With the Stinger sunk, and all hands abandoning ship, the
remaining mecha of the Guardian Squadron were ordered back to the
Vigilant after the long battle's end. Ryo's Maelstrom pulled
into mecha bay 3 behind Taeon's tattered Storm Giant. He landed
feet first, shut of his thrusters, and came to a walking stop.
Three more mecha landing behind them and the space doors slide
silently shut. A moment later, the bay pressurized.
When the green light at the front of the bay lit up, Ryo
blasted off the chest canopy and drove his mecha to a kneeling
position. He tore off his harness, life support plugs, and
biofeedback interfaces, and leapt out of the pilot compartment.
Ryo frantically unlocked and removed his pressure helmet.
"JT!" he screamed, looking around at the techs who were just now
entering the newly pressurized bay. "Has anyone seen JT!"
"She was aboard the Stinger," replied some tech. "The
Stinger's escape shuttle landed in bay five. The only survivors
were aboard the shuttle. Look's like you're pretty knocked up,
buddy. Need to see a medic?"
Ryo dropped his helmet and charged out the nearest door,
stumbling as he went. He wiped blood and sweat off his bruised
face and ran down the corridor for bay five.
Taeon climbed down from his mecha and watched as Ryo took
off out of the landing bay. He didn't need his psychic powers to
tell him what Ryo's urgency was. The Stinger had been burning
before his eyes. Ryo had to know if his one true love was dead
or alive.
Taeon hit the floor and collapsed to his knees. He felt
nothing, but he knew his body was in shock. Not just his body,
but his mind as well. Physically and mentally exhausted from the
terrible battle, he scarcely noticed the trickle of blood that
ran down from his forehead and into his eyes. All he could see
was Lynn's mecha exploding... and fires Destiny's end.
"No!" he screamed, and slammed his fist on the floor.
"Taeon," said a voice from above.
He looked up, but couldn't see. Blood covered his eyes. He
wiped his hand across his face and saw Major Katana, still in her
mecha suit.
"Get some rest, soldier," was all she said. She turned away
and pretended to be unperturbed, but Taeon saw a glimmer of water
in her eyes... Tears on her stone cold face.
Were she and Destiny...
Taeon stood and staggered against the wall. He slammed his
fist against the metal surface, feeling nothing but the pain and
rage in his own heart. "Briggs will pay for this! I swear by
all the powers within me! He will burn in a thousand hells!"
Taeon felt his legs weaken and he slid down the wall.
"Lynn..." he muttered collapsing on the floor. He buried his
face in his hands and shook his head. "Lynn..."
* * *
Ryo ran into bay five and watched as the landing ramp
lowered from the shuttle. He stood in anxious anticipation as
the survivors slowly made their way out of the shuttle. Some
were in worse shape than others. A few were even being carted
out on stretchers.
Ryo made his way toward the shuttle, watching each departing
passenger, praying one was JT. Each time it was someone else.
There was Dr. Chrome... Some of his techs... Allen, Vista,
David... they were all alive. But where was JT...
"JT!" called Ryo.
Almost on that queue, JT suddenly appeared at the hatch.
"Ryo!" she choked out.
Ryo breathed a sigh of relief and quickened his pace. JT
hurried down the landing ramp, turned, and ran toward Ryo. They
fell into each other's embrace and held tight, both afraid to let
go for fear of losing the other. They said nothing; there was no
need. The battle was over, they were victorious. They had paid
a terrible price, but neither had paid the ultimate price; and,
for that, they were both overjoyed.
* * *
"What's all this about?" demanded Ryo, as he was escorted
down the hall by two guards.
"Admiral Steele wishes to see you," replied one of the
guards.
They entered an elevator and it began moving up. "On the
bridge?"
The guard glanced at Ryo. "You need a medic? You've got a
nasty bruise on your face."
Ryo shrugged. "I'll live."
The elevator stopped and the doors slid open. They entered
the anteroom to the bridge and the security guards checked them
through.
"Admiral," said Ryo, saluting as he stepped in.
"Lieutenant Gunn," said Admiral Steele. She stood and
crossed her arms. "There is a cloaking moon below us."
"Yes, ma'am... How did you know?"
"The last broadcast from the Stinger," she said. "Besides,
I can sense it. Using this ship's psi-amp, I can peer through
their insignificant energy barrier. They are down there
Lieutenant. We need you to contact them."
Ryo nodded. "Yes, ma'am."
Captain Armour glanced at Ryo. "Lieutenant, do you need a
medic?"
Ryo cleared his throat. "No, sir. Thank you. I will tend
to the duty at hand then report to the med-bay."
Captain Armour nodded.
Admiral Steele directed Ryo to stand near the middle of the
bridge. "Comm," she said. "Open a channel."
Ryo glanced at the Admiral, wonder why it was he who must
make contact. She only nodded. He took in a deep breath and
folded his arms behind his back. "This is Lieutenant Ryo Gunn of
the Imperial Terran Republic. It is urgent that we establish
contact. A massive GSC assault may be impending. We have no
desire to let your technology fall into their hands."
"Transmission sent," said the communications officer.
"Well put," stated the Admiral. "Now we wait."
Ryo felt a wave of dizziness sweep over him. Maybe he
should have gone to the med-bay first...
"Admiral," said the comm officer. "Incoming transmission."
"On screen," she ordered.
Ryo opened his eyes and looked at the main screen at the
front of the bridge. The image of an oriental woman in her mid-
fifties appeared on the screen. She looked happy and surprised.
"Ryo?" she asked. "Ryo, is that you?"
"Mom?" asked Ryo, suddenly feeling terribly disoriented.
"You're... You're alive?"
"Dr. Gunn," said Admiral Steele, cutting in. "I apologize
for interrupting your reunion, but more urgent matters are at
stake. Thanks to your son, we were able to locate your base
before the GSC. Had they found you first, all would have been
lost."
"Who are you?" demanded Kei Gunn.
"Admiral Sylvia Steele of the ITR. We mean you no harm.
However, the GSC most certainly does. Alan Briggs has taken
control of the Coalition and is in the process of destroying the
Empire. His relentless march has cost the lives of countless
millions already. We do not wish to see that number grow any
higher. Will you help us?"
Kei sat back in her chair and closed her eyes. "It wasn't
supposed to be like this. The war should have been over by now.
Ryo, why did you lead them to us? Our legacy was not supposed to
be unveiled until after the war was over and done!"
"I don't understand," said Ryo, still in shock over the
appearance of his mother.
Dr. Gunn sighed. "Nearly thirty years ago, in 2350, we
embarked on a project to develop a new branch of super-diver
science. We could only find funding through the ITR military,
and so we took what we were given. But we were promised free
reign. We sought only to expand our knowledge of diverspace and
the fundamental interactions of mind and matter. But the ITR
began to clamp down. They did some things... Some terrible
things. They forced us to turn our discoveries to weapons of
war. Anyone who opposed this mandate disappeared and was never
seen again."
"I always thought you and dad were deep space explorers..."
Kei nodded. "We were sworn to silence, and sentenced to
live our lives as a lie. But in 2368 we rebelled, led by Alan
Briggs. He promised that working for the GSC we would be working
for a better future. He told us the GSC fights against the
tyranny of the ITR, against the hidden lies and secret travesties
they commit. But he was the lie. The GSC came, but they came to
take everything we had worked for. We fought them for days, long
enough for the ITR to arrive. When they did, they came in with
guns blazing. We knew all was lost. We burned the labs and
smashed everything.
"There was a colony on the moon. It was here that we were
developing project Reality Dawn. Briggs knew about it but was
more concerned with Project Metal Storm -- the military
application of Reality Dawn. With a hundred colonists on the
moon and several fully functioning biodomes, we knew we could
survive here as refugees. Myself, with several scientists,
teleported to the moon colony with the last copies of all our
data. The rest stayed behind to destroy the teleporter system
and hold off the GSC and ITR forces. When we got to the moon we
left orbit. With the Reality Horizon as our super-diver engine,
we were able to teleport to this secret location where we prayed
no one would find us. A few months later I sent someone out in
an FTL shuttle to get the holodisk delivered to you through a
network of underground channels. Knowing that we could be found
at any time and that the GSC or ITR would have no mercy on us, we
loaded as much of the project data as we could onto the holodisk.
It was our hope that when you discovered the contents the war
would be over and our great discoveries would not be lost to
history."
"We need the technology now!" said Ryo. "For war, yes, but
to fight off Briggs in his tyrannical conquest of civilization!
We can't let him win. This is our only hope... The last hope for
us all!"
"I know," said Dr. Gunn. "We foresaw this years ago. We
are ready. Ready for war."
"What?" asked Ryo.
"We have Metal Storm," she replied. "Come. I will show
you."
* * *
"Enter," muttered Taeon at the sound of his door chime.
The door slid open and Sara popped her head through. "Hey,
Taeon. Heard you were back. Why didn't you come down and see
me? I've been worried sick."
Taeon made a pitiful smile. "Sorry. I had a lot to think
about. Come in."
Taeon's sister entered the room and the door slid shut
behind her. "I heard about Lynn and Destiny. But you have to
remember, people die in wars. That's what makes them so
terrible. They died for the Empire. What's left of it anyway.
They died to protect the last ace in our hand."
"You don't understand," said Taeon. He sat up and slung his
legs off his bed. "I had a vision... A terrible vision... And I
could do nothing to change it. But there are even more terrible
things to come. Many people are going to die. Millions... no...
billions. I can feel it."
"2380 has been a bad year for us all."
"It's going to get worse," said Taeon. "There is no future
after 2380, remember?"
"Xandra has something to do with it," said Sara. She sat
down in a chair.
"Hmmm?"
"Dr. Palovich is trying to instruct her and tune her powers,
but she has refused to use them. She's afraid to go into astral
space, use telepathy, or even attempt precog. Hell, she's afraid
to sleep at night for fear of having a vision."
"That's not like her," said Taeon.
"She's still vague and enigmatic about everything, but she
seems to believe that some sort of shock wave is resonating
through diverspace originating from somewhere in the near future.
She says that if anyone is in astral travel or having a vision
when the shock wave hits their mind will be shattered into
fragments of insanity."
"Weird."
"Well, you know her."
Taeon nodded. "Any word from Eridani? Is Kanis still
alive?"
Sara shrugged. "Information from Eridani is pretty sparse.
After the GSC took control several ruling lords defected to their
side. Those who resisted probably died. Those who defected, who
knows. Which path Kanis took, we can only guess. I don't think
his loyalties have ever been with the Empire. He thinks only of
himself. It's a good bet he defected."
"And is still alive," sighed Taeon. "Which means Falmore-
Glave probably wasn't razed from orbit."
"We can only hope. When, and if, we reclaim Eridani we
might still have a city left to return to."
"What's up with current events? I haven't had a chance to
check the news."
Sara raised her eyebrow. "A lot has happened. A whole lot.
The GSC has invaded the Sirius system and the majority of our
forces are fighting them there. Intelligence reports indicate
that the nobility of Alpha Centauri are secretly working on a
treaty with the GSC to defect -- surrender nicely so to speak.
Over the last month, the GSC has pushed hard. I don't see how
they can do it. They've never fought like this before. But
then, they've never had a leader like Briggs before."
"We ran into some new type of mecha out there," said Taeon.
"Stealth mecha. Not total cloaking, but really high-tech
electronic countermeasures and such. Maybe that's why Briggs has
an edge."
Sara rubbed her hands together and nodded. "Maybe. Maybe
not. I was talking with Kyle. His intelligence network has
reported some pretty disturbing things about Briggs and the GSC
army, including those new mecha."
"Really?"
"The stealth mecha are Cobra class Advanced Tactical Mecha.
He's pushing for a whole new line of ATMs to complement his
primary strike forces. The Cobra is the first of the series.
However, the Cobra ATM was in the experimental stage only a year
ago. It was hardly even a prototype when Briggs put in a demand
to have the factories start chugging them out by the hundreds.
It may be advanced, but it's pretty much untested and terribly
unreliable."
"At least it has a weakness," said Taeon. "I was more or
less wondering how Briggs could increases the GSC forces as much
as he has. They've made a big push. With all their forces
attacking our worlds, their worlds must be completely
unprotected!"
"They are," replied Sara. "However, we're so busy defending
Sirius and building up our forces to defend the Sol system we
can't spare anything to attack Tau Ceti, Altair, or even
Capella."
"That's bad."
"In a recent speech, Briggs stated that 'Terror can only be
fought with terror', and called us fascist dictator imperialists
and so forth. He has rallied his people at a terrible price.
The entire GSC economy has focused on war. Mecha and ship
production is up three hundred percent. Pilot training has been
accelerated to a two week program. Pilots are even expected to
remain in their cockpits no matter what. They live and die in
their machines. No ejections. If a pilot can't bring his mecha
back, there's no place for him in the army. And there are plenty
of pilots. Nearly every boy over the age of 18 has been drafted.
Mecha are expensive, but the factories just keep turning them out
with no regard for safety or even quality checks. They've
sacrificed quality for massive quantity. And cost is no concern
to Briggs' regime. He has turned the people of the GSC into a
determined force, bent on overthrowing the ITR and crushing
Earth."
"Wow," said Taeon. "I did notice some of the mecha we
fought were pretty flimsy."
The door chime sounded again.
"Yes?" called Taeon.
The door slid open and Ryo looked in. "Hey, Taeon. We're
heading down to the moon. It was requested that we bring a diver
mecha pilot for some reason. Want to come?"
"Sure," said Taeon. "Let me get a clean uniform."
"All right," said Ryo. He turned to leave. "Be at shuttle
bay two in twenty minutes."
* * *
The shuttlecraft lifted out of it's landing bay and blasted
toward the moon. The Arcturian Moon had de-cloaked, and was in
plain view a hundred thousand kilometers away. Even at this
extreme range, the moon was clearly visible and looked like any
ordinary crater-strewn, airless worldlet.
As they drew near, the moon could be seen in greater detail.
In the light of the distant orange-red sun, they could see the
glimmer of metal. A metallic band of some sort circumvented the
moon's equator, and another circled along the prime meridian from
pole to pole.
"What the hell is that?" asked Ryo.
Dr. Chrome climbed out of his seat and glanced at a sensor
console. "The artificial structures across the moon's surface?"
"Yeah."
"Looks like a system of electrogravitic coils, energy absorbers,
power conduits, and high capacity focusing lenses circling the
equator and from pole to pole. Let's see... At one of the
equatorial junctions there is a massive matter/antimatter power
station and a small base. At the other is the main colony, where
we are heading. The main base appears to have three large bio-
domes, a factory, a power station, and some hangers."
"Wow," said Ryo. "You can see all that?"
"No," said Dr. Chrome. "I'm reading the sensor reports."
"What's that energy conduit-thing system for?" asked Taeon.
"If you want my opinion," said Dr. Chrome, sitting back in
his chair. "It looks like a really big psi-amp."
"What?" demanded Taeon, in shock.
"Of course, it could be a massive diverspace engine. Could
be both."
"A psi-amp?" asked Taeon. "The moon is one giant psi-amp?!"
"Don't jump to conclusions," said Chrome. "It has all the
components to be a psi-amp plus some other things I've never seen
before. I assume we'll find out when we land."
"Entering standard orbit," said Jason Grivar as he typed
away at the helm console. "Admiral? Should we ask permission to
land or something?"
Admiral Steele nodded and turned to the communications
console. "Research base," she said. "This is Admiral Steele.
Permission to land?"
"Granted," came the voice of some operator. "Docking bay
three is standing by."
"Very well," replied the Admiral. "Take us down Ensign."
* * *
The passengers disembarked from the shuttle Renmer. Ryo
looked around the landing bay, surprised to see such a large
quantity of military related items. Racks of missiles and mecha-
sized rifles lined the walls. Along another wall were five mecha
scaffoldings three of which were occupied with a type of Raptor
mecha he had never seen before.
"I thought they were against war," said Ryo.
"Even Gandhi needed bodyguards," said Jason, stepping out of
his shuttle.
"But he didn't have bodyguards," replied Ryo.
"Yeah, and look what happen to him."
A door at the far end of the room slid open and three people
walked into the bay. One of them was Dr. Gunn. The others, a
man and a woman, were strikingly embellished. The woman wore a
large-shouldered dress coat that extended down past her belt and
formed a skirt. A noble-like tunic and cape was draped over that.
She had knee high boots and skin-tight pants. The man wore a
black uniform with a cloak draped around his body. He also had
black boots and gloves and flowing blond hair. Both of them wore
gold circlets on their foreheads, each with a small crystal
embedded in the front.
"Admiral Steele," said Dr. Gunn, glancing only for a moment
at Ryo. "Welcome to Zion Station."
"Mom," said Ryo cautiously. "Wha..."
Dr. Gunn smiled. "It's good to see you, Ryo. We have much
to discuss. But as an ITR officer you must know that other, more
urgent matter's are pending."
"Such as?"
"The primary GSC strike fleet," said Dr. Gunn, "which will
be arriving with in the next two days."
"You've detected a fleet in diverspace?" asked Ryo. "I know
it's possible to track ships if you know where they are, but
finding a fleet of ships in diverspace is next to impossible!"
"Not for divers," said Admiral Steele. "You must have some
powerful divers here. I have not detected this fleet of which
you speak."
Dr. Gunn motioned to the two people behind her. "My I
introduce Leta Zodiac and Alex Nair. They are our chief divers.
Class tens, of course. Trained from birth. They operate the
Reality Horizon."
"Reality Horizon?" asked Taeon.
"Follow me," said Dr. Gunn.
"The Reality Horizon," started Leta Zodiac, as the group
stepped into a hallway, "is best described as a massive psi-amp,
though that description is somewhat lacking. It is much, much
more. But you would not understand. You see, we have uncovered
some important secrets as to the nature of the universe and the
relationship of the human mind to space-time."
"Is that what we saw from orbit?" asked Dr. Chrome. "The
bands of energy coils, power lines, and lenses which circle this
moon?"
"Yes," replied Leta. "The actual control facility is buried
about thirty kilometers beneath this base. That is where all the
energies converge."
"Yes, I see," said Chrome.
"Doubtful," stated Leta with a smirk. "Alex and I operate
the system, but it really needs someone with even more powerful
mental ability. Together we can barely control enough energy to
get this moon to teleport five AUs. For more than that, we just
don't have the control."
"Why not add more divers?" asked Taeon.
"Naive, isn't he?" asked Alex.
Leta sighed. "Adding more divers does increase the amount
of energy which can be harnessed, but it terribly degrades from
the accuracy and control. What we need to harness and control
all the power of the Reality Horizon is one super-powerful diver.
You see, the Reality Horizon taps into the fabric of space-time
itself. It has the potential for total, unlimited, universal
power."
"Wow," said Ryo.
"Wow?" asked Alex. "All you can say is wow?"
"Doctor," said a technician who came toward them from down
the hall.
"Yes?" asked Dr. Gunn.
"The Vigilant is calling," said the tech. "ITR Space
Command is trying to reach Admiral Steele. They say it is
urgent."
"Is there a communications station nearby?" asked the
Admiral.
"Yes," said Dr. Gunn. "This way."
She led them down another hall and into a small conference
room. At the front of the room was a large display screen. Dr.
Gunn approached the front of the room and punched some buttons on
the display console.
Captain Armour appeared on the screen. "Admiral?"
Admiral Steele stepped up to the screen. "Yes, Captain?"
"I'm putting you through to Space Command. The Secretary
General has been trying to reach us."
"Very well."
Armour vanished from the screen and was replaced by the
image of the ITR Secretary General. "Admiral Steele!"
"Yes, sir."
"Thank God. We need you and you're fleet to return to the
Sol system at once."
"May I ask why? We have made some astounding progress here
and..."
"The Empire's falling apart!" he exclaimed. "Insurrections
are running rampant. Worlds are falling. Our ships and armies
are surrendering to Briggs by the cargo load. After Eridani
fell, I think we all lost hope. With the President dead, most of
our leaders assassinated, and Eridani in GSC hands..." he sighed
and shook his head. "Admiral, we believe the ruling houses of
Alpha Centauri are negotiating defection to the GSC rather than
risk being invaded. And Sirius! My God. A fleet of thirty GSC
warships has entered Sirian space and are kicking our asses. The
ruling houses on Earth, Mars, and Venus are about to erupt into
war against each other over whether or not to surrender or fight
to the bitter end. We can't afford an internal war at a time
like this! The GSC is no doubt preparing to mount a final strike
against Sol. We are not certain, but we do know that one hundred
and some odd number of their ships are unaccounted for, including
the Victorious. They could be lurking in diverspace preparing to
drop right down our throat at any second. Get back here now.
All hell's breaking loose and we need you and your diver powers
to assist us in our final stand against..."
Suddenly, the screen exploded into static. The Admiral
clutched her head and staggered back, screaming in pain.
Half a second later, Taeon felt an explosion of pain in his
head like a wave of fire had rushed into his mind. Spikes of
electrical pain seemed to tear into his brain and his vision was
filled with blinding white light. He felt himself hit the floor
and his screams joined the agony filled screams of Admiral
Steele, Leta Zodiac, and Alex Nair.
* * *
The blinding white light vanished, and was replaced by a
vision of things yet to come. Somehow, Taeon knew it was from
the future beyond the veil of the void. He was seeing what no
other had ever seen before.
There was a world below him, on fire, torn apart by some
unimaginable force. Space and time itself trembled as waves of
ungodly energy tore it asunder. He watched as hundreds of ships
boiled away into space. Billions died in an instant of time.
Then, in the darkness of space, there was a great explosion so
brilliant it could cast a shadow upon the sun.
* * *
Ryo watched in horror as the Admiral, Taeon, and the other
two divers suddenly collapsed on the floor screaming and holding
their heads in agony.
Dr. Gunn was the first to act. She grabbed the circlets of
Alex and Leta and tossed them aside. The metal headbands landed
on the floor, smoke rising away from the crystal mounted at the
front as it melted away.
"What the hell's going on!" demanded Jason Grivar.
Dr. Chrome looked at the smoldering circlets on the floor.
"My God... where those psi-amps?" he asked.
Dr. Gunn darted for the room's intercom. "Medical emergency
in conference room three!" she yelled into speaker. "Get a
trauma team down here, now! Prep the neuro stasis chamber."
"Doctor, there are bigger problems," buzzed a reply.
At that moment an alarm went off and the entire intercom
system blared to life. "Emergency, emergency. All medical teams
scramble," came the announcement. "All divers have undergone
catastrophic seizures. Massive diver energy wave has disrupted
all divercomm systems and sensors. Tech teams report to your
designated areas."
"Holy Mother of God," said Dr. Gunn. "Where did that shock
wave come from?"
Ryo knelt down next to his cringing friend. "The future,"
said Ryo. "It came from the future..."
* * *
Taeon opened his eyes and looked around. He was in bed, in
some sort of medical facility.
"You're up," said Ryo.
"I guess," replied Taeon. "I've got a killer headache.
What happened..."
"You tell me," said Ryo. "Every diver in this base, the ITR
fleet, and probably every diver within a couple dozen light-years
was suddenly blasted right off their feet."
"Geez," moaned Taeon.
"Every divercomm, sensor system, and diverdrive was
disrupted. Some kind of shock wave in diverspace."
"I wonder if it hit Briggs fleet?" asked Taeon.
"Hey, let's hope so. Though, if it did, they've probably
recovered by now."
"Xandra was talking about a shock wave," said Taeon. "Man,
that must have been it! How's the Admiral and the others?"
"Admiral Steele has recovered. Leta and Alex are in a coma.
They took the blast pretty hard. Those headbands were psi-amps,
you know."
"Ouch," said Taeon. " I'm surprised they're not dead. Say,
are we planning to head back to Earth? That last message..."
"Humph," said Ryo. "Would you believe Admiral Steele has no
intention of returning?"
"What?"
"That's right. Even though the Secretary General believe
Briggs fleet is heading to Sol, we know he's coming here. The
Admiral is not about to let Briggs take this system. Not now,
anyway."
"Great. What was it? A hundred warships in his fleet?
We'll be outnumbered again!"
"Yeah, but now we have the Arcturian Moon." Ryo waved his
arms out, figuratively encompassing the moon. "This... this
place is the Sword of the Empire!"
"Hmmm. I thought you were the Sword of the Empire."
Ryo dropped his arms and shrugged. "Whatever. Get some
rest. The worst is yet to come."
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
JT
Dr. Chrome
Dr. Kei Gunn
Alax Nair
Leta Zodiac
Jason Grivar
Captain Armour
And Everyone Else
(all mecha were constructed under
the Mekton Zeta© RPG system, by
R. Talsorian Games, Inc)