ragna6

ALTERNATE TALES OF THE STAR FORCE

STAR BLAZERS---RAGNAROK

Being the eleventh and final part of THE RIKASHA INCIDENT--- BY: Frederick P. Kopetz

ACT SIX: THE LAST CHORD

I. THE FINAL CONFRONTATION

Space Battleship Argo

Earth's Solar System

Wednesday April 28, 2202

1639 Hours

On the Argo, Derek Wildstar sat in grim, sad silence, looking at Nova’s still form, trying to keep from crying, and, last of all, looking over their wedding album pictures, trying to remember the good times that they had experienced, and trying to remember the sweet things, and not the pain they had been through over the past few days…

Then, Nova abruptly sat up.

"Derek!" she said.

"Nova, you're back!"

"Yes, sweetheart, I'm back. We’ve won!" said Nova as she hugged Derek.

"Sweetheart? That's a new one. You never call me that, Nova!"

"Well, can't you say something new?" said Nova. "Behold. The lights in the Fortress are dimming, verily, verily…" she said as she raised a hand. "I think that we are close to beating him. Aliscea should be here soon. Don't mind her. She may be a bit deranged, poor thing."

"Deranged?" said Derek, who was beginning to think that Nova sounded very strange. He walked over to her and set down the wedding album.

"Yes, she may have a sort of…uhh…identity crisis," said Nova.

Something didn't seem right to Derek, and then it hit him. Funny! She's never stumbled over psychological or medical terminology before! Maybe she's just tired. She's still hurt.

"Well, I guess we can beat Ekogaru soon, right?"

"Yes…and no," said Nova.

"No?" said Derek.

Nova pushed Derek away gently and stood up. Then, she smiled a smile that looked truly wicked.

Then, a moment later, she drew her weapon.

"Nova! What's gotten into you? Why are you holding your Astro-Automatic on me?"

"Have you not guessed, yet, simpleton?" Nova said in a cold voice and intonation that sounded nothing like her…it sounded like her playing at being an actress. "Your wife has lost. I am embodied again, if but for a short time, to do what must be done to you."

Derek looked at Nova for the first (and only time) with hatred. "You're not her!"

"No!" said Aliscea as she sat up. "She's not!"

"Aliscea?" said Derek.

"Do not listen to her! She is mad!" raged the stranger who was possessing Nova's body.

Aliscea got up and ran over. Derek was shocked to hear her lilting vaguely British-sounding voice speaking in a flat Western U.S. accent. "Derek, you're not gonna believe what I have to tell you!"

"What? You don't sound like Aliscea!"

"Bingo!" said Nova's mouth in a sarcastic tone. "She's not! She's possessed, too!"

"What do you want?" asked Wildstar. "Who are you?"

"Haven't you guessed, Derek?" said Aliscea. "I'm not in there," she said, pointing at her own body. "I'm in here. Ekogaru's in there!"

"No…" he said. "It can't be…Ekogaru can't be…in your body…Nova?"

Aliscea nodded…although it was really Nova who was nodding.

"And what are you doing in Aliscea's body?"

"She's guarding the gateway, Derek! She said the gateway to his virtual world must be sealed so he can't draw on that power!"

"I have enough power left to kill both of you," said "Nova", who was Ekogaru. "Now, bow before me, Mortal! Bow before the Lord Ekogaru!"

"Like hell we will!" cried back Nova with Aliscea's mouth.

"How do I get him out of you?"

"There's only one way, Derek."

"What?"

"You'll have to knock me unconscious, Derek," said Nova. "My body…that is. He can't occupy it if it's unconscious. Aliscea said so. She then said it could be healed after we make him almost helpless in the spirit world."

"Do you have the courage, you lovebirds?" laughed Ekogaru. "Can you do it?"

Derek looked at Aliscea's body. Inside it, Nova slowly nodded. Derek then did the hardest thing he had ever done in his life.

He drew back his fist to strike Nova's body.

Then, he punched her.

There was a loud scream.

Derek opened his eyes. Nova's body was thrown inert at his feet. It was twitching, and the face contorted horribly as Ekogaru tried to keep a hold upon it.

A moment later, the struggle ended, and something like a black cloud, but strangely wispy, flew out of Nova's body as it fell limp into unconsciousness. The black cloud disappeared right through the Argo's bridge windows like a malign ghost.

Derek looked down with tears in his eyes.

Aliscea's body walked over.

"Thanks," said Nova. "Although I hope I never take a right hook from you like that!"

"You won't," said Derek.

"I don't think Aliscea will mind if I do this," said Nova.

Nova threw her borrowed arms around Derek and kissed him.

"I'll be back," she whispered. "Aliscea needs me now."

Then, the body went limp in Derek's arms.

With hope and trepidation, Derek lay the body down beside Nova's. He gently wiped a small bit of blood off Nova's lower lip, and then he affectionately felt her neck as his eyes brimmed.

There's still a pulse. Thank God, he thought. Now, all I have to do is hope they can win…wherever they are…

Then, Derek picked up Nova's body. He carried her to a chair beside his captain's chair at the aft part of the bridge.

"We still have a lot to do, Nova. We will fight on, Argo…you, me, and Nova. Together."

Then, he sat down. He knew he had to start the ship.

Just like when we fought Zordar, he thought.

Then, he said, "Argo, take off!"

In obedience to his command, the battered ship surged forward.

In the spiritual realm, Nova looked at Aliscea. Her "unclad" spirit was beautiful, but so was Nova's. Aliscea's light was stronger that hers, and the fire in her breast burned gold.

"Now what will you do?" mocked Ekogaru, who appeared before them, looking, once again, like an ogre…an ogre clad in blackness.

"Put an end to you," said Aliscea. "We will make you spiritually impotent…or, rather the Secret Fire and the Matrix will do that!"

"Secret Fire?" said Ekogaru, who was unable to look at the flames in their bosoms.

"Yes," said Aliscea. "Now, comes the beginning of your end, as we have decreed. As thou shalt not turn back, o mortal man…"

"I am not MORTAL!" yelled Ekogaru.

"You are," said Aliscea.

"Yes, you are," said Nova.

"I am not!"

Nova and Aliscea shut their eyes.

In a strange feeling that was not entirely voluntary on their part, a great light came out of Nova and Aliscea's forms. Aliscea knew it was not coming from her alone, but it was coming from, Outside. To Nova, it mostly seemed to come from Aliscea, but she was there to "focus" it, ready to take over if the darkness swallowed Aliscea…which, as it appeared, might well happen.

But, the darkness did not prevail. The Light swept through Ekogaru, reducing him to a grey, drab spirit of hatred.

A spirit that, a moment later, was exiled back to the Fortress, unable to do more than move it or operate its systems in a weird symbiosis. Its spiritual power and dread were now gone for the moment, and it no longer had any psionic ability to speak of for the moment, existing in a stunned, half-life in the circuits of the Fortress like a mere ghost in the machine.

"We did it!" cried Nova.

"Now, you have to return; it's not done yet..." said Aliscea. She took her by the "hand" as her light began to dim. "It'll be sort of like a long, sickening dive off the high board. With any luck, your body should be working again when you get back. I think all of those wounds will be healed, even that wound Ekogaru gave you."

"Thanks," said Nova.

"Go!" said Aliscea. "We're down to five minutes!"

Nova leapt into the blackness, a blackness that overcame her like a pit. It was a strange, eerie sensation…going….

Derek looked at her with an utterly shocked smile on his face.

"I'm back," she said with wonder in her voice. "And my head doesn't hurt…neither does my stomach…where Ekogaru stabbed me, that is. I'm healed!"

"Uh, it's really you?" said Derek with tears in the corners of his eyes.

"Looks like it," she said, patting herself. “Feels like ut, too. I know darn well what I happen to feel like!”

"What did I say to you when I proposed to you?" said Derek, who felt he had to be sure it was her…and not Ekogaru back in there again. Even though he seemed to know that the expression that had been in her eyes when Ekogaru had been in her for a moment had been utterly alien and twisted.

"Nova…you are going to marry me?" she replied in a soft voice.

Derek nodded.

"I believe you," said Derek.

They held hands as the Argo slowly cruised along.

"Seems familiar," Derek said.

"Like when we were fighting Zordar," said Nova. "Who was it…that said, 'It's déjà vu all over again?' Was that Barry Bonds?"

"No…Whitey Ford," said Derek.

"Good. Aliscea will be back in a minute," said Nova.

"She'd better be. Look."

"It's turning," said Nova in sad awe. "The Fortress…and he's pointing the Phased Density Cannon right at Earth! No!"

"Aliscea!" cried Derek. "Hurry!"

But, there was only silence.

"Nova?"

"She's broken the bond with me…if she doesn't get back, we're doomed!" she sobbed.

II. THE LAST STROKE

Earth Orbit

1641 Hours

Back in the Fortress, Ekogaru floated in his systems like a ghost of malice.

"Aliscea is having a hard time," he said. "Earth now has four minutes left, by my deadline! Nothing they can do, now! Let me get my systems started…"

At that, the Technomugar Fortress again lit up, gleaming bright and multi-colored like a Satanic Christmas Tree (if such a weird contradiction of terms was possible)

"Prepare energy transfer," said Ekogaru. "Lock on targeting sequence…the impact point will be their Megalopolis…the power-up will take two minutes! Firing at exactly 1645!"

The Grand Fortress began to pull up its demonic energies. The terrible ship crackled with blue electricity and lightnings as the great ship prepared to destroy Earth.

"Now, as for Argo," said Ekogaru. "Aliscea is not ready yet. Desslok's Fleet is six minutes away at his top sub-light speed, and the Earth Fleet is approaching their stupid natural satellite…and Argo cannot hurt me without Aliscea powering up the wave gun. I have won! It's over, Earth!"

Then, the Fortress shook terribly as an energy beam hit it. Then, another salvo hit it.

"What?" roared Ekogaru. "Who dares attack my grandeur? Systems!"

Ekogaru, in his mind's eye, looked at the dark blue ship that had just warped dangerously into Earth orbit. "What? A damned space pirate?"

"Remember…Astrena wants us to just buy Aliscea time," said Harlock. "It is not meant to be an all-out attack. We can't destroy that ship."

"We're getting too close to it," said Yuki Kei.

"We can manage," said Harlock. "A few more shots, Tochiro! Just enough to get him off-balance!"

"Acknowledged," said Tochiro as he fired the Arcadia's cannons again. "This is great!"

It could also be the end of us, thought Harlock. But what better way to die than to die in a noble purpose with Earth at hand?

Artwork: Harlock Views the Fortress: Based upon original artwork from the Captain Harlock series-Computer-generated by Frederick P. Kopetz

"Well?" said Harlock.

"There's a lot of turbulence due to that gas field," said Tochiro. "But, I'll keep firing…for as long as we can!"

At the same moment, on the Argo, Aliscea snapped awake on the deck. She slowly stood up, looking like…like a corpse rising from the slab. .

"Aliscea!" cried Nova.

"Your question," said Aliscea. "It was Yogi Berra."

"Yogi Berra?" said Derek.

"It was Berra that said 'it’s déjà vu all over again'. Paul told me. He knows baseball better than you two. And I just let him know this is it! He's waiting!"

$Description: C:\Users\Honey Bunny\Documents\My Documents\Bunny Nest of Documents\STORIES\Star Blazers\FREDDO'S VISIONS PROJECT\The Rikasha Incident\11. Ragnarok!\techfort.jpg$ Artwork: "Final Advance" Based upon artwork from the original Yamato series-computer-generated by Frederick P. Kopetz

"Great, let's go!" said Commodore Wildstar. "We're ready!"

"Good," Aliscea said as she sat down at Engineering. "Just in time. Three minutes left. Make the final course adjustments!"

At that, they faced Ekogaru's Fortress alone at last. Harlock had just moved the Arcadia back, his job done. Now, with Desslok's fleet and the EDF on the way…but, too late, the Argo was all that stood between Earth and destruction.

And, as Earth's populace watched the video screens and their televisions in fear in the blinding rain in the Megalopolis, once again, their last hope happened to be the Star Force…or, two members of it on a mission that looked like suicide.

For, it was suicidal. Ekogaru was beginning to target them with his Phased Density Cannon. Now, the Wildstars, at last, were staring Death very hard in the face.

And they were refusing to flinch.

"Nova, the forward part of the bridge," he said. "The wave gun controls at the Captain's post are damaged."

"Right."

Derek ran to the wave gun, bringing up the grip as Nova took the helm.

"Correct, starboard, twenty-five," said Derek.

"Starboard twenty-five," said Nova as she turned the Argo, gasping as she realized they were looking down into the very mouth of Hell…the Phased Density Cannon itself.

"He's still stunned from the fighting we did," said Aliscea. "And Harlock was just throwing him off balance."

"Harlock?" said Nova.

"No time," said Derek. "Aliscea! Stop all engines!"

"Stop all engines," she said.

The Argo's bridge went dark.

The hum of the wave gun started.

"And do what?" she said as she grasped Derek's hands over the firing grip.

"Pray," said Aliscea. "Pray I will have the strength to do this!"

Aliscea clenched the Engineering console, screamed…

And she glowed bright white, sending energy down into the very wave engine itself. The whining of the gun suddenly went manic.

"Countdown!" she said.

"We have energy again?" said Derek, awed.

"Yes, and more!" said Aliscea.

"Hurry! He's beginning to fire, Derek!" said Nova as the green fire turned brighter.

"10…9…8…" said Derek. At the last minute, he flicked a switch, closing the protective shield over the bridge windows. I don't want the three of us blind, he thought.

"Seven…six…" intoned Ekogaru as, down below on Earth, there were ground quakes. The seas tossed, and the wind blew wildly due to the approach of the Fortress.

"5…4…3…" said Derek over the whine of the wave gun as his hand and Nova's pressed desperately into each other.

"two…one…Hahahaha," said Ekogaru, gloating over his victory, not caring about the Argo or Aliscea. "I will sweep them away with my cannon like dust motes! Them first…then…their planet! I am truly GOD!"

Aliscea smiled grimly. At that moment a thought came to her. It said, 'The Light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it, and never shall...'"

Then, she nodded at Wildstar. "Now. The moment for which we have prayed..."

Derek nodded back. Then, he cried, "FIRE!"

"FIRE!" yelled Ekogaru in the systems of the Fortress.

The Argo's wave gun glowed a terrible orange-blue as it fired, followed by the titanic green explosion from Ekogaru's weapon.

For a moment, the Argo seemed to be overwhelmed by the green tide of energy. On Earth, people watching gasped, screamed, and cried. There was nothing but green.

But then, the enhanced beam of the Argo's wave motion gun expanded and enlarged.

In the Fortress, in his sensors, Ekogaru beheld a strange and awesome sight.

In the growing Light expanding around the Argo’s bow, the Dark Lord swore to himself that he saw the ghost of a figure appearing. The Figure seemed to have hair down to the shoulders, was robed, and had something of a beard.

“Who are you?” demanded the Dark Lord. “Who are you that you interfere in my moment of triumph?”

A powerful thought came in silence to Ekogaru as the Light overwhelmed his Fortress. The thought said; Heaven is My Throne, and the Earth is My footstool. How dare you touch and profane that which is not yours?

“So, you shall slay me?”

There was no further answer in the roaring fire. The Fire blasted down the firing barrel of Ekogaru's demonic weapon…and it reacted with Ekogaru's energy, turning the green energy surge of his infernal machinery right back up into its original source!

"The override, Aliscea!" cried Derek as he jumped back to the Argo's helm. "Bring up the engine!"

Aliscea didn't answer. She fell limp to the deck.

"Nova!"

Nova ran over as the Argo shook. "Derek! She's unconscious!"

"Nova, hit the tachyonic acceleration lock override lever!"

Nova had to bash her bare fist through a small pane of glass to hit the emergency button. She nicked a finger while doing so. "Got it! Override!"

The wave engine sang and vibrated fiercely as Derek accelerated the Argo out of there like a bat out of hell.

And it was a good thing he did. The Fortress, unable to fire, was boiling with green and white energies deep in its vitals as its systems began to implode upon themselves. The ship was now consuming...itself.

In the Fortress, Ekogaru's grey spirit was now impotent…unable to do anything but rage at Eternity as his Fortress, and his body and mind, crumbled into an interphase, falling back down a vast time-space warp into the Blackeye Galaxy, in pieces.

Around him, he felt the death of most (but not all) of the remaining members of his Technomugar Race in the Blackeye Galaxy as, in their link, the meal they had been expecting turned to Death. Their Lord, the center of their psychic universe, began to die, severing the bonds of psychic energy that held the whole race together. And, as he began to die, most of them died, with their spirits guttering, fading, and tumbling down into torment and eternal blackness. In the dying ruins of the Fortress, a small crystalline sphere kicked about, lighting up as a small spark of the Dark Lord’s twisted essence touched it, like a vile bird or a bat lighting upon a surface. The Dark Lord felt for a moment as if he was about to experience his final judgment and that he would fall into Death with most of his followers as the Fortress crumbled, but then, Ekogaru realized that he might be able to do…something. His spirit lit upon his sphere; the Sphere that had been at the end of his staff, and he felt a twisted, triumphant sense of hope, even as the Sphere fell into blackness somewhere in the space-time vortex.

Perhaps I will yet live, thought Ekogaru, or what was left of him as the Sphere tumbled on into darkness. Perhaps not. But, even if I do live, I am…crippled, yes, gravely, gravely, crippled…

And the Dark Lord was crippled, and had the strange, shivering sense that the only reason that any of him survived at all, even as a ghost, was on a definite note of Sufferance…the mysterious Sufferance of a Power above him that he knew he could not comprehend. The rest of the Fortress tumbled as so much junk into the heart of the Blackeye Galaxy, falling back into the black hole from which Ekogaru had first forged the infernal super-dense weapon millenia ago. Soon, nothing remained of it except for a magnificent funeral pyre of gleaming white gasses in a far orbit of Earth that glowed like a tiny, beautiful artificial sun. Finally, something beautiful had come out of the ugliness that had been the Dark Lord Ekogaru and all of his misguided works.

On Earth, the clock ticked from 1645 to 1646. It was a deliverance…a miracle.

And, on Earth, people cheered as the silhouette of a space battleship appeared on their screens as it came out of the new burning star. The Argo stopped, turned 180 degrees, and then, as Derek smiled, she fired a single triumphant salute past the new star that had been the Fortress.

At 1646 Hours on April 28, 2202, The Rikasha Incident was finally over.

The human race, and Earth, had been delivered.

And it was magnificent.

III. CODA (1) DESSLOK, FAREWELL

Space Battleship Argo

The Vicinity of Earth

Wednesday April 28, 2202

1732 Hours: Earth Time

The Earth Defense Fleet had finally come around the Moon a few minutes later, stopping as the Argo sat near Earth in a high orbit.

$Description: C:\Users\Honey Bunny\Documents\My Documents\Bunny Nest of Documents\STORIES\Star Blazers\FREDDO'S VISIONS PROJECT\The Rikasha Incident\11. Ragnarok!\EDFFleet1.JPG$ Admiral Falworth was alive but not well. The dignified old man had collapsed of a heart attack brought on by the stress of Ekogaru's near-destruction of Earth, as viewed by him on the Andromeda as a mere spectator tuned in to Earth's eye-in-the-sky satellite network. Falworth now lay in the Andromeda's Sickbay, barely conscious but grateful for their salvation at the last minute.

For the time being, Admiral Yamanami had assumed command of the Combined Fleet aboard the patched-up Cepheus, which was now leading the Fleet around the Moon.

"Send the Argo a message of congratulations," said Yamanami. "Soon, we'll meet them and give them a salute."

"Yessir," said Yamanami's comm officer.

Admiral Yamanami smiled as they drew closer. We won. We actually won this war! And we still have both Argo and much of the Fleet. But how many lives did we lose? What was the final cost in lives?

Aliscea was slowly beginning to awaken on the Argo as Nova tended to her.

But, Derek was not on the Argo's bridge.

Instead, he stood in space gear on the ship's foredeck. The Gamilstadt had come alongside the Argo, and Desslok stood on the Gamilon vessel's deck, with his cape blowing in the breeze generated within his cruiser's atmospheric shield.

"So, Wildstar," said Desslok. "It appears that we have won."

"Yes," said Derek. "We have. Together. A few months ago, I never would have believed it."

"Nor would I," said Desslok. "But you were a fine and honorable ally."

"So were you, Desslok. What are you going to do now?"

"Return to Gamilon. I again have a home…a home that needs to be rebuilt. And I have an Empress to tend to, an Heir to carry on my line, and an Empire to rebuild…and memories of our alliance to keep."

"Yes," said Wildstar.

$Description: C:\Users\Honey Bunny\Documents\My Documents\Bunny Nest of Documents\STORIES\Star Blazers\FREDDO'S VISIONS PROJECT\The Rikasha Incident\11. Ragnarok!\desslokdwgbye.JPG$ "Care well for Nova…she is a true heroine…as is…my stepdaughter. Farewell, Wildstar. We shall soon meet again…hopefully, in more peaceful circumstances. We have much to discuss….in the shadow of Iscandar, on a fine day, on Gamilon rebuilt…"

Desslok extended his arm ninety degrees in a parting salute that Derek returned. Then, he turned away, his cape snapping in the air bubble around his ship.

"Yes…we do have much to discuss," said Derek in a whisper as the Gamilstadt prepared to leave. "Such as…my parents, Desslok. But…farewell…for now."

Derek again saluted as the Gamilstadt left, followed by the Gamilon Fleet.

"Derek," said Nova's voice in his headphones. "Are you done?"

"Yes, Nova, we are. Get ready to take us home."

"Yessir!"

IV. CODA (2) A TIME OF PEACE AND REST

Space Battleship Argo

Earth Orbit

Wednesday April 28, 2202

1810 Hours: Standard Earth Time

The Argo was finally on her way back home.

However, due to ionic disturbances in the atmosphere due to the destruction of Ekogaru's Fortress, the ship's compass was off.

Derek and Nova were trying to reach Japan, but the ship ended up off-course. When the battered ship landed in the sea at last. Nova observed "This isn't the Megalopolis, Derek!"

"No, it's not. Are your scanners working?"

"Barely, Derek."

"I know where we are," said Aliscea as she awoke.

"Aliscea!" said Nova.

"The, where are we?": asked Derek.

"We're near the Andaman Islands in the Bay of Bengal off a country you call Myanmar. And we're alone."

Nova ran a radar scan. "She's right, Derek! There's a small island a kilometer away…and sensors say it is uninhabited."

The Argo's engine continued to run for a bit, but then it petered out and stopped.

"What's with the engine?" said Nova.

Derek ran over to Engineering; together, he and Aliscea worked the controls. Finally, Derek said, "It's completely out. We'll need a repair crew here to fix it."

"Should I call Headquarters, Derek?"

"Yes…I think you should…did you notice that the climate control system is down? It's getting hot in here."

"Sure is," said Nova.

"I noticed, too," said Aliscea. "I'm so tired…and hot. My senses also tell me that no one is around on that island."

"So?" said Derek.

"I'd advise you to drop anchor and enjoy it…if you wouldn't mind. I'll be out on the main deck if you need me."

"What will you be doing?" asked Nova.

Aliscea smiled. "Sunning myself."

Then, at that, she made ready to sun herself. She just sat down on the deck, took off her sandals, and then pulled off her dress…and then, everything else as she just went naked.

“Aliscea?” said Derek. “Don’t…don’t you have a swimsuit?”

Aliscea shook her head. “No. Do I need one?”

“Aliscea…uh…” Nova said as she tugged at her own collar, a little appalled at the young Pellian’s freeness with her body, but also envying it. “People don’t run around like that…unless they’re on their honeymoon…”

“Nova, if I am reading your mind correctly, you wore the same thing I did for the last two days of your honeymoon. Namely, this. And I’m reading your mind and you want to be naked right now? It’s too hot for either of you to be dressed right now. And I can tell you really, really want to be naked. Don’t you?”

“I do not!” Nova insisted huffily as Aliscea chuckled and twirled her hair. No, I won’t do it, Aliscea thought as she mulled over the idea of simply making all of Nova’s clothes vanish right off her back! It would be funny, but I can foresee she’ll get the idea herself, the Pellian Princess thought.

"Don't take too long," said Derek after he dropped the Argo's anchor. "We're calling Defense Command to get a repair crew. Uh..be careful who you let see you like that!"

"What? Are you and Nova the morals police? I'll see you later!" sang Aliscea. At that, she disappeared through the starboard side doors, humming to herself as she walked, carrying all of her clothes with her.

Nova sat at down at Communications, calling Earth Defense Command. The call was voice-only, since the Argo was still on nothing but battery power, and there wasn't enough power to call up the Megalopolis on video.

Aliscea's right….It IS too hot up here, thought Derek as he stood beside Nova on the stiflingly warm First Bridge. He had opened his shirt, baring his sweaty chest.

"What was that?" said Nova as she strained to hear. "Sir, you can't send anything sub-orbital to our location?"

"That's right," said the Commander over her headset. "Due to the same ionic disturbances in the stratosphere that blew you off course, we can't send up anything high-altitude until this storm clears in about a day."

Description: novaonebootoff "A whole day, sir?" said Nova with a smile as she brought up one of her legs and pulled her yellow boot off. She cast it aside, tapping her bare foot against the console after she bared her leg and got rid of her boot. Derek thought she looked adorable sitting there with one boot off "That's terrible, sir. Well…we'll just have to rough it. The air conditioning isn't even working on the Argo. There's an island nearby," said Nova as she streched out a towel on the deck with her headset on as she saw Derek getting a small digital camera after he shed his shirt. She laughed and said, "I guess we'll just go swimming for a bit."

"Sounds like a good idea. We'll send a crew out tomorrow, and I guess we'll see you on Friday, then."

"We have to go. Our power's running out," said Nova. "See you later." Then, she cut off, took off her headset, and said “Were you wanting to take pictures? Derek?”

Description: novaonebootoff2 “Uh….yeah…Nova?" asked Derek as she lay there half barefoot. She struck a pose for him, playing with her hair as he took some pictures.

Then, she got impish and then sat there a moment later with her uniform wide open as she shed her other boot. Since it was just her and Derek on the bridge of the Argo, she didn’t feel the usual need to stick to military discipline…or to be decent. She smiled at him, and, asked “Like to take more pictures?”

“Sure…Nova…how far is this going?”

“You’ll see,” Nova said. Then, taking Aliscea’s lead, she lay back and simply stripped off her uniform…and, like Aliscea, she made Derek’s eyes widen as she just took off her undergarments and then casually just went naked, putting on her gunbelt (over the bandage on her lower abdomen) and a pair of rubber shower sandals she found in the spacesuit locker of her post just to be cute.

“Nova, why are you…stripping?”

"You wanted more pictures. Right? It’s just us. We can have some fun! Also, you don’t take a shower with your clothes on, silly,” Nova said. “Derek, it’s hot in here. Strip. And I mean now! You’re melting!”

"Okay."

A few minutes later, in the shower, Derek gently removed Nova's bandage, and he was pleased to find that, just as Nova had expected, the wound that Ekogaru had given her was now completely healed, and there was no scar. To celebrate their victory, they had a joyful and uninhibited interlude of lovemaking together in the shower under the stream of water, which gradually became cooler as they showered.

It felt good under the water as Derek played with Nova’s breasts and nipples and smiled, listening to her little gasps as he slowly made love to her standing up, standing there with the water splashing their toes and their behinds as Nova raised her leg in her passion, trembling like a happy, excited bird as Derek brought her to a wonderful, shivering climax under the water.

Later on, after they took a Jet Recon Boat and some basic supplies (as well as light clothing to put on for when the repair and rescue crews arrived….the next day), Nova and Derek arrived on the island in nothing at all. Of course, they had said goodbye to Aliscea…whom they later found sunbathing (sleepy, but still in the nude) on a towel on the Argo's weather deck. She said she didn't know how to swim. Nova gently offered to teach her, but Derek was pleased when she refused.

He wanted Nova all to himself.

A quick sensor scan of the small island also verified an important fact that Nova had suspected; she and Derek would be all alone there. There were no other people, and few animals.

They could enjoy a nice, quick second honeymoon.

After a nice, brisk swim with Derek, Nova went back to the Jet Recon boat to fetch her sunglasses, and then she waded out of the warm Bay of Bengal onto the beach, barefoot, beautiful, and totally nude in the sun. Nova had taken everything off for swimming, and for Derek…and she was not wearing a ring, an anklet, earrings, lipstick, or even fingernail or toenail polish. She ran her hands through her hair and looked utterly innocent to her husband against the blue sky.

It was a bit strange, seeing the Argo silhouetted behind his naked wife like that as Nova lay in the sand, doing a cheerleaders’ split, showing herself off in the nude to her husband. Derek saw her from her head, down to her trimly muscled stomach, the cute little rosette between her legs, all the way down to her toes. To Derek, Nova looked just adorable in the strange double sun as she lay there by the waters’ edge on the sand, stretching her toes as he took more pictures of her in the nude, keeping the wistful, innocent, girl-next-door look that she somehow maintained even when she went naked in the sun, like she frequently had done during their honeymoon.

However, Derek thought it was a much better ending to a strange day than one of many thousands of sad endings that could have happened, considering that the woman before him could have been badly injured or killed just a few hours ago.

"Isn't that sky beautiful?" said Nova after she winked at Derek and then put her legs back down.

"It sure is," said Derek, who smiled at his wife as he sat down beside her. "The Fortress is burning like an artificial sun up there. How weird."

"It’s not so weird considering the energy in that thing, Derek. But, I guess it'll go out in a day or so. Maybe."

"Yeah, I guess so, Derek said as Nova then got up, ran into the water, washed off her bare bottom, and then sat down beside him on their beach towel as she ate some emergency rations that she then offered him.

"We can stay here and enjoy the sunset," said Nova as she looked up. “Not much more sunlight today, I guess…”.

"Yeah…" said Derek romantically. "Just like our honeymoon. Naked with you on a desert island!"

"Uh-huh," said Nova as she began to stroke Derek's chest. “Just like we were washed up here. Which, in a sense, we were.”

"I feel guilty…about…hitting you before," said Derek as he stroked Nova's face.

"Derek…my face is better now,” she said as she knelt seductively beside him. She smiled, thinking of how good this felt in the sun. “Besides, I told you to do it when I was in Aliscea's body."

"I still feel bad...I…I'm a bit nervous about hurting you…I didn't like doing that."

Nova giggled. "Don't treat me like cut glass, Derek! I'm fine! And we had to get Ekogaru out of my body somehow!"

"You’re sure?" he asked as he began to stroke her hair.

"I'm sure," said Nova. "You know something?"

"What?"

"We got Ekogaru out of me," she said, patting her stomach. "But I wouldn't mind something else…."

"What?" asked Derek, ready to bite at a joke.

Description: lovelovesunset Nova whispered “….something else…inside me right now…” The sweet (and dirty) that she said it made them both laugh. Then, they began to kiss…and then, a while later, to again make tender love to each other. It was soft, warm, and languorous. It felt beautiful there in the sunset, with the smell of the sea behind them, and the sound of the roaring surf providing natural music that blended with their sighs, gasps, and sounds of endearment.

It went on….Nova knelt on the towel, letting her toes dig into the hand as Derek ran his hand up and down her thigh and then slowly began to touch her there as he kissed her, loved her, and played with her breasts, tenderly caressing and then kissing her nipples, just as he reached the most sensitive part of her womanhood.

“What do you love right now?” Derek whispered.

“You…” Nova gasped. “And what you’re doing….my…god….I…”

“You like that?” Derek teased as he began to lick her nipple tenderly…while never taking her hands off her below her waist….

“Yes…” Nova moaned as she felt a pleasurable explosion building up inside her. “Derek…don’t…don’t stop….I’ll…”

He smiled as she began to reciprocate on him with gentle hands. For quite some time, they knelt there, lost in each other, as Nova then began to shake, tremble, shiver, and cry out…..

Then, as she lay in the throes of ecstasy and joy, Derek whispered “Shall we dance?”

Nova smiled and nodded eagerly, shutting her eyes and wiping away tears of joy as they fell back together, and Derek then took her.

Nova held him hard, locking her legs around him as he pleasured and kissed her while they lay there enjoying the act of love, going faster and faster as the sun continued to go down and the sunset faded bit by bit as they felt pleasure, joy, ecstasy, and then a mutual climax that left them stunned.

Description: wild4a Then, when Nova thought it was over and she could rest, Derek looked up at the nearly darkened sky after he finished making love to her with his manhood….and then, he smiled and kissed his way down her body, going back there as Nova felt pleasure that was so joyful that she thought she would burst as he gave her kiss after kiss in her most private spot.

A moment later, putting the icing on their second al fresco wedding….night…cake….and very glad that no one was there, Nova lay back and almost screamed with joy as a climax as intense as the ocean hit her as a warm night breeze blew all over her from her toes up to the top of her head.

Finally, it was over, and they lay there cuddling naked together as they watched the sunset. Then, in the warm night, the sun went down and the stars, amazingly, began to come out, not blocked at all by the light of the burning Fortress.

“I’m glad it’s all over,” Derek said softly as he hugged his wife.

“Me too,” she said as she smiled at him. “When we get the Argo back home…we have other things to do!”

“Such as?” Derek whispered.

“Taking up our honeymoon where we had to leave off,” Nova whispered. She then sleepily craned her head around and began to kiss her husband. He kissed her back.

What a wonderful way to begin a hard-earned peace, thought Nova as she lay there with Derek stroking her hair.

More hours would pass. They would never even get back on the ship that night.

Aliscea would find them like that the next morning on the beach. She missed Paul terribly and spoke to him that night alone for hours through their bond as she lay too exhausted to teleport herself to him, but when she found the Captain and Nova sleeping cuddled up on their beach towel in the grey, early sunrise the next morning, she said, “Oh…my God….you two look so sweet together! You’re so cute!”

Aliscea knelt down in the sand (she was still wearing nothing, just as they both were) and she kissed the sleeping Nova on the cheek. Then, she shyly kissed Derek on the nose. He stirred a little in his sleep, mumbled, “Nova, love..” and then, he kissed his wife on the nose as her long eyelashes fluttered.

Aliscea looked at the young lovers as they snuggled against each other, and then, she blew them a kiss as she tiptoed away in the sand…

…and wisely left them all alone.

VI. CODA (3) THANKSGIVING

Earth: The Great Megalopolis

St. Luke’s Cathedral

Sunday, May 9, 2202

1000 Hours: Earth Time

A beautiful Interfaith Service of Thanksgiving was taking place in the main sanctuary of the great complex of St. Luke’s Cathedral. At this service, Catholic, Episcopalian, Baptist, Communitarians, and other Christian pastors, both denominational and non-denominational joined in Prayer and Thanksgiving for the deliverance of Earth from the R’Khell ji’had and from Ekogaru. The assorted priests and pastors stood awaiting the arrival of the chief Prelate of the Tokyo Megalopolis; Cardinal Hiroshi Yamagata, the elderly and saintly man who was rumored to be a chief candidate for the Papacy, even if he would probably serve for only a few years due to his age. The Cardinal was loved by all, even those of non-Christian denominations, for his self-sacrificial prayer and service, service that included personal care for the sick and radiation-burned who had suffered from the Gamilon bombings for many years during the darkest days of the Gamilon War in the underground cities. The service was now awaiting the playing of the Processional that would herald the arrival of the Cardinal and his altar servers to begin the service.

One of the front pews was filled with members of the Star Force in dress uniform, namely, Mark Venture and Holly Venture (who would solemnize their vows again before what remained of Mark’s family later in the summer), along with Eager, Paul and Aliscea Rosstowski (Aliscea, who wore a white Pellian uniform today, was delighted at her first-ever look at a Terran house of worship), Yamazaki, Dash, and even Homer, who showed a sense of maturity and reverence for the proceedings.

Only Commodore Derek Wildstar and Nova Wildstar were missing; although Venture had made sure that two places were saved for them at the far end of the pew near the aisle.

“Where’s Wildstar?” whispered Eager. “Was he called away for a meeting?”

“No,” said Venture. “He and Nova had a request to make of the Cardinal.”

“What sort of request?” whispered Hardy.

“Something to do with the service,” said Paul Rosstowski. “Something important.”

Up in the choir loft, a large mixed adult and child choir stood in pure white robes at the ready to sing the service. But, not far away, in a smaller loft, there stood the beautiful walnut console for the Cathedral’s great pipe organ; which was the largest and grandest on Earth. The polished brazen pipes of the organ reached up high, behind the high altar and beside the three huge stained-glass windows that stood behind the altar. Right now, the day was cloudy, so the images in the three stained glass windows were muted, and almost invisible within the church.

At the bench for the organ, there stood three figures. One, at the left of the organist, was the matronly but beautiful organist who usually played at High Service, namely, Sister Georgette McMahon, the austere but loving nun who was the Cathedral’s musical director. She listened on a small headset beneath her veil and said, “Sir, the Cardinal is ready. He’ll begin to enter when she begins to play.”

“Thank you, Sister,” said Commodore Derek Wildstar in a quiet voice. He was in his black peacoat, cap, ascot, medals, Star Force whites, and he wore his katana and wakizashi in his belt; the two traditional dress swords of the Samurai that he was. He turned gently to the lone figure in white who looked very small behind the huge organ console. “Ready?”

“Let’s pray, first,” said Nova Wildstar in a quiet voice. She was simply but elegantly clad in a favorite white flowing dress of hers, trimmed in pink, and she wore pink pumps. She looked almost angelic as she bowed her head in silent prayer as Derek held her hands; a bit of sunlight flowed in through a side window and flashed off her honey-blonde hair as she prayed for success.

Please, Lord, she said in silence. My Aunt profaned this song. He made the profane act even worse. He took a song dedicated to your Glory and he twisted it. Please grant me the strength to play in the most traditional manner possible. Please let me restore this piece to holiness, as my act of Thanksgiving to You, My Savior and Lord, Amen.

Then, Nova raised her head. “Sister,” she said. “I’m ready.”

The nun nodded and opened the red-bound score that sat on the music stand above the keyboard.

The complex musical score was opened to the first page. The song title above the score read:

JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH

Passacaglia e fuga in do minore BWV 582

PASSACAGLIA AND FUGUE IN C MINOR

Nova shut her eyes, placed her fingers above the keys, placed her feet lightly on the great pedals, and she began to play the work slowly, reverently, and with great solemnity.

The beautiful passion and fugue moved the congregation to tears, and in the pews below, Venture wept openly as he heard the piece being played as it was meant to be played, as beautiful music filled with the Divine rather than the Demonic. He was sure that he knew who was playing the piece, since he had heard her practicing at home on her piano one night at the Wildstar home not long after the Argo returned home.

The Cardinal and his attendants began to move down the aisle to the strains of Bach, as, above the high altar, Light began to shine through the huge windows as the clouds broke outside.

To the left of the altar was exposed an image in the far left stained glass window of Saint Peter the Apostle, holding in his hands his fisherman’s nets and the traditional keys to the Kingdom granted to him during the Lord’s ministry on Earth.

To the right of the altar was exposed a magnificent stained glass image of Saint Paul, last and greatest of the Apostles, holding in his hands the scroll and pen he had used to pen the great letters he had written to the church in his day.

And finally, above the altar itself, the center window blazed with sunlight that illuminated an image of the Resurrected Christ ascending to the Father on a cloud, with His arms raised outwards in benediction and triumph, with the wounds at His Hands, Feet, and Side showing in bright pink, with a reassuring and loving smile on His Face. A scroll in the window below the cloud read, THE SAVIOUR TRIUMPHANT, the title of the stained-glass work of art.

The glorious music, which seemed to be filled with the power and glory of God, filled the vast sanctuary as the Cardinal knelt before the altar, kissed it as an altar boy swung a censer filled with sweet, poignant incense, and then he stood and walked behind the high altar as another altar boy opened his Missal and he stood still with a bowed head as the last notes of Nova’s song filled the sanctuary and then slowly faded in great echoes as the last chord was played.

“My people, my guests,” said the old Cardinal. “Let us pray…”

VI. CODA (4) PEACETIME

Earth: The Great Megalopolis

Heroes' Hill

Saturday, August 28, 2202

1932 Hours: Earth Time

It was another hot summer evening on Earth, the summer after Ekogaru's passing.

And, the crew was celebrating what would probably be their last evening together for quite some time.

"So, guys," asked Dash as he knelt near Nova, Derek and Doctor Sane while Nova, perkily dressed in a new replacement version of her favorite pink “safari” romper matched with summery sandals for the humid night, poured some sake for the old doctor. "I don’t know much of what happened after you came home."

"Why not?" asked Eager as Nova poured some sake.

"Well," said Dash, "Up until the wedding took place, I was off in space commanding the cruiser Danube."

"My Dad's old command," sniffed Samuel Josiah, who was now assigned to the Black Tigers as one of the squadron leaders. The Tigers were currently assigned to the Idlewild Naval Air Station near the Megalopolis, keeping in practice under Hardy's command until the Argo would take off again in January. "I wasn't around much, either Nova…what happened, cousin?"

"Well," said Nova. "After the Argo had been brought home to the Megalopolis for a badly needed refit, Derek, myself, and Aliscea were joyfully reunited with everyone over several days' worth of celebration. And, even though much of the crew went their separate ways while Derek, Sandor, and Yamazaki supervised the beginning of a badly needed refit for the Argo, Sandor said it seemed as if Earth had spent the whole summer celebrating."

"We did," said Sandor, "Even though we were working. For Derek and Nova, there was a long, refreshing month of leave before duty parted them for a time, with Derek ordered to command the space battleship Bolivia as a temporary flagship for Task Force 1.1."

"Where'd you guys go?" asked Samuel.

"Well…" said Derek, "We patrolled the solar system and the area around Earth's new outer rim base at Sirius, and we also escorted a scientific mission partway to Gamilon and Iscandar and back. I waited at Balan for four weeks, missing Nova (who was not with us) as a Gamilon Fleet commanded by Fraken completed the escort duty. It was a lonely two months."

"Then," added Homer, since he had been there with Wildstar, "The Earth scientific mission passed onwards into the Great Magellenic Cloud, turning back towards home in early August. Then, we escorted them back. We didn't like having to remain behind at Balan with the Task Force, but Wildstar was pleased to learn that Desslok and Starsha had given permission for Earth to establish diplomatic missions on their home worlds."

"I also heard that you have a girlfriend now, Homer!" teased Dash.

"Yeah? Is she cute like Holly?" teased Mark as he embraced his wife, who sat next to him in a sundress and thongs. They had just gotten back from their honeymoon.

"None of your business," huffed Homer as everyone laughed. "She's just a friend. Wildstar, how did those negotiations go?"

"Well…we have diplomatic missions on Iscandar and Gamilon now, and soon, both worlds will have missions here. This will be a first step towards establishing formal relations and making the wartime alliance between the three worlds permanent."

Wildstar smiled to himself. "When we left Balan, " he continued. "We were pleased with what had been done, and we were even more pleased to discover that we would be bringing Astra, Conor, and their adopted son Jonathan back home to Earth as Iscandarian representatives. A Colonel Kanlar also came with us from Gamilon. He's gonna serve as the first-ever Gamilon representative to the Earth Government along with a small staff of five."

"Where are they now?" asked Eager.

"Can't tell you," said Derek. "A lot of people aren't happy that we have aliens on Earth. Especially Gamilons. "

"Many of them are members of my aunt's crazy cult," added Nova. "They're still trying to flush them out."

"What'd you do while you and Derek were separated?" asked Dash.

"Well, " said Nova, "I served aboard a destroyer known as the Pawnee as part of Fourth Fleet under Admiral Yamanami's command. Our skipper was a pleasant man named Lt. Commander Ralph Peters. On the Pawnee, I was the ship's Pharmacist's Mate, which meant that I was in sole command of the ship's cramped little dispensary, serving with three enlisted medics under me."

"What happened to you?" asked Dash.

"Nothing at all, and I had very few patients in that little Sickbay. What a bore of a cruise!"

She, Derek and Dash all laughed at that while Sane drank some more sake.

"What happened at your wedding, Venture?" asked Dash. "Too bad I wasn't there…"

"It was fun, even though we ended up in a silly tight spot beforehand."

"Well, what happened?"

"It went like this," said Mark as he sat back and remembered. No. he thought. I can't discuss that with anyone...except Holly...and those...who were there at the bachelor party. It's too crazy a story to talk about here. Just...too crazy. But...I remember other things...and I can talk about those things here!

So, Mark sat back and said, "Well, a while after we all came home, on the 21st of August to be exact, most of the old crew of the Argo met again at a church in America. There, we celebrated our formal church wedding in the New York Megalopolis, in the borough of Brooklyn, where many of my relatives lived."

Mark remembered that it was a media circus, and the fact that Wildstar and he were there in matching black peacoats as Venture celebrated his promotion to Captain only made things crazier.

Venture remembered some of the conversations there as if the wedding had just taken place yesterday.

"So what ship are you getting?" asked Derek as he and Mark stood in a hallway in the church shaking hands and laughing.

"The space battleship Arizona, Derek," said Mark. "You should see the plans for her…she's a real beauty. They decided to switch the Arizona and Pennsylvania around as far as assignments go…the Pennsylvania will be completed first and ready as the new EDF flagship, followed by the Arizona as the new Second Star Force ship. Of course, the completion of both ships will come after the Argo is refitted and tested. Aren't the Arizona's plans great, Derek?"

"I saw the plans the other day…she looks good."

"Yeah?"

"Not quite as good as the Argo, though. To me, the Pennsylvania kind of looks like…uh…an Andromeda with a different bow."

"The Pennsylvania and Arizona are nowhere as automated as an Andromeda, though. They've installed overrides so that her crew can work all of the functions manually if they wish. We even have gunners in the turrets…just like the Argo. They won't finish her until next year, though…they'll want time to analyze the results of the Argo's test runs in January before they finish the new-design wave engines on the Pennsylvania and the new Arizona."

"Sounds great," laughed Derek. "This'll be a neat wedding, I think…given that you'll have two best men."

"Oh, where's the other one?"

"Yeah, who was the other one?' asked Dash.

"Nova," said Derek.

"She was the best man? How'd she look?"

"Cute," said Derek as he smiled at his wife and fondly remembered how she looked that day as he described her outfit to Dash.

Nova came running up a few moments later; she wore a black tuxedo jacket over a yellow vest, yellow and black pants, and a white shirt and bow tie with black sandals. Both she and Derek were to have worn similar tuxedos until Derek found out that Mark had just been promoted to Captain and would be wearing his new peacoat, so, Derek had worn his own military uniform.

"Are you guys ready?" she asked. "Aliscea and I were spending time getting Holly ready."

"Yeah, we're ready," said Mark as Nova and Derek took each other's hands. Before long, I won't be alone anymore, he thought. Holly and I are going to make this work. I hope Trelaina doesn't mind this, he thought.

$Description: C:\Users\Honey Bunny\Documents\My Documents\Bunny Nest of Documents\STORIES\Star Blazers\FREDDO'S VISIONS PROJECT\The Rikasha Incident\11. Ragnarok!\Trelaina.jpg$ As Derek, Nova and Mark disappeared down the corridor inside the Roman Catholic church where Venture would be getting married, something happened that no one there was aware of, and it would not be discussed at Heroes' Hill a week later, since no one except Aliscea knew of it. What happened was that a small light appeared as soon as they rounded the corner.

The light expanded, becoming a beautiful phantom that would have surprised anyone who saw it.

It was Trelaina, unclad, and startlingly beautiful as she cried soft tears of joy.

No one but Aliscea would know it, but she would also be a guest at this wedding, the full story of which will be told elsewhere as it is not that important for this tale, since it makes up an amusing yet bittersweet tale of its own.

"Dear Mark," whispered Trelaina's phantom. "I've been watching you, and will always watch over you. I wish you all of the happiness in the Universe with Holly. You have earned it, my love…until we can be together again, where I must be. For now, be safe and be together with Holly…where you must be. But, when the day comes for you to pass on, many decades from now, I hope that you will be happy, dear Mark. After all, you have earned it."

Then, Trelaina faded out. But, somehow, her spiritual presence would still be felt by all of the guests at this wedding in Brooklyn.

"That wedding was so nice," said Nova as Aliscea came back over to where they were sitting on Heroes' Hill with Paul. Both of them held hands. "I wonder what made it so nice?"

"I sort of know…but…"

"But what, Aliscea?" asked Venture.

"Well…it's between me and someone else. We're keeping it our secret…for now," said Aliscea with a wink.

But, Paul suspected that he knew. His suspicion was confirmed as Aliscea sent him one thought. Trelaina…she was there, Paul. I don't want anyone else to know. Let's keep it our secret….

At that, Paul smiled.

A few months passed in relative peace and quiet.

The most significant event for Derek and Nova was the birth of Nova’s baby brother and sister David and Aurora Forrester at the Forrester home in a blizzard on Thanksgiving Day in 2202. Since the birth had happened suddenly and Boulder was socked in by snow, Nova herself had to act as the midwife for her mother and, as such, she brought her very own brother and sister into the world. Many years later, when her brother and sister were old enough to discuss such things (and the Wildstars had three children of their very own), David and Aurora would think it was both funny and adorable that “sis” had helped to deliver them. Teri said, “No, I did all the work!” The rest of this story does not come into this tale, but as an amusing tale, Nova herself wrote it down some time afterwards.

More time passed. After the holidays, as the Forrester children grew and the Earth began to heal from its near-brush with Armageddon, the calendar rolled around to early January of 2203, and the Argo was ready to take off again as she bobbed at anchor in a dock on the Megalopolis, now fully repaired and rebuilt.

$Description: C:\Users\Honey Bunny\Documents\My Documents\Bunny Nest of Documents\STORIES\Star Blazers\FREDDO'S VISIONS PROJECT\The Rikasha Incident\11. Ragnarok!\ESSpennsy.JPG$ Not far away in the EDF dockyards sat the Pennsylvania, which was now fully completed save for some tuning to her new wave motion engine that would be completed when they arrived back home. Like the Argo, the new EDF flagship Pennsylvania and her sister ship the Arizona (the new Second Star Force vessel) were all equipped with the latest wave motion engine design. It included a device known as the wave motion supercharger, which was meant to give faster, continuous long-range warps. All of the Argo's gun turrets were also equipped with the new wave motion cartridge system, and there were other improvements. All in all, the Argo was a different ship.

Commodore Wildstar sat at the Captain's post, looking around his bridge. There were many new faces, this time out. At Combat sat a young, brilliant newly graduated cadet known as Ryusuke Domon. At Navigation sat another young man, a dark-haired man known as Tetsu Kitano. Both men had trained with them since their early graduation in November, so they were familiar with the newly rebuilt ship. Wildstar had initially wanted to put both young men in the messhall doing KP duty for a time, but Sandor, the Argo's new First Officer, talked him out of it. Sandor said that their skills would be needed on the Bridge, since they knew the new systems of the ship like no one else. Wildstar had finally agreed.

Yamazaki was yelling into the mike again at his post. Down below, a young man known as Timothy Orion (old Orion's youngest son) was trying to get the engine room crew in check. Derek smiled to himself as he thought of the somewhat gawky young man and his silly arrival aboard Argo as he had swamped a boat. A young man named Akagi sat at Rosstowski's old place…Rosstowski and Diane Henson were now training and running simulations on the Arizona.

As the Argo cruised slowly out of the dock, Wildstar looked back at the Arizona on the viewscreen. He thought, Mark, good luck as her skipper with Holly at the helm of your new ship and the rest of your new crew. We'll miss you guys…miss you a lot. I hope that life takes you on a good path, wherever you guy as the commander of the Second Star Force. We have a lot of work ahead…I think we'll meet soon…out there…

And, just a few minutes later, the Argo left Earth….

It was now 0900 hours on January 15, 2203. The Argo sat between the Earth and the Moon.

"Kitano," said Derek. "Make the announcement. It's a good thing we didn't hit that island before."

"Yessir," said Kitano as he wiped some sweat off his brow. Back at the Cosmo-Radar, Nova tried not too look too amused as the young man said, "Attention, all hands. Warp in two minutes to Mars. Please prepare your safety belts now and secure all stations. Thank you."

Almost a year since we first fought the Rikashans, thought Derek. Funny…Rikasha will be our next major port of call after these tests are over with in February. And Lord Cha'rif is waiting for the Cosmo-DNA so we can repair his world, and help bring about new life. New life…and new hope…that's the best thing that came out of the terrible war we were in. But, I think it was worth it, all of it….

Finally, the Argo was ready to go. "Warp!" ordered Derek.

$Description: C:\Users\Honey Bunny\Documents\My Documents\Bunny Nest of Documents\STORIES\Star Blazers\FREDDO'S VISIONS PROJECT\The Rikasha Incident\11. Ragnarok!\Yamatowarp.JPG$ "WARP!" said Kitano.

The ship rushed very quickly into hyperspace, much more quickly than they had ever gone before. Blue streaks of light whizzed past the Argo as the ship plunged through warp, aided by the new supercharger.

About thirty seconds later, they emerged from warp near Mars in a blue flash of light.

"Warp completed," said Kitano.

"No damage to any systems, we did it," said Sandor.

The Bridge crew cheered as Kitano asked. "Course, sir?"

Derek sat back and smiled. He said, "Turn left at the first star, Kitano…and then…we'll cruise on 'til morning."

"Sir, what kind of coordinates are those?" said Kitano as the bridge crew laughed.

"It's from a book," said Domon. "Peter Pan, sir?"

Derek nodded. "Yes, you're right. We have a long cruise ahead. Kitano, warp us to Sirius base…and let's see what she's got."

"Yessir," replied the young man.

It'll be quite a journey, thought Derek. But, now, at long last, we're finally at peace. I hope we can enjoy it.

THE END

Writing Begun: August 1980

Writing Ended: August 2003

Revised: March-April 2204

A Big THANK YOU to all of those who have read, enjoyed, and critiqued this work over the years….

--Freddo

To return to the Introduction to the Rikasha Incident please click here