Technicians scurried about, frantically making last minute
checks on the newly installed equipment.  Each mecha had received
special marine sealant to protect them from the salty water and
increased pressure, as well as modified thrusters capable of
underwater operations. The mechas' sensors also were equipped
with enhanced systems that could cut through the murky
environment of the sea via sonar, ultrasound, and blue-green
lidars.
     A red-eyed, nearly exhausted JT approached Ryo as he entered
the mecha bay.  "Ryo," she said softly. "Good luck."
     Ryo smiled and looked over her shoulder.  Nine other
individuals entered the bay, securing their special helmets on
their dual-purpose flight suits.  Should it become necessary to
exit the mecha during the course of their mission, these suits
would act as a normal diving suit.  There was also a backpack air-
tank/magneto-propulsion system in their mechas' cockpits that
could be strapped on and plugged into the suit.  "We're ready for
anything," assured Ryo.  "But you look like you need some rest."
     JT's tired eyes darted to the left, glaring at Destiny for a
moment.  "My crew and I have been up for two days straight
working on these machines.  But orders are orders.  They're ready
to go."
     Destiny nodded his head as he approached JT.  "And I thank
your and your crew for you diligence.  You shall all receive
commendations for your efforts.  It was critically important that
we get to the base as soon as possible.  Briggs and his fleet
could arrive at any moment."
     "Get some rest," said Ryo.
     "Move out!" called Destiny.  "We're entering the atmosphere
as we speak and will be at the high-altitude drop point in two
minutes.  I want splash down in four minutes."
     The Guardian pilots scaled the mecha scaffolding ladders and
climbed into the cockpit compartments.  Within minutes, the mecha
bay doors had opened.  Ten mecha blasted out into the brilliant
blue sky of Arcturus several kilometers above the black sand
coastline of the great blue sea.
     Thruster jets afire with descent buffering force, the mecha
dove feet first into the crystal-clear waters.  Now equipped to
function both in air and in water the massive plasma jets
propelled the multi-ton metal knights deep under the rippling
surface toward the sunken structure.
     "Lieutenant Toshio," said Destiny.  "Give me a spectral and
magnascan analysis of the structure."
     "Yes, sir," replied Taeon.  He switched on the monitor for
his advanced sensory analysis array and studied the streams of
data that pulsated across the display.  "Standard durasteel
alloys, mixed with diamonite composites and iridium alloys.
Structure uses a honeycomb design.  Pretty advanced, even by
modern standards."
     "Give me size, distance, structural stability, and the
nearest entrance," stated Destiny.  "Not some damn chemical
breakdown."
     "Sorry, sir," said Taeon.  "It appears to be a box-shaped
structure jutting out of the cliff-side.  Dimensions: one hundred
meters across, three stories in height, and it comes out of the
cliff-side about thirty meters.  The entire front appears to be
open as if there were once a landing bay door present at one
time.  Structural stability is sound though the effect of our
presence are unpredictable at best."
     "Understood," replied Destiny.  "All pilots, proceed with
caution.  We will enter the landing bay and disembark from our
mecha."
     "Yes, sir," all replied.
     The mecha squadron floated into the dark, murky hangar bay.
With IR scan and lidar imaging, they were able to see the
decaying, barnacle covered interior was scattered with the
remains of ruined mecha and what might have been a shuttlecraft.
A human-sized door at the far end was broken open revealing a
long corridor which lead into the flooded installation.
     Taeon's Storm Giant touched down, and the floor gave a
discomforting groan.  He was a bit concerned with the structural
stability of the sunken base, but he put such negative thoughts
out of his mind as he slipped on his diving helmet and connected
the oxygen hose to his rebreather mask.  "Comm check," stated
Taeon.
     "Check," replied Destiny.  Several other voices came over
the comm channel as they too ran comm checks on their suit's
transmitter.
     Taeon grabbed the controls of his mecha and guided it into a
hunched over position so that the entire torso was nearly
horizontal.  His cockpit pressurized so that when he opened the
hatch the water would not rush up into the compartment.  That
way, he would simply jump down out of the cockpit using the hatch
as a diving hole.
     "Proceed as planned," stated Destiny.  "Several shark-like
creatures are swimming around.  They look hostile.  Ready your
weapons to fend them off if they turn out to be hungry."
     Taeon rolled his eyes.  "I hate sharks."
     "We all do," stated David Pollux.  "Shoot them if they get
too close."
     "Right," said Taeon.  "And start a feeding frenzy.  That
would be really helpful."
     "Don't worry," interjected Allen.  "I'm packing enough
firepower to take out a school of those things."
     Taeon shook his head and hit the hatch release switch.  The
cockpit hatch slid open, and, despite the pressurized cabin,
about two inches of water gurgled up.  He peered down into the
water and didn't see any sharks in the immediate vicinity.  His
mecha's external lights illuminated the surrounding area, and he
could see the debris-strewn floor about six meters down.  Placing
his feet in the cold salty water, he plunged into the unknown.
     As his feet struck the water, the suit's automatic systems
kicked in.  From his feet sprung three metal antennas and between
these came a thin rubbery webbing, forming his flippers.  The
backpack tanks had a built in aquadrive that switched on to
assist his movement.  The aquadrive was tuned to his leg
movements.  When he kicked to propel himself forward, the drive
would thrust him forward greatly increasing his speed and
maneuverability.  His head-mounted floodlight also switched on
shinning a beam of eerie, yellow-green light throughout the dark
water.
     Off in the distance he saw a sleek black silhouette of a
creature that could best be described as a prehistoric armored
shark.  Taeon felt his heart skip a beat as he watched a second
bone-plated menace join the first monster.  He reached for both
of his energy pistols, eyeing the half ton ancient terror with
its array of razor sharp teeth.
     "Taeon, watch it!" screamed Lynn over the comm.
     As her voice blared in his left ear, he heard the rush of
water behind him.  He spun around in time to see a massive,
gapping mouth filled with hideous blades, each the size of his
hand.  Without thinking, he opened fire with both guns, sending
energy beams sizzling through the water and drilling into the
roof of the beast's mouth.  The shark darted away. As the
bubbling cloud of boiling water cleared, Taeon could see the
creature circling around preparing for another strike.  "I'm
getting out of here!"
     "Cool it," stated Destiny.  "They're probably more afraid of
us than we are of... Ghaa!"  A muffled crackle of instantly
boiling water rippled though the landing bay as Destiny opened
fire on something.  "Damn sharks!  Kill 'em all!"
     Taeon leveled his energy pistols as the wounded shark
circled back around.  He clicked the triggers of his gun
unceasingly and watched as beam after beam dug into the monster's
bony plates.  Just as he started to fear that the creature's
armor was impenetrable, it veered away, missing him by inches,
and slowed to a stop.  It floated still for a moment, then began
to sink.
     "Proceed to entrance at the far end of the room," stated
Destiny.  "And watch for sharks."
     Taeon took in a deep breath of oxygen saturated air and
regretted it as his head swam with a sickening dizziness.  He
quickly recovered and kicked off from the floor scissoring his
legs and activating the aquadrive system.
     The hallway was dark and foreboding.  Yellow-green shadows,
cast by the multitude of floodlights, danced across craters and
collapsed walls.
     "Looks like something big went down," stated Allen.  "Like
maybe a war or something."
     As he entered the corridor, a strange sensation floated over
him, like a fear or terror, the sort that caused his neck hair to
stand on end.  Taeon knew it was a psychic impression.  A strong
one, and a negative one at that.  It grew stronger as he floated
down the corridor toward a cross-junction.  He set his feet down
just short of the intersection next to Ryo and Vista who had
moved on ahead of him.  The psychic impression was burning in his
mind almost to the point of giving him a headache.  It was like
hearing a hundred men and women screaming in terror and agony,
all in one brief instant.
     He shook his head, trying to clear the psionic interference
and looked around.  To his left was a blasted crater, scattered
with debris.  The crater had completely consumed the corner room
and had blasted a hole to the next level up.  The crater itself
consisted of twisted metal and broken support bars giving no sign
of a lower level.
     "Who'd be firing heavy weaponry in a super-secret research
lab?" asked Ryo.
     "That is none of your concern," stated Ellington floating
toward the blast area.  "The less you know the better off you'll
be."
     "I bet," said Ryo.
     Taeon swam forward a bit more, and the psychic impression
exploded into a maelstrom of sights and sounds within his mind.
It was a residual impression of a massive diver phenomenon which,
when it had occurred, had imprinted a brief flash of one terrible
instance in time.  And Taeon saw it, in his mind, as clear as if
he had been there himself.
                            *   *   *
     Darkness.  Emotions.  Fear, terror, flight, run, run!
Impressions. Death, panic, pain.  Thoughts.  The Project.  Must
get the Project to safety!
     Then light.
     "Kei!" screamed a terror stricken man, a scientist judging
by his lab coat -- his torn, blood soaked lab coat.
     The man ran down the corridor toward a woman who stood in
the cross-junction of that doomed Imperial base.  He jogged up to
her as explosions resounded down the halls and gave her a small
black holodisk.  "Get to the diver room and jump to the lunar
base.  The reality field should be strong enough to blip the moon
to the asteroid belt."
     "But the tidal forces!" protested Kei.  "This base, this
planet!  It'll be..."
     "Never mind that.  Hurry!  This holodisk has the TEQSAC data
on it.  I didn't have time to download project Metal Storm or
Reality Dawn.  This will have to do...  It's our only chance.
No... it's civilization's only chance.  You must get this to our
son.  He's the only..."
     More explosions echoed through the base.  Screams filled the
air a moment later.  She took the disk and slipped it into her
lab coat pocket.
     "You must perfect the reality systems," said the man, who
was Dr. Samuel Gunn. "Only then can we bring forth a new era to
humanity."  He shook his head.  "We were so wrong, Kei.  The
Empire is not to be trusted anymore.  They are too corrupt; too
hungry for war.  And the GSC...  Our only mistake was our own
treason.  We should never have defected this base over to them.
Briggs did this.  Damn him!  He called down the wrath of both
governments upon us.  We should never have trusted him."  Another
set of explosions interrupted Samuel's monologue.  "Hurry!  The
Imperial and Coalition troops are still battling it out, but
they're breaking through.  I think Briggs is leading them...
leading the GSC's side of the battle.  All that man wants to use
this technology for his own gain.  We can't let anyone like that
get a hold on this technology.  Not ever!"
     Kei nodded.  "I'll download as much as I can from the main
computer bank and then wipe it clean.  We'll carry the project
on, and hopefully, no one will find us again.  The moon colonies
should be fully self-sufficient."
     "Good luck," said Samuel.  "I love you."
     Kei smiled, tears forming in her eyes.  "I love you, too."
She turned and ran down another hall.
     Suddenly, a tremendous blast rippled down the hall
destroying everything in its path.  The wave of psychokinetic
energy blasted through the intersection and annihilated Doctor
Samuel Gunn instantly.
     Everything went white.
                            *   *   *
     "Taeon?  Taeon?" someone said in the void.
     He felt his body moving, as if someone were shaking him.  He
opened his eyes.  The face of Lynn Firewolf stared down at him,
through her transparent visor.  "What the hell..."
     "Are you okay?" she asked.
     "Maybe," replied Taeon.  "Was I unconscious?"
     Lynn floated back a few feet then turned around.  "He's
okay," she stated on the general comm channel.
     "Understood," replied Destiny.  "Report."
     "There was a residual psychic impression imprinted on this
intersection," said Taeon as he maneuvered his body around to a
more comfortable swimming position.  "It hit me pretty hard."
     "You were out for almost three minutes," said Ryo.  "We had
almost decided to abort the mission and get you back to the ship.
Lucky you woke up."
     "Why's that?" asked Taeon.
     "One," said Destiny, "this base's structural integrity is
weakening exponentially due to our sudden activity here.  It
could totally collapse in a matter of hours.  Possibly much less.
And two, though most of this base is flooded and blasted beyond
recognition, our ultrasound sensors have discovered a vaulted
room which has not been penetrated or flooded, and a couple
stories below us lies a massive, unflooded chamber of some sort.
We believe we can access the chamber from the vaulted room."
     "Wow," said Taeon.  "How do we get in?"
     "That's the trick," came Dr. Chrome's voice over the
channel.  "We can use the adjacent room as an improvised airlock.
I'm getting some spare air tanks and the main atmospheric
pressurizer from my mecha.  We can then enter the room adjacent
to the vault and seal up any rupture points.  With this
equipment, we can force the water out by pressurizing the room,
and then seal the door to make it air tight.  It will then be
possible to burn our way into the vaulted room without worrying
about flooding it."
     "We will all met at the adjacent room in two minutes,"
stated Destiny.  "Doctor, meet us there as soon as you get all
your equipment."
     "Yes, Captain," replied Dr. Chrome.
     Taeon swam with his team down the winding, war-torn
corridors toward a set of rooms that looked as if they had, at
one point in time, been laboratories.  Now they were just
craters.  He wondered who had destroyed them.  Was it the GSC?
The ITR?  Or had the scientists themselves destroyed their own
labs and equipment?
     They came to a room that was fairly intact and swam in.  It
was mostly empty, save for a few couches and the shattered,
rotting remains of a table.  At the far end of the room was a
large metal vault door and a slouched, non-functional spider
drone war-robot.  "A spider drone?" asked Taeon.
     "Their burned out husks are everywhere," stated Destiny.
"Some have ITR colors, others have GSC colors.  We think the ITR
ones were actually this base's security units.  The GSC drones
must have been used to counter them."
     "This room looks sealable," stated Ryo.  "No immediate signs
of structural integrity loss."
     "Agreed," said Destiny.  "Check the walls with ultrasound
sensors."
     Taeon took out his hand sensor and began sweeping it over
the wall.  But he was thinking more about his psychic experience,
than concentrating on his job.  He wondered when he could tell
Ryo and Destiny about what he saw.  Certainly not now in the
presence of Mr. Ellington and his assistant.  They were ITR
agents here to make sure they didn't find out the sort of things
he had just discovered.  They would go nuts if they knew the he
had stumbled upon a vision of the past.  As far as he could tell,
the ITR was just as responsible for this base's destruction as
the GSC.  From what his vision suggested, this secret base was
onto something big, and the scientist didn't want the military to
get a hold of it.  And Briggs had been a key player in it all.
There was far too much at risk to tell everyone what he knew.
     "Is everything secured?" asked Dr. Chrome as he floated into
the room carrying his pack of equipment.
     "Report," said Destiny.
     "The room is structurally sound," said Taeon.
     "Excellent," said Dr. Chrome.  He sat his equipment down and
began to assemble the various components.  "We will need two
twenty by five centimeter holes at the base of the wall for
pumping the water out.  The holes will, of course, have to be
sealable."
     "Vista, Allen, get busy on those holes.  Pollux, Ryo, see if
you can help Dr. Chrome," ordered Destiny.
     Over the course of the next ten minutes, the team busied
themselves with the project at hand.  They quickly had the room
pressurized and relatively free of water, save the two inch layer
that cover the floor, and moments after that had the two pumping
holes sealed.  In less than a minute, Chrome had disassembled
half the wall next to the 'impenetrable vault', as Allen had put
it, and located the locking mechanism.  The lock was arranged
like some kind of Rubix cube, but  Dr. Chrome had it open in less
than a minute.  Together, Destiny and Allen were able to shove
the rusting vault door open and were met by a rush of cold, stale
air.
     They were also met by a spider drone.
                            *   *   *
     A collapsed table, two human skeletons, and an elevator were
in the room.  In the corner, a spider drone was slowing humming
to life as it's dormant fusion cells awakened, having sensed the
intruders.  Before it even finished powering up, Destiny blasted
a molten hole right through its main processor banks.
     "Okay. This elevator shaft should lead down to the
underground chamber," stated Destiny.
     Ryo entered the room behind Taeon.  Allen and Destiny were
already working on the elevator door, forcing it open.  "It
doesn't look like the battle got this far," stated Ryo.
     "That's good," said Mr. Ellington.  "That means the main
research section should still be intact."
     "Main research section?" asked Destiny.
     "You'll see.  But watch for spider drones.  There could be
other ones operational down there."
     "Thanks for the warning.  Any idea why the GSC didn't bother
to mess with this room before they left?" asked Destiny.
     The sudden disappearance of the moon might have had
something to do with it, thought Ryo.  He did find it curious
that the GSC would leave, empty handed, after having stormed the
base.  "They may have been forced to retreat."
     "Retreat?" asked Destiny. "What could have caused them to do
that?  Mr. Ellington, any input?"
     "None," said Ellington. "I'm as curious as you are.  That is
why I am here.  To get answers."
     "Of course," said Destiny.
     Allen finished forcing the door open, and he peered down in
to the darkness.  "It's a long way down," he said.  "There's a
ladder, but it's going to be quite a climb."
     "All right. Move out," said Destiny.  "I'm heading down
first.  Mercer, you're right behind me.  You will then proceed as
follows: Gunn, Toshio, Juno, Pollux, Lynn, Chrome, Ellington, and
Iowa."
     The group fell in as ordered and began their descent.  The
climb took about a minute, but it seemed longer.  At the base of
the elevator shaft they met with the elevator itself.  They
quickly opened the top hatch and clambered into the elevator pod.
Allen forced the elevator doors open and stood back, suspecting
an attack.  No immediate attack came and so the group began to
inch its way out of the elevator.
     The massive, auditorium-sized room was totally dark.  Only
the floodlights from their helmets provided lumination, and that
wasn't even enough to see the ceiling with though the faint image
of some scaffolding and equipment could be made out hanging far
above.  This didn't occupy Ryo's thoughts for long.  Filling up
most of the floor space he could see was a massive, half-
assembled mecha at least three times larger than any mecha he had
every seen before.
     "Good night!" exclaimed Taeon.
     The beams from the ten floodlights swept up and down the
half-armored chassis. Even with all those lights, the entire
mecha could not be seen all at once in that vast, foreboding
darkness.
     "That is one seriously big mecha," said David.  "Too bad it
isn't finished."
     "This is it!" exclaimed Mr. Ellington walking out into the
room.  "Captain Gray, we must..."
     Suddenly, a pulsating stream of laser energy surged out of
the darkness and strafed through the group.
     "Hit the deck!" screamed Destiny.  "Switch HUD sensors to
electromag and locate that bogey!"
     Ryo tumbled across the floor as brilliant red lances of
laser light crackled past him.  He pressed a button on his left
arm control pad, and his view of the world around him switched to
a colorful collage of magnetic images.  Almost everything was
black, being out of the sensor range, or blue with low
electromagnetic activity.  However, coming from around the blue
outline of the half-complete super-mecha he saw a brilliant red
ball.  He was seeing the a fusion reactor containment system for
the attacking spider drone.
     Ryo opened fire.  His energy blasts joined the swarm of
lasers, particles, and projectiles launched by everyone else in
the team.  A blinding white flash erupted on magnascan as the
spider drone was blasted to smithereens and its fusion core
ruptured.  A second later, all was black again.
     "Switch back to visual," said Destiny.  "Mercer, you and
Juno stay on magnascan and scout around for more of those spider
drones."
     "Yes, sir."
     Now that all the commotion had died down, Ryo was finally
able to hear the grinding creaking and groaning of slowly
twisting and straining metal from high above.  It sounded as if
the ceiling itself was about to give way somewhere.  He assured
himself that was impossible.  This base had been in this state
for twelve years.  To collapse now would be a terribly unlikely
coincidence.
     "The rest of you, look around and report anything unusual."
     Ryo instinctively headed for the super-mecha, the most
unusual and interesting thing in the limited visual range.
However, Taeon diverted his attention.
     "Ryo," called Taeon.  "Come here.  David and I are going
around back.  This chamber is divided into two sections, this is
the first section.  We think the other section is under the
landing bay.  Could be something really cool there."
     Ryo turned around and quickly spotted Taeon and David.  He
couldn't actually see them in the darkness. But, his visor's HUD
had them clearly tagged with nice, neatly labeled pointers that
feed off their IFF signals.  "Right.  Switch to channel three,"
he called back and headed toward them.  Taeon and David
acknowledged and he switched his comm over to the private
channel.
     "It's through these huge doors," said Taeon.  His
floodlights shown through a massive open garage door, big enough
even to let that super-mecha through unhampered.
     The trio walked into the second half of the chamber and
began looking around.  Mostly it was filled with junk, scrap, and
scattered remains of cranes and scaffolding which had fallen from
the ceiling.  At the far end of the chamber were two light
transport ships.
     "Probably five hundred tonners by the looks of them,"
informed David.  "Tundra class, I think."
     "Check this out," said Taeon.
     Ryo walked across the chamber to where Taeon was standing,
roughly in the center of the room, near the front wall.  He was
on what appeared to be a huge elevator pad.  The terrible
creaking and groaning sound was the greatest at this point.  Ryo
looked up and could barely make out the huge set of elevator
doors on the ceiling, which obviously lead to the landing bay.
     "So, we're right under the landing bay where our mecha are,"
said Ryo.
     "Five hundred tons worth of mecha," said Taeon.
     "And your point is?"
     "Look around."
     Ryo did.  He took a step back and swallowed.  A rain of sea
water was cascading from the ceiling; from the ever weakening bay
doors far above.  "The landing bay floor is buckling!"
     "Yeah, and when it gives our mecha, and an entire ocean,
will fall down here into this yet untouched underground chamber."
     "Oh, that's just great," said Ryo.
     "Everyone report in," interrupted Destiny over all channels.
     Ryo flipped his comm over to the general channel in time to
here Dr. Chrome making a report.
     "...north-east end of the chamber.  Allen's forced open the
door, and it looks like the main power center.  Hold on...  Yes.
A fusion reactor.  It looks intact."
     "Can you get it started?"
     "After twelve years of inactivity?" asked Chrome.  "I
seriously doubt it.  However, where there is a reactor, there are
emergency batteries.  Let me... Oh, my."
     "What?"
     "A skeleton, still in a chair at the main console.  I wonder
if there were survivors who were trapped down here after the base
sank.  Oh, yes, I see.  There is a large hole in the skull here
and a gun on the floor right under his hand.  Looks like
suicide."
     "Never mind that now," said Destiny.  "Activate the
emergency batteries.  Power is a great thing to have."
     "Right," replied Chrome.
     "Captain Gray," said Ryo.
     "Yes, Lieutenant."
     "We have a problem.  The weight of the mecha in the landing
bay is causing a great deal of stress on this chamber's ceiling.
The landing bay elevator door is about to collapse."
     "Acknowledge.  Lieutenant Juno, report."
     "We've found a section here in the western sector.  About
six labs, a couple storage rooms.  Still exploring.  We ran into
another spider drone.  It's toast."
     "Very well.  Mr. Ellington, the ball is in your hand now."
     "Indeed.  Has anyone located the main computer yet?"
     "No," replied everyone.
     Ryo clicked his comm back over the channel three.  "I'm
going over to where the labs are.  You guys check out these
ships.  Where's David?"
     "I'm on the ship," replied David.  "And it's pretty grim in
here.  I've found three skeletons, each one lying on a bed in one
of the rooms.  Looks like suicide deaths.  I don't even want to
think about what the survivors who got trapped down here had to
go through.  Look's like all the provisions have been stripped
clean.  Out of food, water, probably air too...  Must have been
hell."
     Suddenly, the lights came flickering on.  Everything was
much clearer, and Ryo almost wished they were back off.  If they
were off, he never would have noticed the fact that the ceiling
landing bay doors were buckling terribly.
     Ryo jogged back to the main half of the chamber and headed
west, toward the far end of the huge room.  He passed the giant
mecha, now more impressive than ever in the dim, but adequate,
flickering light from high above.
     "The doors are getting worse," informed Taeon.  "Just our
luck, huh?"
     "Right," said Ryo.  He switched his comm over to the general
channel.  "Captain Gray, we need to get our mecha out of the
landing bay.  The elevator doors are about to collapse."
     "Understood," replied Destiny.  "Unfortunately, we will have
to leave all at once, as the airlock we improvised was a one shot
deal, and I'm afraid the vault door is too weak to hold back any
water.  We have to get that data Mr. Ellington is after.  One way
or the other, our presence here has sealed the doom of this
underground facility."
     "But what about that mecha?"  asked Ryo.  "We have to get it
out of here!  I'll bet it has all sorts of experimental
technology!"
     "We'd like to," said Ellington.  "But it's not the top
priority.  The primary objective is to download the contents of
the main computer."
     Ryo shook his head.  What a waste, he thought, as he finally
made it around the colossal war machine.  As he ran into the
hallway of the laboratory section, he nearly plowed head long
into Mr. Ellington.  He hadn't seen his icon on the HUD, and he
assumed his Identify-Friend-or-Foe transponder wasn't working
properly.
     "Watch it," he barked.
     "Sorry," muttered Ryo, sarcastically.
     Mr. Ellington stared at Ryo for a second, then turned back
to Vista.  "Now, what's this about the main computer being
wiped?"
     "Yes, sir," said Vista.  "All data has been eradicated."
     "Recovery?"
     "Negative," she stated.  "The memory crystals have been
burned to flat zero.  The only thing left is the chip OS."
     "Dammit!" exclaimed Mr. Ellington.  He kicked a wall, then
stumbled back holding his foot and cursing even more.
     "Are there any backups?" asked Mr. Iowa.
     Lynn tapped Ryo on the shoulder.  He looked over at her, and
saw her pointing down the corridor away from where Vista and the
two political advisors were talking.  She motioned him to follow
her.
     He followed her down the hall to a nice-sized room, crammed
full of now burned equipment.  In the center of the room was a
massive elevated pad with cracked and shatter crystalline
focusing lenses organized across the floor, ceiling, and walls
surrounding the pad.  The letters 'T lep rt Amp  if  r' could be
made out on a black, fire-scared label at the base of the
elevated pad.  The rest of the letters were too badly burned to
be made out.
     Lynn removed her helmet and started coughing, though she
signaled for Ryo to do the same.  Ryo cautiously removed his
helmet, and suddenly felt light headed in the stale, carbon
dioxide poisoned air.  "What?" he asked.
     "Can't talk on radio.  Ellington will hear.  I don't like
him."
     "What is this place?"
     "Teleporter, I think.  Must be a psi-amp for a teleport
diver, or maybe even a piece of equipment that can do the same
like a miniature diverdrive.  I don't know, this tech is way
beyond anything I know of.  It looks like the survivors tried to
destroy everything.  There's another room over here.  Looks like
a star chart room."
     Ryo and Lynn put their helmets back on and headed into the
adjacent room.  Much of the contents of this room was ruined
beyond recognition, but several shattered charting displays and
Cartesian plotting cubes were scattered about the tattered mess.
     Ryo nodded, and reached to remove his helmet once more to
continue his conversation with Lynn.  But he paused as a message
from Destiny came through.
     "All right, listen up," said Destiny.  "The main computer's
out so I'm aborting the mission.  We can leave with the assurance
that the GSC will never get their hands on this tech, especially
since this entire base is about to finish it's journey to deep
six.  Regroup at the elevator in one minute."
     Lynn headed for the door, but Ryo squatted down in the
debris of some fallen star chart display.  From what he could
make out, it was a chart of this system, but most of it was
melted and burned to a bubbled black mass.  He picked up the
largest of the least damaged sections and scratched away at it
with a twisted scrap of metal.  The flash-burned carbon quickly
flaked off revealing a decently intact segment of the asteroid
belt.  Off on the left corner, almost at the shard's jagged edge,
was a large red dot and a label, only half of which remained.  It
read 'Lunar Target Loca', the rest being destroyed.  But the
coordinate grid lines were still readable...
     Ryo stood and looked around.  The moon of this planet was
gone with no debris remaining.  The only alternative to that was
the possibility that the moon left orbit somehow.  Ryo looked
back down at the display fragment in his hand.  The moon was in
the asteroid belt, and he had the coordinates in his hand!
     He tucked the fragment in his diving suit and ran off to
join the others at the elevator.
                            *   *   *
     Ten mecha launched out of the coastal waters as a great
bubble of air exploded up from the depths behind them.
     "There goes the base," stated Allen.  "Too bad we didn't
find anything."
     "Right," said Ryo, patting the fragment of the star chart
concealed within his suit.
     The Stinger waited in the sky, hovering above the clouds.
The group of mecha had landed within the ship's hanger bay and
the pilots disembarked from their machines.
     "Report to the briefing room in ten," stated Destiny.
     "Captain," said Ryo, as he took off his helmet. "Can I see
you for a sec."
     "Of course," said Destiny.  He walked with Ryo down the hall
on their way toward the briefing room.
     Ryo looked around, making sure that neither Ellington nor
Iowa was around.  He pulled out the star chart fragment.  "The
moon went here, sir."
     "What?" asked Destiny.  "What are you talking about?"
     "The moon, it's gone right?  I found this.  Here is where it
went.  This sector in the asteroid belt."
     "Why didn't you tell me earlier?"
     Ryo shrugged.  "I don't like those two government guys.  I
think they're up to something."
     "I agree wholeheartedly, which is why I didn't tell them
about the teleporter system Lynn discovered."
     "Sir," called Taeon as he headed down the hall behind Ryo
and Destiny.
     "Yes?" asked Destiny.
     "There's something I need to tell you," said Taeon.  "I
didn't want to talk about it while Ellington and his assistant
could overhear."
     "Go on.  What is it?"
     "It's about my psychic experience.  I actually had a full
sensory glimpse of a brief, but critical moment as the base was
being attacked twelve years ago."
     "Does anyone actually trust Mr. Ellington?" asked Ryo.
     "To mistrust Mr. Ellington is to mistrust our own
government," said Destiny. "Which is a bad sign.  Oh well.  Tell
us about the vision."
     Taeon did.
                            *   *   *
     The briefing with the rest of the squadron and the ship's
command staff was short and to the point.  Destiny related the
fact that Ryo had discovered the fragment of the star chart, but
added that he did not have time to tell anyone about it in the
haste to escape the collapsing base, to cover for Ryo's
reasoning.  Mr. Ellington accepted the explanation, but seemed
somewhat put out.  Destiny did, however, fail to mention the
teleporter and Taeon's vision.
     After the briefing, Captain Neben returned to the bridge.
The ship immediately blasted out of orbit and headed toward the
specified coordinates in the asteroid belt.
                            *   *   *
     Ryo leaned back in his chair and lifted the martini to his
lips.  He took a sip and glanced around at his fellow companions
seated around the table in the Pilots' Lounge. "Now that we have
a while to relax, I think I'm going to try to enjoy myself for
once."
     "Don't try too hard," said Taeon.  "You might hurt
yourself."
     "Too bad we couldn't get that mecha," said David.
     "You don't have to tell me," said Ryo, taking another sip of
his drink.  "That thing could probably have taken on an army of
standard mecha."
     David nodded and looked out the lounge windows.  "Well,
perhaps there are things we were never meant to screw around
with.  Imagine how much more simpler life would be like if we had
never discovered diver sciences."
     "Boring," said Taeon.
     "I don't know about you guys," said Ryo, "but I'm going to
try to put away all thoughts of war for a couple hours and
relax."
     "Red alert!" blared Captain Neben's voice over the comm.  "A
fleet of thirty GSC warships has appeared on our scopes!  This is
not a drill.  All personnel to battle stations."
     Ryo slammed his drink down on the table, cracking the glass.
"What the hell did I just say?  You'd think the GSC would have
more respect for me now that I've kicked their tail a few hundred
times!"  He stood up and straightened his uniform jacket and
marched out of the lounge.
                            *   *   *
     "What the hell do you mean thirty GSC warships?" asked Allen
Mercer.
     "Exactly what I said, Sergeant," replied Major Katana
Falcon.  "Thirty GSC warships have entered system."
     Ryo leaned back in his chair and glanced at Taeon across the
briefing room table.  He then turned to face the Major at the
front of the room.  "How far?"
     "Ten AUs," replied Katana.  She pressed a button on the wall
console.  The display screen activated, showing a computer-
generated view of the Arcturus system.  "Here," she continued,
pointing to a large red blotch near the fifth orbit.  "We are, of
course, right here, leaving the main world of Arcturus.  The
coordinates Ryo found lead to a point in the asteroid belt, right
here."
     "That's about six AUs from us," said Destiny Gray.  "Fifteen
AUs from them.  Under standard sub-light drive, it will take us
over a day to get there.  With the GSC out here, I'm not sure as
to the wisdom of such a strategy."
     Katana nodded.  "We know they have detected us.  They made
an active sensor sweep of the system and honed right in on our
ship making a detailed analysis.  They know we're here all right,
and we are severely out numbered."
     "Not good," said Taeon.  "Are we planning to dive out and
burn back to Sol?"
     "And give the GSC free reign over the system?" asked Ryo.
"Hell no!"
     Major Falcon cleared her throat.  "Gentlemen, if you would.
Captain Neben has established a plan.  We are preparing to make
an in-system diver jump to the coordinates in the asteroid belt.
In-system jumps are tricky, what with gravity-wells, system
dynamics, and all.  It will take about an hour to make the
necessary calculations and adjustments.  If the moon is at those
coordinates and if a secret base still on the moon, we will
investigate and do our best to fight off the GSC should they
pursue us to these coordinates.  If there is no moon, then will
we have nothing worth fighting for and proceed to retreat."
     "How long would it take the GSC to catch up with us after we
jump?" asked Lynn Firewolf.
     "Assuming they could track our diverspace jump, which they
could if they had some well trained divers on board their ships,
they would be able to track us to the coordinates in the asteroid
belt.  Alternatively, they could relocate us once we reappear
after the jump.  They would have the same trouble with an in-
system jump.  We might expect an attack within an hour after
arrival."
     "What of the reinforcement fleet?" asked David Pollux.
     "We have received a communica from Admiral Steele's fleet.
She should be arriving in about a day."
     "Great," said Allen.  "Like we'll be able to hold off thirty
warships for a day."
     "Too tough for you, baby?" asked Vista Juno.
     Allen clenched his fist and flexed the bulging muscles in
his arm.  "Grrr.  I could take on a Moray with my bear hands!"
     "You can't even take me down, honey," said Vista with a
smirk.
     "This is hardly the time for that," said Taeon.
     "Lighten up, Lieutenant," said Katana.  "The only thing we
have going for us right now is morale.  And even that's starting
to get shaky, seeing how the GSC just showed its ugly face around
here."
     "Right," said Taeon.
     "Don't be such a grouch, Taeon," said Lynn.  "We'll make it
out of here.  You're a diver, right?  If anything bad was going
to happen you would have foreseen it."
     Taeon raised his eyebrow.  "Right... Of course."
     "Well, this briefing is officially concluded," said Katana.
"I'd recommend we all try to catch some rest and get ready for
battle.  We have a long day ahead of us."
                            *   *   *
     "Dr. Chrome said he wanted to see us in the mecha bay," said
Ryo.  "I'll bet his tech teams have some of those new gadgets
fixed up and ready to install on our mecha."
     "If you say so," said Taeon as he and Ryo entered the mecha
bay.  "I doubt if there's time to do much, though."
     Dr. Chrome approached the two pilots as they entered the
bay.  "Lieutenant Gunn and Lieutenant Toshio," said the aging
scientist.  "I'm glad you didn't waste any time."
     Ryo looked around the bay.  Techs were rushing about
carrying tools and equipment and swarming around the titanic
mecha like ants.  Somewhere in all that mayhem was JT.  She was
probably busy working on one of their mecha.
     "Upgrades," said Dr. Chrome.  "We have some new systems
derived from the technology on the holodisk you provided us with,
but I fear that this will be its first run."
     "First trial technology?" asked Ryo.  "Well, what have we
got?"
     "We are installing a holoprojector imaging system on
Katana's Mindancer and a nanotronic repair system on Destiny's L-
Geimour.  We also have a super-force shield generator.  We're
working on the thermodynamic energy pile armor, but I fear there
is not enough time to install it on any of the mecha."
     "Well, my shields are fine.  I really don't trust untested
super-tech," said Ryo.  "What I need is an ECM upgrade.  You
think you could do that for me?"
     Dr. Chrome nodded.  "Yes, yes.  We can change out your
current TG-80 electronics suite for a ZD-Omni package.  It has a
powerful missile jamming system and a nearly unmatched sensor
countermeasure system."
     "Great.  Do it."
     Taeon stuffed his hands in his uniform jacket pockets.
"I'll go for that super-shield.  And do you have a more powerful
beam sword in stock?"
     "Yes, we have one fusion sword.  It's about twice as
powerful as your Storm Giant's current beam sword.  I'll get the
techs to have it fitted for your mecha."
     "That'd be cool.  Most normal shields are vulnerable to
close-in melee attacks."
     "The super-shield will have no such weaknesses," assured Dr.
Chrome.  "That's what makes it a super-shield."
     "Cool," said Taeon.  "No weaknesses."
     "Except that it might explode for no apparent reason," said
Ryo.
     Dr. Chrome frowned.  "This new tech may be experimental but
it isn't dangerous.  The worst thing that could happen is that it
might not work properly."
     Ryo caught sight of JT coming out from behind Destiny's L-
Geimour.  "Right," he said, as he headed in her direction.  "And
that would be pretty bad."
     Dr. Chrome started to say something, but Ryo was already
halfway across the mecha bay.  "Humph," was all he uttered.
     "Well, there's only an hour left till we all die," said
Taeon.  "They might as well see each other."
     "Nonsense," said Dr. Chrome. "It will take the GSC yet
another hour to catch up with us.  Besides, she doesn't have time
to see Ryo.  We have half a dozen mecha to upgrade in the next
two hours."
     "Good luck," said Taeon.  "I'm heading down to the galley to
grab some lunch."
     "Tell the orderlies to bring some food up here to the mecha
bay.  My people don't have time to break for lunch."
     Taeon nodded in acknowledgment and headed out of the mecha
bay.
     Ryo approached JT.  Her jumpsuit was wrinkled and stained
with oil.  A streak of grease was smudged down her left cheek.
Kind of cute, he thought.  "Hey.  You busy?"
     JT looked up from the clipboard she was studying. "Not now,
Ryo.  Can't you see I'm busy?"
     "Sorry, I thought you might have some time.  This next
battle..."
     "If there is a battle," said JT, sharply.  "We might
retreat.  If we do, there won't be a fight."
     Ryo nodded and looked down at the floor.  "Retreat isn't an
option anymore.  We can't give this system to the GSC."
     "Why not?  There's nothing here!  What can they gain?  What
could we possibly win?" JT dropped the clipboard and grabbed
Ryo's hands.  Tears began to form in her eyes.  "Whatever it is,
it's not worth dying for.  It's not... it's not worth losing you.
Nothing could possibly be worth that much..."
     Ryo knew she was more eaten up inside than he was.  He
started to embrace her, but she pulled back and shook her head.
     "No," she said.  "I've got to get back to work.  If this
does come down to a battle I want your mecha ready to take on
anything...  You have to come back, Ryo.  You have to."
     "I will," said Ryo.  "There's no cause worth dying for that
isn't first worth living for."
     For a moment they stood in silence looking at each other.
JT fell toward Ryo and grabbed him in an embrace.  "We're all
alone out here..." she mumbled, tears running down her face.
"All alone in the eternal void..."
     "We're never alone, JT," said Ryo, "as long as we're
together.  I'll never leave you as long as I live."
     JT looked up at Ryo and smiled.
     Ryo smiled back.  "And I plan to live forever."


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)