Earth Three

            Back at Geo 4 he was taken by surprise when he was put under arrest the moment he got through the gate.  He was beginning to think he was in the wrong place since he didn’t recognize anyone he was passing.  He was quickly searched and they removed all his weapons, except the chain since he made sure they didn’t find it.  This confusion lasted until he was taken to the commander’s office, where the others were waiting, but the man behind the desk wasn’t the commander.

            “Now that I know I’m in the right place, what’s going on here?” Gleen asked, then noticed Johns and Kayleen’s body suits.  “What are you wearing?”

            “Flash Suits.” Johns said hesitantly.

            “Where did you get flash technology?”

            “From this.” The man behind the desk said holding up Lycina’s caller.

            “Where is she?!” Gleen yelled slashing the sword out when it appeared in his hand, stopping just before taking the man’s head off.

            “Sector three in the lab.” The man said not even flinching.

            “She best be unharmed.” Gleen warned storming from the room, then the chain shot back in snatching the caller from his hand.

            “You might want your men to get out of his way.” Johns suggested.

            “Don’t do that again.” Gleen said returning a few minutes later with Lycina on his shoulder.  “If you or any of your men even touch her again in a way I feel is inappropriate and I find out, they will die.”

            “I will not have a shadow creature running freely around my base.” The man told him.

            “I consider her my daughter and she will be treated as such, or I’ll leave with the flash technology you stole from me.” He said calmly sitting in one of the chairs.  “Johns, tell me what has happen while I was gone.”

            “The commander passed away.”

            “Odd, he seemed fine when I was last here.  Continue.”

            “With that as it is, Gailor here was given control of the base and everything was basically turned upside down.”

            “And the missions?”

            “There the same, with the exception that we’re now taking excavation trips to the uninhabited worlds for natural resources.”

            “As long as it remains to the uninhabited worlds, I see no problems with continuing to help this base.” Gleen told Gailor who looked rather pleased with his decision.

            “Very well, report to the lab in sector one.” Gailor told him.

            “Why?”

            “To see if you’re compatible for a flash suit as well.”

            “It seems you’re very compatible for a suit.” One of the scientists said after only a few tests.  “Which type did the commander want us to make.”

            “He didn’t say.”

            “Well we could make an offensive one like Johns with fire sphere enhancements or defensive like Kayleen’s which has barrier generators and linkup cables.  Which would you like?”

            “Make one that’s sole purpose is to increase my speed.”

            “I can do that.” The scientist said after a moment of thought.

            When they were done he was presented with the black armor, that turned out to be much thinner than he expected.  There was an exception with the ovals on the lower parts of the arms which extended past the hands leaving them to hang out a hole in the bottom.  Also there were larger, yet flat, ovals which came down from the back that slanted outward slightly.  To the horror of those around him, Gleen pulled the sword and stabbed the blade into the chest of the armor.  The spheres within the sword then were released and began to circle the armor until the armor itself began to condense becoming nearly skin tight while the lower arms halved in size.  The majority of the spheres imbedded themselves into the knuckle of the left arm and the black sphere imbedded itself into the right arm as the handle of the sword entered that knuckle, retracting the blade.  Now ready and waiting to be wore, Gleen took it into the back room to strap it on.

            He was wearing it having the scientists adapt it for his chain to be on the underside of the left arm when Sarah arrived.  She came strolling in wondering if they had finished her new toy yet and if it was ready.  Gleen watched as they strapped a devise to the lower part of her left arm which opened up to become a twin barrel Gatling gun.  This new armament was no surprise to those who knew Sarah’s taste combat arms.

            Deciding it was time to give this battle suit a test run, Gleen made his way to the holoroom only to find Kayleen and Johns already there.  They were running what was obvious one of the new programs the new commander must have put in while he was gone.  From the looks of it, the program was extremely brutal and they were taking a lot of hits.  The programs seemed to be harder than the shadows themselves making him wonder what kind of man this commander was.

            “Nice to join us, Gleen.” Gailor said from the control room.  “I’m increasing the level now.”

            True to his word the creatures got harder and Gleen shot forward after his wings lifted up.  The speed was incredible and would take some getting used to as he nearly crashed into a wall.  Extending his blade he went after the monsters and ended the program sooner than Gailor expected.  Later he got himself a new trench coat to cover his new bodysuit, this one wasn’t open in the front but had a zipper that went from the waist up to the caller.  The others did a similar thing by getting a larger set of cloth to wear over their flash suits.

 

                                    *                                  *                                  *

 

            “And why are we the only ones here?” Gleen asked Sarah as he sliced through the armored man and watched the dark energy disperse.

            “The others are guarding an excavation site.” She said letting off a spray of bullets.

            “Why would they be needed to guard an uninhabited planet?!” Gleen yelled kicking another through a wall.

            “Your guess is as good as mine, it’s just you and me.”

            “I’d rather the situation be better.”

            Just then four armored men appeared that were better than the zombies they had been fighting, but they also gave off dark energy.  The four of them looked like wild animals ready for the kill and cast their gaze past the two of them.  Turning Gleen found three armored man behind him in similar armor to the four, but these ones gave off no dark energy.  Though their armors were similar, their weapons were all individual as the light ones had a long sword, bow, as well as a section staff, and the dark ones had a broad sword, battle axe, spear, then finally a claw.

            “Which side do we join?” Sarah asked looking between the two.

            “The three.” He said jumping back to them.  “Need a hand?”

            “If you can.” The bow wielder told him.  “I fail to see what you can do.”

            “Sarah, if you please.” Gleen called to her.

            Sarah let off another spray of shells, but unlike the weaker ones these ones easily reflected them away.  Yet that acted as only a distraction as Gleen shot forward slashing the one with the claw throwing him back.  That only seemed to enrage him more as an outsider had interfered with their plans, that and things were more fair now.  The three paired off against the rest of the four, while Sarah took care of the zombies before they could interfere the fight.  After a bit the dark ones retreated without reason leaving them there standing with the three.  After a few minutes of standing off it was decided they were not enemies and the four of them disarmed showing the others they were all human.

            “I’m Gleen.” He said retrieving his coat.  “The one on the roof above us is Sarah.”

            “Ky.” The sword wielder answered.

            “I’m Zek.” The bower said bowing.  “Nice to meet you.”

            “Woe.” The final one boomed.

            “And the dark ones?” Gleen asked once they returned the old factory that was his place of residence for the moment.

            “Nice place.” Woe said looking around, then spotted the refrigerator.

            “We don’t know much about the dark ones as you call them.” Zek said as they sat in the living room area.  “The mass armies of weaker ones are nothing more than spirits given form, but the stronger four we’ve only encountered a few times and know very little about them.”

            “What about you armors?” Sarah asked after rescuing her alcohol from Woe.  “They look similar to the other four.”

            “They were given to us by a giant crab of blue energy.” Woe said between mouthfuls.

            “A giant crab?” Sarah asked looking over a Gleen.  “Water crab?”

            “Is he still here?” Gleen asked them.

            “He vanished once he gave us our mission.” Zek told him.  “Defeat those who seek to destroy.”

            “Then our missions are the same.  Feel free to use this as a headquarters.” Gleen offered.  “We’ll see what we can learn about the other four.”

            “We have someone looking up on them as well.” Ky informed him.  “We’ll send her over to show you what we’ve got already.”

            “We’ll be here.” Gleen said before they left.  “I’ll be back in a little while.”

            “Where you going?”

            “See if I can find Water Crab.”

            He returned hours later after finding only a trace of Water Crab’s energy, the only evidence he was even there.  The next day Ky’s friend showed up and turned out to be an attractive woman named Lin.  Between the two of them they determined it was the shadow, but were unable to figure out why it was taking this odd transformation.  Lin believed there was an ancient temple in the area hidden in one of the many nearby caves.  They had searched a few of the caves, but had no luck in locating the hidden temple so far.

            Since it was their only lead Gleen and Sarah decided to try their luck in the caves as they made their way down.  Gleen found an energy trail, a faint one that led them straight into the dark claw wielder.  He looked slightly disappointed it was just them, but at the same time he was eager for a rematch.  Between the two of them they managed to knock the dark one’s helmet off revealing he was human.  It didn’t last much longer than that as once again he was called away in the middle of the fight.

            With the help of Lin they were able to finally determine he was Safrati, a warrior that disappeared three hundred years ago.  Yet as much as they searched they couldn’t find any details on him or the others, as if they were erased from time.  To make matters worse Sam came to trade him places, it appeared the planet the other team was excavating wasn’t uninhabited after all.  From the details he got on the way they appeared to be large spider creatures, but when he got there he found they were more like crabs.  They managed to get some of the equipment as they retreated, Gleen came through just as they were pushing a bomb to the gate which he forcefully stopped.

            “What are you doing?” Gailor demanded.  “They killed two of my men.”

            “That is your fault for not scanning the area better, they were just defending their home.  Now shut this gate down and get me back to my mission.” Gleen ordered leaving with Johns to find them in deep trouble and of course fires from the sky caused them all to jump back.  “I was only gone a few hours, can’t anyone behave themselves while I’m gone?”

            “Guess not.” Johns said blasting again, but Safrati and the others retreated.

            “What did I miss?” Gleen asked jumping down.

            “Just trying to get a triple date from these three.” Woe said causing Gleen to raise a brow.

            “That sounds like a man.” Rachael said joining them with Lycina.  “This little one was getting lonely.”

            “Come here dear.” Gleen said placing Lycina on his shoulder.  “I’m surprised Gailor let you come.”

            “He’s mean.” Lycina told him.  “He makes mean faces at me.”

            “We can get back at him later.” Gleen said then turned to Rachael.  “I’m glad you’re here, we could use your interrogation skills.”

            “What for?” Ky asked confused.

            “I would say for the three of you, but I was intending to capture one of the dark ones since fighting them is going nowhere.”

            “How do you intend to do that when they keep disappearing?” Zek inquired.

            “By grabbing onto them before they disappear, if they are still able to disappear they might take us with them.” Gleen explained.  “And we want have to wait too long, here they come.”

            Just as Gleen said that he sidestepped the spear that was aimed at his back and armored up with Lycina still on his shoulders.  They soon found this didn’t impair his fighting in the least, just the opposite as it make him worse.  Lycina was squealing with delight the entire time as he flew around through the battle.  Right on cue they began to disappear, just before the wielder of the broadsword could disappear he received a full force kick from Gleen to the back of the head.  He was sent flying into the arms of the three, but they weren’t strong enough to him as he throw them away only to be kicked in the air and bound by the chain.  Now that he had no means of escape, Gleen then hung him between the floor and ceiling.

            “All yours Rachael.” He said as she slid her brass knuckles on.

            “Take off his helmet.” Rachael told them.

            “It won’t budge.” Johns said after a few tries.

            “I got it.” Gleen said using the broadside of the dark one’s own sword to knock off his helmet letting centuries of uncut blonde hair fall free.

            “Thanks Gleen.” Rachael said taking over again.

            “A woman!” He yelled at them.  “What are you planning?”

            “You’ll see.” Gleen said taking a seat.

            “A woman’s place is in the bad waiting for a man to….” He began, but was silenced by the crack of the brass knuckles.  “You berk, quite that or I will….”

            Each insult he gave earned him a crack across the face with the brass knuckles causing quite a bit of swelling.  They eventually learned the four of them were ancient elemental guardians placed in some kind of stasis when the shadow came extinguishing their power.  What was left behind were empty shells that offered no resistance as they were filled with dark energy.  Rachael was even able to get the general location of the temple, but not much more since she was a little over excessive with her interrogation.

            “Well, it’s a start.” Gleen said retrieving his chain.

            “What should we do with him?” Johns asked kicking the dark one over.

            “With the way Rachael went at him, he’ll be out for a while.  I’ll take Sarah with me.  Rachael will go with Kayleen and Johns.”

            “What’s the plan?” Ky asked him.

            “From the map Lin showed me there are only three main ways into that area.  We’ll take all three and meet at the temple from all sides.”

            “Which ones are you going to take?” Lin asked pulling out the map for each of them to pick a tunnel.

            Once the tunnels were selected they left to meet up at the temple as the plan detailed.  Leaving Lycina with Lin, Gleen and Sarah headed for their tunnel, but didn’t get far as they found Safrati waiting for them.  Telling Sarah to go ahead he slammed the dark one into the wall, yet now he seemed stronger as if his own desire had become the same as the shadow.  If this was the case it was going to take all he had just to defeat this dark one alone, what could the others be like if they were the same.

            The others had all met up at the temple, but weren’t in a better of a condition as there were legions of the zombie.  The zombies attacked them on sight along with the remaining two dark ones who had been waiting.  Out of nowhere there was an explosion and fire came flying from the tunnel Sarah had come from throwing Safrati to the ground.  Gleen followed came flying down when the fire extinguished itself and joined the others who had been losing the battle.

            “What did you do?” Johns asked when Gleen landed.

            “Ignited a gas line.”

            Safrati was down for a while, but that didn’t improve the odds any as they were being swarmed by the zombies.  The zombie’s strength wasn’t the problem as they were so weak, it was their sheer number that was the problem.  Without warning fire sprayed down taking out a large number of zombies, turning they found the blast came from the broadsword of the dark one, who stood there without his helmet and Lycina on his back.  Letting Lycina down he jumped down he turned his attack on the axe wielding dark one.  Gleen took the spear while keeping his eyes on the still unconscious form of Safrati laying on the floor.

            Somehow though Safrati managed to get up without Gleen noticing, but he was noticed ranning deep into the temple.  It was followed shortly by a loud rumble and Safrati flying backwards from the temple as a large black armor emerged that Ky identified as the Master Armor.  Things went downhill as the first thing the shadow did was increase its power by absorbing the energy of those still loyal to him turning them to stone.  The fire guardian who on longer had any dark energy was of no use to it and was now considered an enemy.

            This had turned from a bad situation to one that was far worse than anything they could handle at the moment.  The others had never fought the main shadow before and he didn’t have the energy to push it away.  At the rate they were going they wouldn’t last long and this thing wasn’t letting up in the least.  Each of them where being thrown around like rag dolls, whatever defense they put up was being smashed through as if they were just standing there.

            “Destroy the temple!” The fire guardian yelled to him.

            “But that’s the only thing sustaining you.” Gleen yelled back.

            “It’s also what sustains that!”

            “Gailor, do you still have that bomb from earlier?” Gleen asked through the communication device.

            “Yes, why?”

            “Send it to my location now, we’re fighting the main shadow!” Gleen yelled grabbing the shadow and holding it as best he could.  “Johns!  You and Kayleen set it up!  The rest of you run!”

            “You can’t do this by yourself.” The fire guardian told him grabbing the other side of the shadow.  “I won’t survive this either way.”

            “We’re done!” Johns called running towards them.

            “Go!” He ordered them then turned to the fire guardian.  “What’s your name?”

            “Arastos.”

            “Gleen.”

            Words were no longer needed as they held the shadow in place waiting for the end to come.  There was a loud siren coming from the temple followed by a blinding light, then there was nothing.  When he came to he found himself in the recovery wing of Geo 4, gripped tight in his hand was Arastos’ broadsword.  Sarah and Lycina were asleep in a chair next to the bed, but awoke as he gently nudged them.  It turned out he had been there for a week after being buried under debris for four days.

            They were still trying to determine how he had survived the blast alone, not to mention being buried alive.  Gailor was quite displeased with how the situation turned out, the status of the shadow was unknown and the flash suit was irreparable.  Not to mention the bomb caused a major earthquake on that world and the waste of a good bomb.  What made him really steamed was the fact they got nothing in return, but questions no one could answer.

            Gleen wasn’t pleased with the way things turned out either as he placed Arastos’ broadsword on the rack that now hung in his room, he too had many questions about what happen after the white light.