the ITR Stinger and blasted toward
the blue and green jungle world of Arcturus.  Taeon surveyed his
controls, double checking the status updates on his new supernova
lance.  Everything seemed in order, including his Storm Giant's
augmented thruster system.
     "Hey, Taeon," called Ryo over the comm.  His voice buzzed in
Taeon's ear, and carried a slight bit of static.
     "What?" asked Taeon, annoyed by the persistent presence of
the static.  He would have to report the glitch to JT.
     "This new Maelstrom mecha is great."
     "And your point is?" asked Allen.  Apparently Ryo was
broadcasting on the main frequency.
     Strangely, the static was not present when Allen was
speaking.  The problem must then exist in Ryo's comm system.
Well, thought Taeon, all version one mecha have their bugs.
     "My point?  My point is this mecha could blow your Raptor X
out of the sky.  Or space for that matter."
     "Your first mecha was an X," reminded Taeon.
     "Well, I got over it," said Ryo.  "Anyway, this thing can
even run circles around a Dragonfly.  And the mass driver on this
thing..."
     "Run silent," interrupted Destiny.  "We are nearing
atmospheric entry.  Ten seconds."
     Taeon took the controls of his Storm Giant and guided it
into a vertical position, with the mecha's feet and thrusters
facing toward the planetary surface.  The seconds passed by and
he activated the boosters, slowing his mecha down for atmospheric
contact.  The cockpit display screens went red as he plunged
through the thermosphere.
     Nearly a minute passed, then they broken through the sky,
having slowed down to the snail's-pace speed of Mach three point
five.  The Storm Giant's thrusters continued to fire downward,
slowing the descent to prevent him from becoming a crater-like
blotch on the planet's jungle-strewn surface.
     But there was no jungle in sight, noted Taeon as he looked
at his display screens.  Far below, and in every visible
direction as far as the horizon, all that could be seen was one
massive desert wasteland.  Every Earth-like world has a variety
of climates, as he recalled.  It was quite possible that this
area was once a thriving jungle until the cataclysmic loss of the
planet's moon.
     "Target base spotted at two-seven-three, distance fifty-
three klicks south," stated Destiny.  "Proceed to landing site."
     Taeon piloted his mecha toward the given coordinates and
watched on the display screen as the other mecha did likewise.
Below, he could make out a small glimmer of metal - the base.
Whether it was a smuggler base or the secret research station, he
did not know.
     The distance counter buzzed down to the hundreds, as did the
Storm Giant's velocity.  Seconds later, he touched down.  The
mighty mecha's feet smashed through the sandy surface, leaving a
kilometer long stretch of tracts.  The Giant rose to its full
height and Taeon guided its arms around to take the supernova
lance in hand.
     "Base at two point three klicks," stated Destiny.  "My
targeting scopes have picked out eight mecha contacts approaching
from the base.  Three Raptors, two Morays, and three Gallants.
The mix of mecha types indicates this is an outlaws base,
smuggler or pirate.  Proceed with caution.  Fire only after being
fire upon.  This could just as easily be a lost colony."
     Taeon fired his thrusters and bounded into the sky, kicking
up a sandstorm behind him.  The other three mecha blasted off as
well, covering the distance to the target base in less than
thirty seconds.
     They came down south of the base itself.  It was a small
structure, a single one story complex, though it appeared heavily
fortified.  There was a large landing pad nearby which could very
well be an elevator leading to some underground chamber.
     Sure enough, there were eight mecha approaching from around
the fortified complex.  Two Morays were clearing the top of the
building, carried on the force of their plasma jets.  Three
Raptors and three Gallants came charging from around the side of
the building.  At the far end of the building, Taeon caught sight
of an open mecha bay.  That would be their way in.  But for now,
the approaching mecha would have to be dealt with.
     Sealing its own doom, one of the Morays launched a rail
round at Destiny's Ironclad Raptor Vernier.  Destiny dodged out
of the projectiles way with ease.
     "Break and attack," ordered Destiny, as he blasted away at
the airborne Moray with his 40mm autocannon.  Though a couple
rounds initially missed, most of the depleted-uranium slugs
managed to rip into the Moray's armor, chipping away chunks of
red-hot metal.
     The Moray was knocked out of the sky by the shots, and the
continuous rain of bullets blasted off its right arm.  Destiny
aimed his mecha's rifle again, and unloaded its clip into the
Moray's mid-torso right where the pilot's cockpit should have
been.  He stepped over the smoldering mass of twisted metal,
ejected his spent magazine and slapped in a new one.
     A Raptor bounded up toward Taeon, firing its light
autocannon rifle.  The rounds sawed into the Storm Giant's armor,
but failed to penetrating anything vital.  Taeon raised his
supernova lance and gripped the massive weapon in both hands.  As
the Raptor closed and tried to duck out of harm's way, Taeon
squeezed the firing trigger.  The bluish pulse of energy exploded
out of the gun and blasted into the Raptor's left shoulder.  In a
brilliant flash of light and heat the entire upper left quarter
of the mecha, arm and all, vanished in a cloud of metallic ion
gases.  But the mecha was still operational and the pilot still
alive.  It slipped to a crouching position and prepared to launch
both of its heavy mecha-buster missiles.
     Taeon leveled his rifle and remedied the situation with a
second blast, landing it straight through the mecha's center
torso.  The pulse sheered a gapping hole in its main reactor.  As
Taeon pulled away to focus on another target, he smiled to
himself noting the fountain of brilliant white thermonuclear
plasma erupting from what remained of the Raptor's torso.
     Ryo's Maelstrom was engaging two Gallant's.  His agile mecha
darted around its older-model adversaries and readied the main
cannon to fire.  The electromagnetic mass driver, a weapon nearly
as big as the Maelstrom itself, flipped down from its backpack
mounts, guided by a set of articulated hydraulic arms, and landed
in the mecha's waiting hands.
     But instead of firing the tremendous weapon, Ryo locked onto
his targets with his two shoulder mounted hailstorm cannons.  The
weapon's Gatling gun-style barrels spun into action, releasing a
torrential cloud of hypersonic flechettes.  Ryo twisted the
Maelstrom's torso from side to side, washing his targets with
millions of tungsten-titanium projectiles.
     The two Gallant's staggered back as the wave of metal swept
over them, all but stripping them of armor.  The Maelstrom's main
gun leveled out and aimed toward the first mecha.  The gun kicked
back as it blasted out the massive projectile at several times
the speed of sound. Upon exiting the gun, the Mach twenty shell
opened up and blasted forth a devastating cone of bowling ball-
sized sub-munitions.  The "bowling balls" drove into the
Gallant's mid-section and practically blasted it apart.  Flipping
head-over-heels, the force of the impact knocked the mecha back
so hard it was permanently embedded in the base's southern wall.
     The second Gallant was preparing to blast off in retreat,
but was unable to as the flechette rounds had stripped away the
thrusters' fuel lines.  The Maelstrom's mass driver coughed out
another shell and this time the cone-blast ripped into the
mecha's upper torso.  The Gallant went flying back as the upper
half of its body exploded apart.  Both its arms went tumbling
away in opposite directions as the now disemboweled mecha crashed
heavily to the ground.
     "They don't call this mecha a Maelstrom for nothing," said
Ryo over the comm.  "Let's see how my tangler ammo fairs against
these guys."
     "Don't get cocky," stated Taeon.
     "You're one to talk," replied Ryo.
     Taeon shook his head, but his non-to-intellectual
conversation was interrupted by the presence of the second Moray.
The mecha launched six heavy missiles from its left torso missile
bay.
     The Storm Giant tumbled across the ground as the missile
blasted harmlessly overhead, then took to a crouching position
under the skilled guidance of its ace pilot.  Being at close
range, Taeon dropped the supernova lance and grabbed for his side-
mounted energy sword.
     The Moray thrusted its Vulcan rifle down toward the Storm
Giant, a mere dozen meters away.  As the weapon crackled out a
stream of explosive tipped bullets, Taeon ignited the energy
blade and charged forward heedless of the enemy fire.
     Multitudes of bullets ricocheted off the Giant's armor as it
lifted the brilliant sword into the air.  The Moray took a step
back and brought its rifle over its head to act as a shield, but
it did little good.  The energy sword came down like a samurai's
katana, slicing the Vulcan rifle clean in half.  A heart beat
later, the blade carved deep into the Moray's body, bisecting it
from the left shoulder all the way to its right hip.  The mecha
remained motionless for a split second, then fell in two.
     As the Moray's bisected halve fell to the ground, Taeon
glanced to his right-side view screen.  Allen was attacking one
of the Raptors, and as to be expected, he was winning.  His
powerful Raptor X opened its chest cannon, revealing the
glittering array of energy focusing cells.  A second later the
Raptor X's capacitors were fully charged and a ferocious blast of
hellish energy surged out of the energy array.  The wave of
thermo-plasmic energy rippled over the enemy Raptor, vanquishing
it from the pleasantries of physical existence.
     Ryo's Maelstrom stepped across the landing pad on its way
toward the eastern side of the complex.  The last Raptor ducked
around the south-eastern corner and launched two heavy missiles
at him.  Both spiraled wildly off course, their tracking systems
scrambled by the Maelstrom's missile jammers, and exploded some
distance away.
     The Maelstrom aimed its mass driver toward the approaching
Raptor and fired.  This time, instead of a scatter-round shell,
the mass driver launched a plump, pill-shaped shell.  About
halfway to its target, the shell blew open, and a stringy mass of
super-adhesive material tumbled out.  The great glob of gluey
tape splattered across the Raptor and hardened instantly.  The
stricken mecha was frozen in its tracks, totally immobilized by
the tangler goo.
     "Works great," stated Ryo.
     "Stop playing around and finished him off," ordered Destiny
over the comm.
     "You're no fun," replied Ryo.
     "You think this isn't some kind of game?" growled Destiny.
     "Yeah, right," grumbled Ryo.  He threw the mass driver back
over his shoulder and brought out the hilt for his deadly energy
scythe.
     The blade of deadly reactive energy crackled forth, and
curved itself to form a crescent shaped blade of light and
plasma.  Ryo piloted his Maelstrom forward and once in range he
swung the mighty weapon down upon his captive pray.
     The blade sliced through the hardening tangler tape, and
carved into the Raptor's body.  The segmented mecha collapsed to
the ground amidst a fury of sparks and smoke.
     A second later Destiny took to the sky in pursuit of the
retreating Gallant -- the last opposing mecha.  Taeon thought
that it would have been just as well to let the fleeing Gallant
go, but Destiny apparently had a different state of mind.  He
launched a single mecha-buster missile from his right leg bay.
The missile fell out, ignited, and blasted off into the deep blue
sky, trailing the distant Gallant mecha.  The two distant specks
came together at an almost invisible distance.  There was a flash
of light, and it was over.
     Destiny landed his Ironclad Raptor Vernier and opened the
comm channel.  "Ryo, Allen, enter and secure the mecha bay.
Proceed with caution, there could be traps or other mecha."
     "Yes, sir," replied Allen and Ryo.
     "Everyone else, stand by.  Once the bay is secured, we will
proceed into the base on foot."
                            *   *   *
     Ryo jumped off the rope ladder and flipped down the visor on
his combat helmet.  A set of tactical display screens
materialized on the HUD showing temperature, time, and IFF
colors.  He checked the power clip in his energy pulse rifle and
flipped its safety off.  Nearby, Allen Mercer was loading an ammo
drum for his ridiculously huge fully-automatic assault shotgun
with an undercarriage auto-grenade launcher.
     "Okay, the mecha bay and repair bay next door have been
secured," stated Destiny.  He stepped out from around his Raptor
Vernier's left leg and slung his energy rifle over his shoulder.
"So far, we know nothing of the interior of this base.  This
could very well be merely a smuggler outpost, but I don't want us
to get too overconfident.  We might be over our heads."
     "I doubt it," said Allen.  "We took down those mecha with
ease.  This guys aren't pros, that's for sure."
     "If this is a smuggler base, we should try to take
prisoners," said Taeon.  He took out two glaser pistols and
twirled them around in his hands. "Someone here might know
something about the abandoned military base.  They could have
seen it, or even pillaged it."
     "Good point," stated Destiny.  "All right, we'll move out
into the hall in a systematic method.  Lieutenant Gunn, you will
break down the door.  Sergeant Allen and Lieutenant Toshio, you
will duck out into the hall and secure either direction with Gunn
following you for support."
     "Yes, sir," all replied.
     Ryo, Taeon, and Allen jogged up to the small, human-size
door that led out of the mecha bay into the base's interior.
Allen and Taeon stood on either side of the door, their weapon's
readied for action.  Ryo braced himself, aimed his gun at the
door's lock, and pulled the trigger.  The sizzling pulse of
energy cracked out of his gun and blasted a searing hole through
the mechanism.  He then placed his gloved hand into the newly
created aperture and forced the sliding door into it's wall
housing.
     Taeon and Allen jumped into the hall facing down either
direction and crouched to the floor.  "Secure," both called out.
     Destiny walked into the hall and looked around.  "Look's
like this is a bunking area.  Four rooms down this hall, all
labeled Pilots' Quarters.  I doubt anyone is in them, as we
killed all the mecha pilots.  Take that cross-junction down the
hall and switch over to sub-vocal comm."
     Ryo pressed a button on his combat suit's left arm control
panel and the sub-vocal comm system clicked in.  He looked down
the hall and saw the cross-junction Destiny referred to.  Further
down the hall he saw about four other doors on the right and
three on the left.  He stood up and followed Taeon and Allen.
     Once at the intersection, they decided to split up.  Ryo and
Allen took the left hall.  Taeon went straight and Destiny took
the right hallway.
     Allen gestured to a pair of small side room's one labeled
'lounge', the other, 'guard post'.  As they prepared to burst
into the guard post room, they heard a series of gun shots
followed up by a crackling blast from an energy rifle.
     "One down," stated Destiny calmly.
     The guard post door slid open without protest.  Ryo and
Allen charged in.  The room's two occupants were ready for action
and had taken position behind an overturned card table.
     Allen leveled his auto-shotgun and pumped the trigger once.
The cone of lead projectiles ripped into the right side of the
table, blasting it into splinters and driving the first guard
into the rear wall.  He didn't survive.
     The second guard jumped up and ran across the room,
retreating to a small side door which lead to the adjacent
lounge.  As he ran, he fired is autopistol, wildly strafing the
room with dozens of bullets.
     Ryo dove to the floor and lanced his energy beam in front of
the retreating foe.  The bean stabbed into the man's arm, burned
straight through his torso, and exited his other arm.  He
staggered and fell dead to the floor, just short of the lounge
doorway.
     Allen looked down at his suit and noted the three bullet
holes in his chest.  Then he smiled.  "Didn't even get past the
ballistic armor layer.  They're using some pretty low-caliber
stuff."  He looked at his massive gun nearly as large as his own
leg.  "Unlike this baby."
     "We'd better check out that other room," said Ryo, as he got
off the floor.
     Allen stepped up to the lounge door and it slid open.  A man
came charging out of the door as it opened, screaming a battle
cry and readying his rifle for the kill.
     Both men nearly slammed into each other, but Allen acted
with lightning speed.  He shoved the barrel of his assault
shotgun into the man's belly and lifted him two feet off the
floor.  The man dropped his laser rifle and yelled with a start
as he was carried off the floor by Allen's gun.
     Allen smiled, still balancing the man on the barrel of his
shotgun and lifted him a bit higher.  Just before the man fell
off, Allen squeezed the trigger.  His man-size 'cannon' thundered
out another round and the ear-splitting boom was barely even
muffled by the point-blank target's fleshy body.  Blood exploded
across the ceiling and walls as the cone of metal tore into the
attacker's body.  The disemboweled corpse went flying backwards
and smashed into the lounge's ceiling.  It seemed to stay there
for two heart beats, then plopped wetly down on the blood soaked
floor below.
     "That had to hurt," growled Allen.
     "God," stated Ryo.  "We need prisoners.  Remember?"
     "Oh, yeah.  I got carried away."
     Ryo shook his head and slipped back out into the hall.  He
checked the security post across the corridor, but no one was
present.  "Look's like it's clear at this end," he stated over
the comm.
     "Oh, crap!  Oh, crap!" blared Taeon's voice over the
channel.
     The sound of several gun shot's resonated through the air.
Ryo ran down the hall and followed the ear-splitting exchange of
fire to a room right off the side of the main cross-junction
corridor.  He charged in, his mind reflexively take in the
situation at a glance.
     He was, or so it appeared, in the main control room.  Two
men in heavy armored vests were also in the room, laying down
heavy fire on a half melted computer bank, behind which was
Taeon.  All that could be seen of Taeon were his two energy
pistols reaching over the top of the smoking computer bank,
blasting pot shots through the room at the attacking guards.
     Ryo aimed his gun at the nearest man and fired.  The energy
blast melted through the guard's helmet and boiled away his
spongy brain almost instantly.  As the body fell limply to the
floor, the second man turned his attention to Ryo and leveled his
assault rifle to fire.  Ryo dove to the floor and tumbled across
the room as bullet's peppered past him, missing my mere inches.
     As Ryo reached the other end of the room, Taeon jumped up
from his dug in position and dove into the center of the room.
The guard swept his weapon toward Taeon's airborne form and fired
again.  The bullets snapped past him, But as he neared the top of
his arc Taeon opened up with his two glaser pistols.  The gamma-
ray laser pulses drilled into the guard, digging through the
armor and cooking this major organs to a crisp, golden-brown.
     Taeon landed on the bullet ridden floor and jumped to his
feet a second later. "Control room secured," he yelled.
     "I've checked out the rest of this level," came Destiny's
voice.  "Mostly rooms and living facilities.  There's an elevator
on the western corridor.  Meet me there."
     "Yes, sir," replied Taeon and Ryo.
     Down the hall, along the western corridor of the cross-
junction, was a small elevator shaft.  From the left, Ryo spotted
Destiny coming down the hall.  He motioned toward the elevator.
"I've counted the rooms.  There are still two people unaccounted
for.  I think they're heading to the ship bay."
     "The ship bay?" asked Ryo.
     "It's probably an underground facility.  Pile into the
elevator.  We're going down."
                            *   *   *
     The elevator doors parted and the team rushed out into the
corridor intersection waving their weapons back and forth,
covering the T-junction in each of its three directions.  Destiny
motioned down the northern hall.  "Ryo, head south and check out
those big doors at the other end of the hall, I think that might
lead to the landing by.  Allen, make sure this area is secure and
join Ryo.  Taeon, take the eastern corridor.  I'll secure the
northern corridor and join you in two minutes."
     Acknowledgments crackled over the comm and each soldier went
his separate way.  Ryo cautiously made his way down the hall,
training his energy rifle on each door he past.  At the far end
of the corridor he came to the set of large double doors,
possibly used for moving heavy equipment.  He pressed the 'Open'
button on the side panel. "Damn.  Locked," he said, as the door
failed to open.
     He looked around and noticed the door to his left was
labeled 'Landing bay control room.'  He smiled and tried that
door, and was happy when it slid open.
     Most of the southern wall was a large pane of diamonite
glass overlooking the large landing bay.  Computer consoles and
displays screens lined every wall, and in the center of the room,
stood a rather angry looking man.
     Ryo turned his attention away from the landing bay and
considered the man.  His hand darted down to an autopistol at his
hip and Ryo found this to be a clear sign of aggressive
intention.  He aimed his energy rifle and blasted a round at the
man's left arm, hoping to take this one as a prisoner.
Unfortunately, the man foolishly dodged his left in a failed
attempted to avoid the shot.  The beam seared a gruesome hole
through the man's chest, vaporizing his heart and half his left
lung.
     "Damn moron," muttered Ryo.  He turned away from the
smoldering corpse and looked into the landing bay.  "Captain
Gray."
     "Gray here."
     "I killed another one."
     "Does anyone know what 'take prisoners' means?  How hard can
that be?"
     "I aimed for his arm, but he dodged the wrong way.  I think
there might be someone in the freighter."
     "Freighter?" asked Destiny.  "Based on my count of the rooms
and bunks, I think there should be one more scumbag hanging
around.  Check out the freighter, and make sure not to kill
anyone."
     "Yes, sir," replied Ryo.
     A quick look at the landing bay's ceiling reveled that the
exterior doors were slowly opening in preparation for the landing
bay elevator to move to the surface.  He checked out the consoles
in front of him.  "Standard controls," he said to himself.  He
sat down and typed in a set of commands.  The hangar doors
stopped, then slowly started to close.
     Suddenly, there was a tremendous explosion outside the
control room which seemed to shake the entire building.  Ryo
grabbed his gun and jumped out of the room.  To his left were the
smoldering remains of the landing bay entrance door.  To his
right, down the corridor, was a grinning Allen Mercer with a
smoking grenade launcher.
     "Door was locked," said Allen.  "Now it's open."
     Ryo shook his head and marched into the landing bay.  The
charred debris crunched under the pressure of his boots as Ryo
headed for the small smuggler freighter.  As he approached, the
side door opened up and a landing ramp extended.  A single man
exited the ship and took a couple steps down the ramp before
noticing Ryo's approach.
     "Freeze!" called Ryo aiming his rifle at the man.  "Drop all
weapons!"
     The man stood frozen for a moment then slowly reached into
his leather jacket and removed an energy pistol of some sort.  He
tossed it on the floor and the gun skidded to Ryo's feet.
     "Come down the ramp and step away from the ship," ordered
Ryo.
     The man complied and made his way down the ramp.  Ryo walked
up to him, keeping his rifle trained steadily on his head, though
he had no real intention of killing him.  If worse came to worse,
he could drop his gun's aim and just blast the man's leg off.
     "Identify yourself," stated Ryo.
     "Captain Easton," stated the man.  "We're merchants."
     "Oh?" asked Ryo. "So why'd you attack us?"
     "We thought you were bandits."
     "Yeah, right.  With state-of-the-art mecha?  Sure."  He
flipped his gun around so that the butt of the weapon faced
Easton's head.  "Sleep tight."
     The man fell to the floor, knocked out cold by the blunt
impact against his head.
     "Captain Gray," said Ryo.  "I've got the head honcho."
     "Good work," replied Destiny.  "Take him with you.  We'll
regroup at the elevator."
                            *   *   *
     Destiny circled Captain Easton like a wolf sizing up his
prey.  "Name?"
     "Captain James Easton," replied the man grimly.  He tugged
against his restraints, probably testing their strength.  He
stopped, convinced they were impossible to break.
     Taeon shifted his weight and looked up at Destiny.  Then he
looked back down at the man with a massive bruise on the left
side of this face.  He wondered if Destiny was going to get
violent with him.  He had never seen Destiny interrogate anyone
before.
     "And your profession is?"
     "I'm a merchant."
     "What kind of merchant?"
     "A successful one."
     "I see.  Does that include smuggling arms out of the ITR to
Frontier pirates and bandit gangs?"
     Captain Easton pretended to be taken back.  "Absurd!" he
stammered.  "Any weapons we have are for our personal
protection!"
     "And so you need a five hundred ton cargo hold of anti-mecha
weaponry and a storage bay filled with capital ship grade
components for your personal protection?"
     "Well, I...  I demand a trial by court."
     Destiny nodded.  "Very well.  We will skip that and move
on."  He looked over at Taeon and Ryo.  "Lieutenant Toshio, take
over."
     "Sir?" asked Taeon.
     "Find out where it is.  You need the practice."
     Captain Easton sat back in his restraining chair and seemed
somewhat relieved by the change in his interrogator.  Taeon
planed to make that relief fade fast, though he didn't quite know
how he would go about the interrogation.
     Taeon stepped up to Easton.  "How long have you been
occupying that base?"
     "About three years."
     "And who was there before you occupied it?"
     "We built it."
     "Ha!" laughed Taeon.  "We know for a fact that there was an
Imperial base on this world.  As your base was the only
artificial structure, how do you explain your story?"
     "Well, I know we built it.  I was there.  I don't know about
any Imperial base.  As long as I've been here, I've seen no
Imperial activity until you boys showed up."
     Taeon leaned toward the captive.  "Tell me, have you seen
any sort of structural ruins?  Possibly an old base overrun with
vines or trees?"
     Easton laughed.  "What's in it for me if I tell you
anything!  The way I see it, you can't do nothing to me."
     "He knows," stated Destiny.  He walked forward, taking a
step toward the prisoner.  "Where is it?"
     "Maybe I know, may be not.  Depends on what sort of a deal
you want to cut."
     "Right," said Destiny.  "Lieutenant Gunn, go get a map print
of the planet."
     "Yes, sir," said Ryo.  He turned and left the room to get
the map.
     "Really, I don't know what this is all about," stated
Easton.
     "Ha!" exclaimed Taeon.  "Don't try to let on that you know
nothing.  It won't work, smuggler scum!"
     "You can't accuse me of that!" exclaimed the man.  He turned
to Destiny.  "Did you hear that?  He called me a smuggler!  I'm
innocent until proven guilty.  If he's so prejudging of my guilt,
I can call a mistrial based on..."
     Destiny pulled his arm back, then swung it down as hard as
he could.  His fist struck the multi-colored bruise on the side
of Easton's face and whipped the man's head hard to the right.
Blood exploded out of the Easton's mouth.  "Shut up, maggot!
Threatening us with legal crap like that only takes you one step
closer to the airlock!  The way I see it, you're no citizen of
the Empire.  You have no rights and no one will give a damn if I
take the pleasure of torturing you to death over the next few
weeks.  Remember, we're on the Frontier.  There are no laws on
the Frontier.  No law at all!"
     Easton groaned and stared at Destiny, trying his best to
seem tough. "You won't torture me," he panted.  "You don't have
the guts!"
     Destiny grabbed Easton by his shirt.  "Oh, you'd be
surprised what I have!"
     At that moment, Ryo returned to the interrogation room
carrying a folded map of Arcturus.  "I've got it."
     "Excellent," said Destiny without looking back.  He kept his
eyes pinned on Easton.  "Hang the map on the wall.  Now, Captain
Easton, if you want to save yourself from a week of pain and
suffering, show us on the map were the underwater base is."
     "Humph," said Easton.  "See? A contingency.  I knew you
didn't have the guts to torture me.  You're bluffing.  But I'll
make you a deal.  If you want me to show you the base, you'll
give me back my ship and let me go."
     Destiny turned around and to Ryo and Taeon.  "You two are
dismissed."
     "Dismissed, sir?" asked Taeon.  "I thought you wanted to
show us the ins and outs of interrogation."
     "The lesson's over," said Destiny, darkly. "Leave the room."
     Ryo and Taeon looked at each other doubtfully, then promptly
left the room.  They stepped into the hall and the door slid shut
behind them.
     "He's dead," said Ryo.
     "No kidding."
                            *   *   *
     "I've got the coordinates," stated Destiny as he entered the
briefing room.
     "Good," said Mr. Ellington.  He stood up and pressed a
button on the room's wall display.  A digital map of the planet
materialized on the screen.  "If you would..."
     "Of course," said Destiny.  He walked up to the small
console and typed in the coordinates.  A small red dot appeared
on the eastern tip of the largest continent in the northern
hemisphere.  "That is our secret base."
     "Perfect," said Ellington.  He turned his attention to the
six other mecha pilots gathered around the table.  "We must now
make preparations to investigate this base."
     "It's under sixty meters of water," said Destiny.
     "What?" asked Ellington.
     "It must have sunk during the cataclysmic shift of this
planet's tectonic plates.  We will have to adapt our mecha for
submersible operations."
     "Very well," sighed Ellington.  "We must work as quickly as
possible.  Our objectives are as follows.  One, to survey the
base.  Two, to locate and catalogue any remaining equipment or
data.  Three, secure the base.  Once that is complete we will
transmit an update back to Imperial Intelligence Command."
     "Intelligence?" asked Ryo.  "But I..."
     "Also, I must have your sworn word that nothing you see, do,
or discover in the base will be divulged to any outside sources.
Under absolutely no circumstance shall you bear witness to
anything upon the planet Arcturus.  This is classified beyond all
classifications.  Am I understood?"
     The room remained silent for a moment.  The silence was
broken as the pilot's slowly agreed.
     "Excellent," said Ellington.  "Now that we have that out of
the way, let's move on.  Captain Gray, if you would, please
notify the technicians to begin refitting the mecha for
underwater operations."
     Destiny stood a bit taller, his face stiffened as if he was
offended by the political officer's orders.  "I know my duties,
Mr. Ellington."
     "Good.  I'm waiting."
     Destiny kept his eyes on Mr. Ellington for a few long
seconds, then turned around to the intercom. "Lieutenant
Tacwell."
     "Sir," came JT's voice over the intercom.
     "Refit all mecha with underwater operations packages."
     "Sir?"
     "Do it now.  You have forty-eight hours."
     "But, sir, that's..."
     Destiny switched off the intercom and turned back around.
     "Thank you," said Mr. Ellington.  "Once the mecha have been
refitted, we will proceed to the base as planned.  Myself, Mr.
Iowa, and Doctor Chrome will be joining you on this excursion.
Understood?"
     "Yes, sir," came the replies.
     "Good."  Mr. Ellington smiled.  "Dismissed."


Written and Directed By
Mark Chase

http://www.meta-earth.com

Copyright 1998.  All rights reserved.

Casting By
Mark Chase

Starring
Ryo Gunn         -  Mathias Russ
Taeon Toshio     -  Jonathan Fuller

Other Characters - Mark Chase
Destiny Gray
Allen Mercer
Dr. Chrome
JT
Lynn Firewolf
Vista Juno
David Pollux
Mr. Ellington
Mr. Iowa
And Everyone Else

Mecha Designs
Maelstrom      - Mathias Russ
Storm Giant    - Jon Fuller
Raptor Series  - Mark Chase
Gallant        - Mark Chase
Moray          - Mark Chase
L-Geimour      - Mark Chase

(all mecha were constructed under
the Mekton Zeta© RPG system, by
R. Talsorian Games, Inc)