The Price of Power, Part I

I know this wasn't in our agenda, but I haven't seen any movement and wanted to write a story about our merger with Gods and to introduce our short time member, Aysar (SCORPIO), now with Galactic G.

Speedbumps

 

Wyldecard had been working on enhancements to the warp drive on the Defender for the last three weeks.  Today he was getting to enjoy the fruits of his labor.  The trip from Earth to Nexus, normally taking 13 hours, was only taking 6.  When he finished upgrading the moon base boom tube, the trip would be even faster.  It turns out that the Plutonians had developed a piece of energy conversion technology that greatly enhanced the Zingonian drive.  All Wylde had to do to get the schematics was to sign their petition.  They were serious about this “becoming a planet” thing. 

 

While he sat up front, monitoring the display panel for technical readings and watching for glitches, Eron and Quan sat in the back, planning out their meeting with Stalker.  The Knights’ Republic had been approached by the Gods Alliance to join forces about a month after the team successfully defeated Barthandalus in Greece.  Eager for a fresh start, the admirality of the Knights jumped at the opportunity and opened negotiations.  Today, the decision would be made on Nexus. 

 

While Eron was the negotiator chosen by the Knights to make or break the deal, Quan and Wyldecard were chosen to come along as support and to test out the upgrades to the Defender.  The trip had been smooth thus far.

 

Suddenly, a single jolt sent Quan flying out of his seat. 

 

Eron hung onto a railing ringing the chamber.  Looking back at Wylde, Eron saw him on the floor, feet sticking straight up. 

 

In a muffled voice, Wylde shouted "I didn't do that!" 

 

Quan grabbed his midsection as a shot of pain coursed through his body. 

 

Eron reached down and helped him up.  "You ok?" 

 

Quan nodded as the pain subsided.  "I'm not sure what's causing it, but my connection to the Quantum Field has been disrupted twice now.  It's getting worse it seems, and more painful, as we get closer to Nexus."

 

Eron helped Quan to the front of the Defender.

 

The three composed themselves and went to the control panel as the ship dropped out of warp and came to a near halt in the middle of nowhere.  Wylde spent a few frantic seconds looking over the panel.  Content that the ship was in-tact, he moved to the science array and turned on the radar array.  Normally turned off during warp speed to conserve energy, it now displayed the surrounding star cluster in great detail.   Behind the team, some 3 light- years back, sat an enromous gravity well.  Although not as strong as a black hole, it certainly looked larger than a planet on the radar and was immediately behind them.

 

"Well, one things for sure," Wylde started, "we didn't pass through that."  Eron and Quan exchanged puzzled glances while they all studied the array.  Wylde's eyes lit up, "I know, it's a gravitic mine!"  Wylde pulled up a database constructed out of archives he had bought on Nexus last year.  Displaying a mine the size of a football stadium, he explained how it was designed to catch ships in a strong gravity well and hold them tight.  It was a trap of sorts, allowing the Zingonians to close in on their immobilized prey.  It wouldn't last forever.  They require so much energy that they don't last long.

 

This one would have done the same to the Defender had the ship been any slower.  As it was, it was only strong enough to slow the ship down as it passed.  It must have been on some form of proximity circuit.  "So", Eron wondered out loud, "why go to all that trouble just to stop us.  If you can afford a mine that size, why not just try to kill us?"

 

The three had no answer.  Wylde fired up the warp drive and the team continued towards Nexus.

 

Predator and Prey…

 

The docking routine at Nexus was confusing to say the least.  It took nearly 20 minutes to dock and just as long to get through customs.  Now the three heroes were navigating the crowded space station as they moved towards their rendezvous with Stalker.  Although they attracted attention simply for being human, they were doing their best to blend in with the crowd and not attract attention. 

 

Little did they know that a shadowy figure was keeping tabs on their every move.

 

At last, Eron spotted the Starlight Lounge, a ritzy establishment serving Sol cuisine, everything form Plutonian to Martian.  It was also the only restaurant in the entire space station serving hamburgers of all things. 

 

As the three walked in, a large man stood up on the other side of the room and called them over.  He wasn’t making any effort at all to be quiet about it.  He was a massively built, boisterous man in his mid 30s sporting a rather expensive leather trench coat.  The four sat down and introduced each other. 

 

After a good meal and a half hour of pleasantries, Eron and Stalker both pulled out tablet PCs and got down to business.  Merging leagues was a massive undertaking and they were going about it in a highly professional manner. 

 

Wylde poked Quan in the arm and pointed outside.  “Someone’s watching us.”  Quan looked, but the crowd was intense outside the eatery and he couldn’t make out anyone for quite a few seconds.  Finally, he saw a shadowy figure in a darkened hallway across the street.  The figure’s eyes flashed golden once and he was gone. 

 

Quan and Wylde excused themselves while their leader continued to work and moved in the direction of the figure.  On the way out, Quan had to grab the doorframe as pain racked his ribcage.  It took a second for him to recover while Wylde examined the hallway across the busy street. 

 

They met up and continued into the darkness.  It was obvious that the light fixtures had been purposely broken.  Whomever it was didn’t want to be seen.  Quan looked to even the odds a bit and concentrated just enough to let out a mini-EMP burst.  Sparks flew out of every fixture and, up ahead, a groan could be heard and their stalker’s implants went haywire for a second.  Two could play that game.  The heroes charged ahead.

 

Chasing down the hallway, they came to a fork.  Down one very short hallway was a massive fan moving slowly around an ancient electric motor.  Beyond it was a large air shaft moving up and down the space station.  The mesh cage covering the fan, preventing unfortunate accidents, had been cut by something hot and torn away.  The metal was still glowing orange.

 

The hallway continued on to the left.  Although the lights were lit, their prey could have moved down that way too.  Wylde touched the communicator on his throat.  “Boss, we have a problem.”

 

He started as Eron’s voice came from directly behind him.  “What would that be?”  Stalker and Eron, sure that something was up, had followed the two down the darkened hallway when Eron had sensed the EMP burst.  “You didn’t think I could stay out of the fun now did you?  If someone’s trying to break up our peace talks, they have something coming.”  Stalker just cracked his knuckles at the thought.

 

After a short discussion, the team split up.  The schematics Wylde had drawn up indicated that both directions led to one common location, the Reactor for the Space Station.  This hallway should have been guarded by sentinels, but that was apparently not the case.  The broken robotic parts they found on the floor indicated that the decision to not have guards here was made for Nexus, not by Nexus.  To top it off, Quan’s pain was intensifying the closer he got to the core.  Something more was going on here.

 

Quan and Stalker took off down the air shaft while Eron and Wylde made their way down the tunnel. 

 

A Momentary Diversion…

 

Eron quickly noticed that communications with everyone on the comms were sketchy at best this close to the core.  It seemed that every single hallway was shielded.  It made sense in a way.

 

Just to be on the safe side, he pulled a Plasma Rifle out of a dimensional pocket affixed to his jacket.  Wylde stared in disbelief as the 5’ long weapon came out of a pocket in his jacket, “got the kitchen sink in there too, boss?”  Eron just rolled his eyes.

 

Rounding a corner, the two looked down a long hallway.  There were no connecting hallways and no alcoves.  There were electronic eyes at floor level, but they had been deactivated.  With the exception of the light over their heads and the light on a doorframe at the far end, the hallway was pitch black.  Before the two could take a step, a deep voice bellowed from somewhere in the darkness, “You know, the mine would only have held you for about 14 hours.  Why couldn’t you take the hint?”

 

Eron searched the darkness with the scope on his rifle and turned on the night vision.  He couldn’t see a thing.  Wylde held up his hand and a bright ball of fire formed in his palm.  Using his telekinetic powers, he forced it to float out into the center of the room and flare to life.  The whole room illuminated for the briefest of seconds before an blast of ice and frost shot out from a corner and put the ball of flame out.  A second blast sent both heroes jumping for cover as it hit the floor where they stood.

 

“Eron, I believe that’s what you call yourself now, and you must be Wyldecard.  It’s a pleasure to make your acquaintance.”  Barely visible in the weak light, a dark portal formed under Wylde’s feet.  Shapes of monsters and demons rose from it and tore at him.  He jumped up in the air and shot a beam of light directly into it.  The portal disappeared.

 

Eron, tired of the game, peppered the room with bolts of plasma.  One bolt hit its mark and his opponent grunted as he fell from the ceiling to the floor below.  The counterattack was massive.  A Damage Catalyst shot forth from his hand and went for Eron’s head.  Eron easily dodged, but the blast hit the wall behind him and sent shrapnel towards him.  A second fireball shot forth as his opponent’s hands were engulfed in flames and hit Eron in the chest. 

 

While their adversary assaulted Eron, Wylde made his move.  He opened a dimensional portal and made one step forward.  The portal instantly transported him behind their foe.  Grabbing his head, Wylde used a Psychic Assault that Caledonia had taught him.  It didn’t go as planned.

 

Their mysterious friend apparently had a helmet on that absorbed the psionic energy and re-directed it outwards.  Turning swiftly, their foe grabbed Wylde by the throat and slammed him into the hallway wall with such force that the reinforced steel wall buckled under the pressure.  He raised his other hand and power unbridled poured from it.  The searing heat was too much for Wylde and he averted his gaze, sure this was the end.

 

Eron’s voice was confident, “put him down.”  Their foe turned to see Eron, mere feet away and still smoking from the fireball, pointing the plasma rifle at their foe’s head. 

 

“Don’t make me kill you.”

 

To be continued…