ALTERNATE TALES OF THE STAR FORCE
STAR BLAZERS---PELLIAS
Being the fifth part of THE RIKASHA INCIDENT--- BY: Frederick P. Kopetz
ACT SEVEN--CHAOS
I. DOGFIGHT
The Center of the City
of
Thursday, January 14, 2202
1430
Hours, space-time.
"Where's those
positions we're going to hit, sir?' asked one of Conroy's wingmen as his planes
sped over the city of
"I'm sending
Hartmann's squadron after them," replied Conroy. "We're looking for
enemy bogies."
"Bogies at three
o'clock!" snapped a pilot from one of the elements towards the rear of
Conroy's squadron.
"Break off and get
them!" snapped Conroy. "We've got some coming right at us!"
added Conroy as he noticed six planes approaching his element at high speed.
"Roger that,"
snapped the other pilot, who was known as Sorenson. "Siegel, Horiyama, follow my lead."
Sorenson's two wingmen
followed his orders as the Cosmo Tigers wheeled about hard to avoid a spread of
missiles from the black Rikashan planes.
"Zirven!," snapped
a harsh voice over the Rikashan wing leader's helmet.
"Yes, Commandant
Razov?"
"You have to get all
of those planes. I want that Earth battleship's fighter cover brought down.
Then, when they least suspect it, I want that ship wrecked. I don't want any of
those Earthers or Aliscea left alive to escape us. I want to administer this
planet."
"Yessir. I'll order the fifth and twelfth
wings in to hit that ship. I will deal with this opposition myself."
Zirven gave his orders,
and, a moment later, Rikashan planes were speeding up from the runway of the
captured Pellian fighter base the enemy was using towards the south of Perlana.
"You creeps!"
yelled Angelique Hartcliffe as she staggered away from the wreckage of her
Cosmo Tiger, which had crashed near a series of rocks around the captured
Pellian fighter base south of Perlana.
Angie took the time to pump
a few shots from her Astro-Automatic towards the planes, which took no notice
of her as they took off and set their sights upon the Argo after they
regrouped over the city.
Zirven's planes blasted up
towards the Argo, firing missiles in a vicious spread as they roared in.
From her post on the
bridge, Holly Parsons cried, "Captain! We're under attack! Enemy planes!"
"Damn, right as we
were about to begin our landing," said Wildstar. "Dash!
Hit them with our port pulse lasers!"
"Pulse lasers, OPEN FIRE!"
snapped Dash.
Zirven's planes scattered
while the Argo's anti-spacecraft batteries began firing. A few planes fell,
but some regrouped for a second attack upon the smoking space battleship.
"You're not gonna get
very far doing that," snapped Conroy as he streaked in with his Cosmo
Tiger. "Okay, let's get them!"
Conroy and his wingmen
immediately engaged the Rikashan planes in a nasty dogfight that surged all
around the Argo as dusk began to fall in the beleaguered Pellian
capital.
Two planes were shot down
on each side, but Conroy, with a wicked smile on his face, led the Rikashan
planes around past the starboard side of the ship, using himself and his own
element as bait.
"I like this,"
said Zirven. "They know they are beaten and outnumbered. They will ram
into their own ship and give themselves an honorable death."
"Are you sure?"
asked Rigald, one of his wingmen.
"What they're doing
makes no sense. They're caught between our guns and the hull of their own
ship."
"NOW!" snapped
Conroy. "Pull up!"
Conroy and his wingmen
stood on their tails and roared up, followed by the other Cosmo Tigers in
Conroy's squadron.
Zirven's men ran into the
trap before they could all pull up. The Argo's starboard pulse lasers
all fired at once, taking out nine of the enemy planes. Zirven and four
survivors pulled up in pursuit of Conroy. Conroy and his nine squadron mates
immediately wheeled about and hit them with everything they had.
Zirven and his men went
down in defeat.
II. PRELUDE TO A LANDING
Space Battleship Argo
Thursday, January 14, 2202
1526
Hours, space-time.
"Sandor, that Rikashan
fighter attack delayed our landing. We were hoping to land while we still had
daylight," said Captain Wildstar as he stood with his officers and a large
part of the Black Tigers and the Combat Group around him in a circle at the
center of the deck screen in the Argo's operations room. "How's the
damage to the ship?"
"Minor," said
Sandor. "The armor belt deflected most of the enemy attack. The only
damage was to the lowest pulse laser deck on the port side. One of the lower
gunhouses was pierced, and another one was frozen in the attack. They're making
repairs now. Luckily, none of the landing bays were hit."
"Good. That means we
won't be slowed down that much. Dash, how did Hartmann and Hardy do with their
bombing raids while Conroy was occupied with the enemy fighter/bombers?"
"They hit the southern
airfield and all of the missile batteries we could spot," replied Dash.
"The southern airfield is pretty well wiped out; the only signs of life we
could detect after the attack are in the hills around it, and they're
scattered. At any rate, the Rikashans can never use that airfield again;
Hartmann's squadron wrecked the main runway and all of their planes and attack
corvettes, and they also report that they wiped out most of their missile
batteries and left the others inoperable."
"Good for Hartmann,"
said Wildstar. "Is there anything they didn't get?"
"They think they left
their captured headquarters building intact, but Hartmann thinks they hit the
communications towers so they can't call into space for reinforcements for at
least several hours," said Dash.
"Sir," added
Rosstowski. "They shouldn't be able to hit our landing craft with heavy
weapons now, and Hardy's squadron also hit three heavy troop concentrations.
Any resistance we meet should be from the ground, and they'll be scattered all
over the city."
"Hemsford, you think
that you and Starkey can pull this off now?" asked Wildstar, referring to
Ensign Paul Hemsford, Leader of the Argo's Marine Group, of Squad One, and to
Ensign Alan Starkey, Hemsford's exec and the leader of Squad Two. Sergeant Vic
Wallchinsky, Hemsford's second-in-command of Squad One, and Sergeant Henri
Leclerc, Starkey's second-in-command of Squad Two, were also present at this
briefing.
"Sir, it'll be tough,
but not as tough as it'd be if they could shoot down our landing craft,"
said Hemsford. "I've already taken the precaution of prepping our Marine
torpedo planes with starshells to illuminate our landing zone."
"Captain, we're ready
to go in there and wreak some havoc," added Starkey with a smile.
"Good. We should be
able to slip into the tunnels under the
"Hemsford, you and
your men will lead the first wave near that large empty area of courts around
the northern end of the city. Your mission will be to surprise the last large
concentration of Rikashan troops we know of between there and the edge of the
big airfield that the Pellians are still fighting the Rikashans for. From our
intelligence, there's a chance we might be able to find entrances to the tunnel
complex around there. I'll land near you with a hand-picked group of ten
pilots, Marines, and members of the Combat Group and see if we can find an
entrance around the edge of the courts."
Hemsford glared at Wildstar
for a moment, but then he remembered his mission and nodded. "Yessir.
We'll do as you ask."
"Rosstowski, your job
will be to take ten more pilots, Marines, and Combat Group members and search
the hills around that southern airfield for surviving personnel and for an entrance
to the tunnels that Astrena said was in the vicinity of those hills."
"What does the
entrance look like?" asked Rosstowski. "Any
intelligence on that, sir?"
"I think Astrena said
it looked like a cave entrance," said Homer.
"So all I've got to do
to find a way in is find a cave entrance...the right one," said
Rosstowski.
Wildstar nodded.
"Okay, now...I'll need volunteers for my group and for Rosstowski's
group."
Bryan Hartcliffe's hand
immediately went up. "Captain, Sir...I'm volunteerin' to go in there with
Rosstowski."
"Permission
granted," said Wildstar. "Now, I'll need ten of you to go in there
with me, and then nine more to go in with Rosstowski. Remember, all of you are
volunteers."
"Why'd you choose to
go down into a cave with me again?" asked Rosstowski. "I thought you
didn't like underground places, Hartcliffe. Remember how you reacted to that
mine entrance back in the 20th century?"
"I want to take any
chance I can in findin' Angie alive again, as well as help you find that
Aliscea."
"Why do you want to be
around me when I find Aliscea?"
"Because
I want to see your reaction, Rosstowski. I hear you two are already quite an item," said
Hartcliffe with a leering wink.
"Oh, would you knock
it off?" asked Rosstowski. "Anyway, I've got some volunteers. Now
shut up so I can brief these guys."
"Right," smiled
Hartcliffe.
III. LANDFALL:PERLANA
Space Battleship Argo
Thursday, January 14, 2202
1612
Hours, space-time.
As the landing shuttles
were being readied, the Argo's Marine Group waited for the drop signal
in their wardroom; all of them were fully armed and in full battle dress, all
of them were ready to begin fighting shortly.
"When the hell do we
drop?" asked one of them.
"They say we're gonna
hit the beach at sixteen-thirty now," said another one. "And in the
dark, mind you. What BS!"
"Why did they keep on
delaying this operation, Sarge?" demanded a lance corporal who was
standing near Wallchinsky.
"That's easy to figure
out, Blake," said Wallchinsky. "The Tigers had to shut down their
fighter base and their missiles. No good going out in landing boats and getting
shot down soon as we leave the ship, right?"
At sixteen-fifteen a klaxon
went off. "Attention, Squads One and Two, this is Hemsford," came a voice over the wardroom speaker. "Wallchinsky...
you have the guys in Squad One take their places in Landing Boat Number One.
Starkey, you have your guys in two head to their places in Landing Boat Number
Two. Boat Three's being used for Wildstar's party, and Rosstowski's party is
going down in two Jet Recon Boats. An element of Marine Group Torpedo Boats
will precede you in order to soften up the landing zone, and give us some
light. Then we will land and hit the Rikashans' base camp at
"YEEAAAHHH!"
roared the Marines in their wardroom. In the distance, the sound of the torpedo
planes' launch resounded through the Argo.
Hemsford himself came into
the wardroom a short time later. "Wallchinsky, I'm going with you guys in
Boat One," he said.
"Yessir. Sir, I hope this won't be a mess
like the attempt to rescue the
"Then, we didn't know
what we were facing. Now we do, Vic," said Hemsford. "I just hope
that Wildstar won't try to take all the damn credit for himself when his guys
meet up with Aliscea and Astrena. After all, who's
gonna be doing the killing and dying, as we were trained to do?'
"The Marines,
sir," said Wallchinsky.
"Damn right. Well,
looks like it's time. All right, you guys, saddle up
and lock and load. The smoking lamp is OUT!"
A wintry dusk came early to
the city of
A short time later, two
Landing Boats flew out of the Argo's lower landing bay hatch towards the
surface. A few scattered Rikashan troopers fired rocket-propelled grenades up
at the landing craft as they came in over the burning city, but a few shots
from the landing boats' forward guns took care of the threat in short order.
With a loud sonic boom, the
Marines' torpedo planes made a final pass over the city, firing a load of
phosphorescent starshells that abruptly lit up the area around
They landed in clouds of
dust, and immediately, the forward doors opened and the Argo's Marine
Group ran out onto the cobble- stoned square like army ants. They took cover
near an ancient colonnade as a few shots came from over a large hill of debris
to the east of their landing site.
A few shots from the
Marines' "Popper Guns", actually rocket propelled grenades of their
own, silenced the enemy fire for the moment.
"Starkey, where's your
guys?" asked Hemsford over his helmet radio.
"Half a klick to the
south...we only had one guy hit. How'd you do?"
"No one wounded, and
we shut up the rats' nest a klick to the east. That's where those orange SOB's
are pinned up, I'll bet. I see some entrances off there in the distance,"
said Hemsford as he flicked down the auto night-vision faceplate on his helmet.
"Wonder if those go under the hill?"
"I'll take my guys up
on top, how's about you burrow under?" asked Starkey.
"Roger."
"This is
Wildstar," came another voice over Hemsford's
headset. "How are you doing?"
"I'm down with Squad
One at RP-325b by TM221," replied the Marine commander. "We found a
hill of masonry and just took out what we think is the long-distance artillery
they have, and we're trying to penetrate the Orange Zone Astrena spoke of at
two points. The Twos are going over the hill, and we're trying an underground
entrance we found half a klick or so ahead of our current position. You may
wanna try landing by our boats and going down there later on. No visible friendlies or unfriendlies yet,
although we do hear explosions and see numerous fires in the city proper to the
south. Rescue operations in there are gonna be a real pain, by the looks of
it."
"You're checking the
Gamilon frequencies, just in case?"
"Affirmative. I've got Kern doing that. He hasn't
picked up anything yet."
"You go in and check
out that underground entrance."
"Roger, sir,"
said Hemsford. "Just what I was thinking. Hemsford out."
"Into my parlor, said
the spider to the fly," muttered Hemsford with a grin. "Guys, we're
gonna have to watch ourselves down there. Wallchinsky, you keep your fire-team
up here on the deck. I'm going in. Kern, monitor those frequencies, you're
walking point."
"Roger-dodger
sir," smiled Lance Corporal Kern sarcastically. "Good thing my
insurance is done paid up."
"Shut up and go in
there, comedian," said Hemsford.
"Yessir."
Hemsford glanced a little
at the runes carved above the doorway as they went in. Not knowing what they
meant, he thought, For all I know, those
letters say "This way to the
In a while, Hemsford and
his Marines found that the underground passageway led to a place where there
were two stairways. One went up, the other went down.
"Which way do we
go?" asked Kern.
"Kern, you take seven
guys and go up. I'll go down and see what we can find. You don't go up too far,
and I won't go down too far. If you find fresh air in your location, which
indicates it might lead back up to the surface, let us know and we'll go that
way; vice-versa for me."
"Right."
"Guys, let's go,"
said Hemsford.
The two teams split up and
went.
Kern led his group up into
another courtyard that was between a number of old
buildings. Nearby stood a series of hills that marked the
southern border of the airfield.
"Wonder what this
place is?" muttered Kern.
He found out a moment later
when green laser fire poured out of the windows.
"AMBUSH!" he yelled.
"Get down, and return fire!"
A fierce firefight soon
began. Kern's Marines got quite a few of the howling armored Rikashan troops,
but one of them killed one of Kern's Marines with a scream.
In the meantime, inside the
building, a Pellian boy and a Pellian young man hit a red button and ran. A
moment later, the fourth floor of the building exploded, taking a few of the
Rikashan troopers with them. The blue/grey-clad Pellians took off into the
building's lobby, nodding at a white-clad figure who
was carrying a laser rifle. Kern noticed in passing that the Pellians looked
exactly like Caucasian Earth people.
The figure in white ran out
into the edge of the lobby, and helped the Space Marines by firing two bursts
across the court into a first-floor window, killing a pair of Rikashan snipers.
Kern noticed that the figure looked like a young woman with blond hair. Before
Kern could thank her, though, she disappeared back into the building.
"We're clear, thanks
to those locals," said Kern. "Let's check those buildings out and see
if there's any more of those enemy troopers around."
"What's going
on?" asked Hemsford over Kern's headset.
"We've hit the
surface; a courtyard up between some buildings near
the airbase. We were pinned down for a bit, but some Pellians helped us
out."
"We'll meet you guys
up there. What's the way out?"
"Passage
between two of the buildings with a black metal gate over it."
"Sounds
good. Be
careful. I think you're past their perimeter now."
"Will
do."
In the meantime, Wildstar's
party was approaching their landing zone in another one of the Argo's
landing boats. Wildstar himself was flying the landing boat in, with Laurel
Hartmann beside him as his co-pilot.
"It looks like a mess
down there, Wildstar," said Hartmann as they circled the courts near the
northern end of the city.
"Yeah, we barely need
the landing lights; everything's on fire," said Wildstar. "Real encouraging. Hope we can find a spot where the
ground won't cave in on us."
"Over there, by that
hill, see?" cried
"RP-314 by the
directional finder," said Wildstar as he looked at a blip on the large
display between his control station and Hartmann's. "That'll do it."
He picked up a hand mike.
"Venture, we're landing my party at RP-314; let Hemsford and Rosstowski know."
"Roger," came
back Venture's voice over his helmet headset. "Good luck."
"Yeah...if we make it
back..." growled Derek.
"Why so gloomy,
Wildstar?" asked Venture.
"Because
this whole mission seems close to being shot to hell. See ya later, Venture," said
Wildstar as he hung up.
"Wildstar, what's
wrong?" asked Hartmann.
Wildstar sighed.
"Nothing's going right,
"
"Yessir. Sorry," said
"Sorry,
Hartmann," sighed Derek. "Maybe I shouldn't have let her come on this
voyage."
"I know her. You
would've had to tie her up in a closet back in that big new house of yours to
keep her on Earth."
"Yeah," said
Derek. "Well...we'd better land this boat. We've got a job to do," he
snapped.
Hartmann smiled weakly and
then, a moment later, she snapped on the landing lights (which were barely
needed thanks to the light from the fires nearby) and the landing boat came
down.
As the ship hissed to a
stop, Wildstar and Hartmann undid their harnesses. Derek said, "Game
time," with a weak grin. Hartmann gave him a thumbs-up, and they both left
the cockpit.
"Okay guys, listen
up," said Derek. "We're splitting into two squads. Dave and
Rory," said Wildstar, meaning Dave Packwood and Rory Pfeiffer, two old
Black Tiger veterans from the Iscandar mission who had been among the first of
the volunteers, "you guys will come with me and Hartmann, along with
Corporal Collins and Tech Sergeant Anselm," said Wildstar, referring to
one of the Marines and one of the Combat Group people who had volunteered.
"We'll make up Squad One."
"Right," said
Packwood, who raised a thin eyebrow. "Hey, Wildstar, this is sorta like
that little fracas back on Pluto, isn't it?"
"Yeah, it is,
Dave," said Derek. Packwood had been one of the four men, including
Wildstar, Sandor, and Conroy, who had went in to invade the Gamilons' huge
Reflex Gun complex on Pluto back in 2199 and had gotten out alive. Even though
Packwood, then a pilot, had been officially a Combat Group member when not
flying as a Tiger on the first mission, Wildstar had always known he could
count on Dave in a tight spot like this, especially since Dave's luck had also
held out later on when they had invaded Desslok's flagship in 2201 after having
rammed it. Dave had also given them a hand with covering fire in their invasion
of the Comet Empire city before they had gotten separated in the vast complex
that was Gatlantis.
"Just like old
times," chuckled Packwood as he wiped his gloved
hand on his black, white and gold Black Tiger uniform shirt. "I guess
Cory's in charge of the other squad?"
"Yep,
"What choice do we
have?" blurted out Sakamoto. "Ya didn't pick us, sir."
"Sakamoto, shut up!"
snapped Wildstar. "You guys will cover our rear; I'll walk point myself.
Now let's move it. LET'S GO!" snapped Wildstar. He thumbed a button near
the bulkhead of the landing craft, and the ramp went down with a loud hiss.
Wildstar immediately felt the cold; he grabbed up a short peacoat and put it on
against the cold. “Any one of you that have coats, get them on,” he said. “It is
very cold out there…”
A few moments later,
Wildstar was the first one out into the city. Quite a few of the pilots
accompanying him now had flight jackets on. "Venture, Hemsford,
Rosstowski, we've just hit ground in the city at RP-314. Hemsford, Rosstowski,
hope to see you guys in a while. Venture, it's
sixteen-thirty five," said Derek on a private channel between him and the
first bridge of the Argo a second later. "The clock is running now.
How much time does Sandor say we have?"
"Sandor says you guys
have seven hours before the seismic activity becomes too dangerous for anyone
to be on the planet," responded Venture. "He thinks the planet will
blow half an hour after that, at exactly 0000 Hours on the fifteenth, Space
time, Megalopolis standard."
"Very
well. You know
your orders. If we're not back on the ship by twenty-three thirty five, you get
the hell out of here with the rest of the Star Force."
"But Wildstar, we need
Aliscea."
"Yes, but you also
need to save close to three hundred others. If I'm not back on that ship by
2335, the Argo is your command, Venture. Make sure our plaques look good
on Heroes' Hill in that event. Wildstar out."
"What's with
him?" snapped Venture. "Sandor, he sounds too damn depressed."
"I think he's trying
to reconcile himself to the inevitable...we don't have much of a chance of
finding Aliscea as the hours tick by, and we hit more resistance while that
planet slowly comes apart."
"Why are the Rikashans
holding on to a dying planet that's not even their own?" said Venture.
"It's not like it was on Gamilon where Desslok was trying to defend his
own world and his people to the last gasp. I can kind of understand that. But this?"
"Hmm...they must have orders from another authority...someone they
fear much more than even Nature in this case," said Sandor.
"But who could they
fear...that much?" asked Venture.
IV. A DARK MIND OBSERVES
The Grand Technomugar
Fortress
Lord Ekogaru's
Meditation Chamber
Time: (Terran Space
time)
Thursday, January 14, 2202
1640
Hours, space-time.
As a weird sighing and
moaning noise like that of a huge, evil living being resounded around him in
his meditation chamber, Lord Ekogaru watched the surprised look on Mark
Venture's face on the bridge of the Argo on the vast screen of his
chamber with a sneering laugh.
"Who is it they fear,
mortal? It is I you fool...Ekogaru the Great, Author and Destroyer of
worlds! Aliscea...Astrena...you can't keep this game going for much longer, can
you? No, you can' t. Submit to me or die, I must say. I will give you one
final moment of grace."
"I must refuse!"
cried a young girl's voice in the chamber.
"Aliscea, how did you
do that? Would you like to come to me in person so we can reason things out?
Innocent Star Force members and not-so-innocent Gamilons," sneered Ekogaru
as quick flashes of the faces of Derek Wildstar, Paul Rosstowski, and Leader
Desslok rolled across his screen "are busy risking their miserable mortal
lives for you, thinking they can get you off that world. Little do they know
what I have lined up for them, even should they succeed in their miserable task."
"Why don't you leave
us alone?" cried Aliscea's voice as an astral projection of her burst into
the Dark Lord's presence. "I hate you...you...you...DEMON!"
"I'm not a
demon," purred Ekogaru. "I just happen to have a very few of them as
friends, that's all," he said with a nasty smile as his eyes went venomous
green. "Don't you want to come here and meet with your father, Aliscea De Gralnacz?
He's well overdue. I wonder where that idiot is?"
"Mother and I
renounced that name long ago, when Father turned traitor to serve you!"
cried Aliscea.
"I think this
conversation has gone on long enough, you insolent teenager," said
Ekogaru. "I have much to do...such as having a nice chat with a few
demons?"
"You don't know the
Power you trifle with," said Aliscea. "I tell you that you consort
with the dark Realm at your own soul's peril, Ekogaru. I wouldn't want even my
own worst enemy, which means you, you madman, to fall into the fate that
awaits the demons and their friends. Change your path...now."
"You don't need to
lecture me," growled Ekogaru. "Mental link cut, and that's enough of
YOU, little girl! Now, underling, what was that message?" asked Ekogaru as
the image of a trembling high-ranking Technomugar officer knelt before him on
the screen, wiping away the image of Aliscea from before the thoughts of that
dark mind.
"My Lord, the Sukalnach
has just come out of warp and entered Landing Bay Number 972. She is
damaged, and Protector Shardovan Gralnacz begs to have a private audience with
you aboard his ship He has tidings to bring to you."
"Tell Gralnacz I will
meet with him, but he must come unto my Presence in my
Chambers!"
"But he
prefers..."
"Damn his
preferences! Tell him he will meet with me...NOW! I will grant him entrance
unto my Chambers!" roared the Dark Lord.
"Yes, M'Lord...I live
to serve only you," groveled the High Admiral.
"Good. And tell the
Rikashan Prophetess Marda she can expect to hear from me later on, as well. I
wonder what became of that idiot Cha'rif and that Terran boy he was
torturing."
"You...you know much,
M'Lord."
"I know
EVERYTHING," purred Ekogaru. "Leave my presence, now!"
Ekogaru clapped his hands and the image of High Admiral Tolver disappeared.
"well,
Admiral, what did He say?" demanded Gralnacz as Tolver came back onto the
bridge of his Fortress with a salute a few minutes later.
"He said, sir...that
you will meet with Him in His Chambers. He refuses to condescend to your
wishes, sir. He is in His Meditations."
"Oh, all right,"
snarled Gralnacz as he ran a hand over his bald head down to the wild fringe of
hair he had left. "If He wants to be a complete jackass about this...I'll
go and grovel very nicely," said the Techomugar cyborg, once a Pellian,
with a warped grin as he set down his goblet of wine.
"That will have to be
reported, Lordship," snapped Tolver. "It verges upon Blasphemy!"
cried the Technomugar Admiral with a shocked look on his face.
"Don't you know,
Tolver, even gods can make mistakes? If only He had given me two more
Fortresses and a few more psionics, I'd be bringing
back the ashes of the Argo and two Wanted Time Lord Adversaries as
prisoners."
"T...Time LORDS?"
asked Tolver. "Who?"
"The
drunk and the manipulator. Namely, Melvin...and the Doctor."
"Lordship, if the Time
Lords have taken an interest in this...we should leave that planet
alone...especially if.."
"You're afraid of the
Doctor? I'm not. It was my slow touch that began to exhaust him to the point
where he had to regenerate the first time, you know, when we met centuries
before he buried the Hand of Omega for the first time. I caused him to begin to
age and shrivel like a prune. Now, he's a shadow of what he once was. Don't you
know Time Lords lose power as they regenerate? But enough of
this. I shall go and see Ekogaru."
"He awaits you, sir.
And, sir, I offer prayers for your soul."
"He won't kill me.
He'll kill the Terrans," hissed Gralnacz. "I think He's working on it
NOW."
V. SOME UNEXPECTED
MEETINGS
The Edge of the City of
Thursday, January 14, 2202
1622
Hours, space-time.
Derek Wildstar and his
party slipped through the courts, having been through a few firefights with
Rikashans lurking in nearby buildings. Once, they had been saved by a sniper
who had quickly pumped a few blue-tinged laser shots through a window across a
court, hitting a Rikashan. Before Derek could thank the sniper, he saw only a
flash of blond hair in the window and then the sniper had disappeared like
lightning.
"They look so much
like us," mused Wildstar.
"Who?" asked Hartmann.
"The
Pellians. That
must've been a Pellian sniper helping us...and..."
"Wildstar, come look
at this!" yelled Packwood.
Wildstar and his party ran
up (with Wildstar holding his weapon out in front of him) as Packwood turned
over a brown-armored corpse with his toe. "So, Packwood, you found a
Rikashan."
"This isn't Rikashan
armor, sir. And since when are Rikashans blue?"
"A Gamilon!"
whispered Derek. "So some of them did make it
down here. Hmmm...he' hasn't been dead for
long, rigor hasn't set in, yet," he said as he picked up his arm.
"Wonder if there's any more of them around?" murmured Derek, as he
took a step back to look around.
A soft click went off, and
the huge flagstone he was standing on suddenly tilted down like a trapdoor, dropping
the startled Captain into darkness. As he fell into the dark hole, his yelp was
heard over the radio, followed with a soft plop and the startled yell of some
woman.
"WILDSTAR!"
yelled Hartmann as she and Packwood gathered around the hole.
"I'm...I'm all
right," he said as he looked around in the darkness. Fell on top of
something...broke my fall."
"Um...hmm,"
snapped a tart voice. "Since when did you decide to start referring to
your wife as something, Derek?"
A startled Derek twisted
his head around to discover that he had not only fallen right on top of
someone, he had fallen right down on top of Nova, who looked both very
much alive and just a little peeved!
"Nova!" he cried
as he lost his reserve and embraced her, very, very hard as tears ran from his
eyes. "What are you doing here?"
"Trying to find
Aliscea, just like the rest of you guys! We met a while ago, and I have some
vague idea of where she is."
"Thank God you're all
right!" cried Derek as he crawled off of her and clasped hands. Then, they
both pulled a little closer and exchanged a long, deep, searching hug,
whispering affectionate, sweet things at each other before Laurel yelled,
"Good job, Nova! Now he won't be
so depressed! He's been a real pain in the ass the last two hours!"
"Huh?" said Nova.
"I...I thought you
died in that plane crash," stammered Derek. "And what are you doing
out of uniform; in white?"
"The Pellians rescued
me after the crash, nursed me, and dressed me in this Pellian uniform because
my uniform was pretty well singed in the fire I was caught in. Thank God you
made it through that firefight all right!”
“Yeah, I’m glad you made
it, too,” said Derek.
“Me too,” sobbed Nova, as they embraced again. At that,
Nova then added, “Anyhow,
that's how I met Aliscea, who just popped in for a moment.”
“You met Aliscea?”
“Yes, I did, Derek! She
said we can find her somewhere beneath this complex. It's a temple of some
kind. In the meantime, I was helping the Pellians and Hemsford by playing
sniper a little while I looked for you, guessing you'd get here sooner or
later. Permission to join the party, Derek"
"Granted, of course," snapped Captain Wildstar.
"What happened to IQ-9? Isn't he on your tail as usual? We could use one
of those extenda-arms of his right about now."
"He...was ruined in
the crash," sniffed Nova. "I think he's done for. Guess everyone has
their time...even robots. He died defending me."
"If Sandor can find
what's left of him...that might change," said Wildstar.
"We can jump down,
Nova," yelled Packwood.
"You don't need to do
that. I picked up some rope in that last building I was in...thought we might
need it," said Nova as she got up, picking
up a coil of rope that had fallen off of one shoulder of her now somewhat dirty
white Pellian uniform. She had been carrying it over her shoulder while playing
sniper, but it had fallen off when Derek fell on top of her. "
"Good for you, Nova.
We could use some grrrl power about now," grinned
"Stow it, Hartmann!
I'm a woman, not a girl," snapped Nova with a grin as she threw the rope
up out of the hole formed by the flagstone the
Rikashans had recently booby-trapped.
Soon, thanks to Nova and
Derek's help, the other nine members of the party were down in the tunnel, and
Nova and Derek both decided to burden Sakamoto with the rope (because he
"was acting like a jackass again" as Derek whispered to Mrs.
Wildstar.) Now, with both Derek and Nova walking point (guided by a flashlight
the resourceful Nova had also somehow gotten her paws on), the party continued
down into the tunnel complex under the city as their search for Aliscea
continued.
A while
later, Derek's party found that the passages all seemed to lead to a huge
courtyard of some kind that was roofless. There, to their surprise, Wildstar and company
met...
"HEMSFORD!" cried
Wildstar. "How did you end up here?"
"Love to ask you guys
the same thing," he said. "Both my squads are here.
"We lost about five guys..."
"We lost only one..."
said Derek.
"All the tunnels
seemed to eventually lead here," said Hemsford.
"We noticed the same
thing," said Derek. "Could this be Aliscea's doing?"
"No...it is MINE!" said a cold voice before them in the
darkness.
About thirty Terrans were
blinded as a set of bright lights shined in their faces. When Derek's vision
cleared, he found that he and his now nearly combined landing party of about
thirty happened to be staring right into the face of at least five times as
many Rikashans.
The cold voice's owner
stood on a huge metal and stone structure that looked like some kind of
horn-decorated temple altar of sacrifice and said. "Gentlemen, and a very
few ladies, whom we will be capturing ALIVE, I will tell you. That is since you
Terran girls are said to give good sport, and we warrant you'll look lovely
suitably undressed as part of my harem...after we kill your men. At any rate, I
am Commandant Razov, head of the Rikashan occupation force, and now true ruler
of Pellias. We set this nice little trap for you morons, knowing you'd blunder
right into it. Men, drop your weapons, and surrender. We might let you
live...as slaves...if you're cooperative, that is."
"Razov, I am Captain
Derek Wildstar, Captain of the Earth Federation Space Battleship Argo
and Commander of the Star Force!" retorted Derek in equally proud tones.
"We may be outnumbered by five to one, but so what? Everyone here
is a dead shot, even our women! I'd advise you to surrender, or we'll kill you
along with as many of your men as we can take out before we die as free
men and women, if such is our fate!"
"You're an
idiot," laughed Razov. "Rikashans are superior to Terrans any
day."
"Then I take it you
never heard of the Forty-Nine Ronin? Or the
"Enough out of
you," snarled Razov. "Execution party, ready to
fire. Hit all the men, wound the women!"
Both sides tensed to fire,
but, suddenly, from above the courtyard, many strong lights abruptly went on.
"I would be pleased to see you try it," said a cold but strangely
melodious voice from above. "Troops, at the ready.
Execute all of the Rikashans. Be careful to spare the Earthlings."
"Who...who's
that?" yelled Razov. He and his men began to mutter among themselves as
they looked up, blinded by the lights. However, Derek and his men and women saw
a huge company of troops assembled around three sides of the courtyard
on a huge colonnade, facing the Rikashans. Derek noticed some of them even had
triple-gunned armored tanks of some kind in their company that looked vaguely
familiar. On top of one of the tanks, which seemed to be on top of a tall
building whose roof was at ground level about thirty meters above them, stood a
commanding figure with a high-finned helmet and face mask attached with a hose
who looked like nothing but a threatening seven-foot tall dark silhouette of
doom in the bright lights. For a moment, Wildstar wondered who could be dressed
like that, until he heard a mocking laugh under the mask, and recognition
suddenly came to him and all of the other members of the Star Force.
"Hmhmhmhmhmhmhmhm,"
laughed the tall commander. "You have shot some of my men like assassins
in the dark, Razov, but you failed to reckon upon me and my elite guard! I have
worked with Astrena to bait a trap for you and assure the rescue of my allies,
Rikashan. Before you die, permit me to let you know who it was that killed
you." The figure raised his hand, and a light suddenly shone upon him,
revealing a black helmet, black mask, dark grey uniform, and red and black cape
fluttering in the cold wind. He slowly opened his helmet and mask, while
keeping his weapon trained straight on Razov. "I am Desslok, Leader of the
Gamilons! Prepare to die, you barbarian murderer of children."
At that, Desslok fired a
single shot with vicious aim straight into Razov's
heart as the Rikashan arrogantly stood upon an altar that was sacred to the
Pellians. That was the signal for the rest of the hundreds of Gamilons to open
fire upon the Rikashans in the pit. The Gamilons fired viciously but with
careful aim, since not a single shot came anywhere near a member of the Star
Force. The worst danger to Derek and his party was from a few bits of flying
stone that skipped around as a few shots hit the floor of the vast courtyard,
which stood before the huge altar and the very tall ancient-looking building
upon which Desslok was standing. Derek realized that there was something
vaguely familiar about the look of this complex, but he couldn't place it...and
didn't have much time to think, as he suddenly dropped to one knee, aimed his
weapon, and signalled with a hand gesture for his
party to follow suit. Then, they let loose with a barrage of shots that helped
the Gamilons slaughter the Rikashans that their first barrage hadn't killed.
Each member of Derek's party killed at least two Rikashans to every one of
them. All of them would later be decorated for this day.
Finally, as smoke hung over
the complex, Desslok appeared through the front doorway of the main sanctuary
of the
Even Derek was fooled for a
moment. Ignoring Nova's urgent elbow into his ribs, he blurted out, "Queen
Starsha...did you come here with Desslok to help the Pellians?"
"No, I am not Starsha,
even though I think she might be delighted at the resemblance," said the
young woman whose authoritative, but somehow tired voice all of them suddenly
recognized. "We meet at last, Captain Derek Wildstar. I thus welcome you
to Pellias, as well as your party, even though your stay here shall be short. I
am Princess Astrena, Protector and Steward of Pellias in the name of her
now-dead Queen, my elder kinswoman. Desslok and I together planned your rescue
and have also planned the rescue of the bulk of the survivors of Pellias into
the last two remaining warships of our fleet, which will be escorted to a place
of refuge by the Gamilon Fleet. A few will come with the Argo since we
shall soon again be forced, I foresee, to take a long journey into space, some
steps of which I know are familiar to you. I will accompany Desslok on that
journey on his flagship, since in his long, hopeless defense of the spirit of
his world, and his quest for a new home, I find a kindred spirit." Then,
to Derek's surprise, he saw Desslok and Astrena exchange what could only be a
loving glance.
Desslok, aware he was being
watched, murmured something to Astrena inaudible even to Talan, who stood near
him, and then said, "After her people find sanctuary, Astrena has made a
decision to let her Stewardship pass on to another. This is so she may remain
with me, for reasons best known only to ourselves. All I can say is that as
Starsha has made her decision, so have I made mine. We shall, I pray, again be
allies, but not be what we were before, even though I honor her memory
always."
"At any rate, we await
another, to whom the leadership, if not the formal stewardship of my people,
shall soon pass," said Astrena. "She and I shall speak to you who are
gathered here at length in this place about the threat that brought us together
before we depart this place. All I can tell you is that the arrival of Pellias
here was no accident of Nature. Nay...it was deliberate, caused by a
powerful, ancient, and malicious intelligence who guides our common enemies
known as the Rikashans and the Technomugar."
"Well, who's gonna
tell us this story?" yelled Sakamoto as a tremor ran through the ground
under their feet as he stood kicking something invisible to the rest of them.
"No disrespect, lady, but I don't think this planet has long left!"
Then, Nova's stomach
convulsed as she noticed that Sakamoto was kicking one of their dying enemies
in the face.
"In your moronic
insolence, Terran, you are more correct than you know," snapped Astrena.
"She who shall tell you this tale is my daughter, who aids me in the
preservation at this moment of even thy otherwise unworthy life, you who
I just noticed kicking a surviving enemy as he lay dying! War may be necessary
at times, but I deplore un-needed atrocities! Grant that Rikashan his warriors'
death in peace, damn you!" roared Astrena as the planet shook under their
feet and an uncanny golden fire glowed in her eyes. As Sakamoto cowered on the
ground under that angry glance, Astrena, in that hour, bore more of a
resemblance to a tall, angry avenging Angel of Death than a human being.
"Offend me again and I
shall slay thee before thy turn, pilot!" roared Astrena in a low, echoing
voice. "And doubt not that I have the ability and the right to do
so! Did you not hear my words? You have virtually insulted she who stands in
the place of a Queen, and she who is soon to be an Empress! Now, permit me to
say," said Astrena as she mastered herself and the supernatural golden
fire in her eyes died down and she again dwindled to mere human stature,
"that Aliscea shall be among you soon. For now, we wait. She completes a
rite, a ritual of our people that shall permit her to remain at the side of the
Terran Paul Rosstowski, whom she loves. When such is finished, she shall address
you on our mutual threat before we leave. Only she can make it true unto you,
and only after she completes this rite of our people."
"Lady Astrena, what is
this rite?" asked Derek Wildstar in what he hoped was an appropriately
respectful tone after he glared daggers at Sakamoto, who knelt trembling on the
ground as a puddle of wetness grew around him on the stone of the courtyard.
"The
secret ritual of our people known as Shalinskar. When they emerge from their
seclusion, which shall be soon, since she knows the danger to us, she and Paul
shall be wife and husband according to the laws of our people. For now, we must
wait. I bid you rest, and share some of your rations. We shall wait, but not
for long."
At a signal from both
Wildstar and Desslok, the Terrans and the portion of the Gamilon party
assembled in the courtyard sat down. The former enemies tentatively shared
their rations with each other as they sat...and waited...to hear the precise
reason why they had fought, together and separately, through so much in this
strange week...a week that had seemed like a century to both races.
TO BE CONTINUED WITH ACT EIGHT--"The Song of Shalinskar"
To return to the Introduction to the Rikasha Incident Please click here