Dual Fan Fiction ❯ Interstellar Dual! ❯ Dynamo ( Chapter 11 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

Dual! Parallel Trouble Adventure and its characters are the property of Pioneer and whoever, not me. Interstellar Dual! originally created by Will Rogers (Xtor49).
Co-writer: Thorin Blauvelt

Italics: thoughts.
Bold: emphasized
Underlined: info from the author, such as definitions, clarifications, and the Author’s Note. Underlined text is not spoken by characters.
<>: a mecha is speaking


Travis watched a recording of the Devastator attack from when they had been digging up the Conversion Chamber. He analyzed all the data that the Skylight had received on the enemy units. After a couple of minutes Travis leaned back in his seat with a relieved sigh, Robotic pilots. The Devastators use A.I. to pilot their troops, not living beings. If they were alive, the others might hesitate to kill them.

And I wouldn’t? No. I guess not. I killed that first Marikesan to protect my friends. I was willing to blow up an entire Battle-Transport full of more Marikesans if I had to. If I had to, I could kill again. But it appears I won’t have to. I’m glad.

But why were they after Suzue? Or was it Dee they were trying so hard to kill? Did they decide she was the weakest of the CRs? Was it purely random? Or could it be because of her past? Will they do it again?

Just then, a familiar loud and annoying siren went off throughout the entire city, followed by an announcement, “Devastator bombing ships detected! Prepare for power shutdown! Five minutes!”

I’m glad they advanced the early warning system like that, or else I’d be stuck here. I better get home before Mitsuki starts worrying. Travis took off at a quick jog.

Josh ran up alongside him after a bit, having spotted Travis as he moved through the ship, “Hey, bro. You sure we can’t just go fight these guys?”

Travis shook his head, “That would only alert them to our continued presence here on Jintaro. When they realize that we’re living here, they’ll do their best to kill us, which means overwhelming odds. They’ll find out eventually, I’m sure, but I want that to be a long ways off. I want to be better prepared for it.”

“Oh, didya hear? They recovered one of the Devastator ships shot down before Shin and I used the Triangular Disintegration. They found that it’s piloted by an advanced A.I. program!” Josh mentioned.
“Actually, I’d just come to that conclusion while checking out the data from that battle. Figures I wouldn’t hear about it until after I did all that…” Travis responded.

“Well, no one’s wanted to disturb you at home, and it’s a pain in the ass finding you when you’re not there,” Josh commented as they disembarked from the Skylight.

“You have a point there. Speaking of home, I’ve gotta get there. See ya later, man,” Travis headed for his abode.

Mitsuki Ecks was waiting for him at the door, releasing the breath she’d been holding as he drew near. Right as he got to her, the explosions started. Mitsuki jumped into his arms, trembling slightly.

“It’s okay, gorgeous. The bombs can’t hurt us inside the base,” Travis held her, speaking reassuringly, She’s so brave in battle. I don’t understand why this would bother her so much.

“I know…But I can’t help it. I feel so powerless…” she whispered, clutching him tighter.

So that’s it…When she’s in Yuriko, she can fight back and stop it. But right now, she can only wait. I’m sure a lot of people feel the same way, Travis thought. He took her inside, closing the door behind them, and lay on the couch with her on top as he stroked her hair lovingly until the bombing stopped.

Later

“Lt. Commander Travis Ecks reporting,” Travis walked onto the bridge, “What’s going on?”

“While the bombing was going on, it seems Earth tried to contact us. However, since all power was shut down, we didn’t find out until afterward. It seems an old friend of ours is currently visiting our little planet, and wishes to speak to us,” Captain Sanada told him.

“Who?” Travis asked.

“Lt. Commander Qulish. Or, rather, Commander Qulish; she’s been promoted in the past few years,” Commander Rara stated.

Travis remembered the alien female, apparently a black haired Caucasian human except for her black eyes, “What does she want?”

“We were waiting for you before we found out,” the captain replied, “Bring her up on the main viewer.” The Marikesan female’s face appeared on the screen. “Commander Qulish, it is a surprise to hear from you after all this time. May I introduce Commander Rara?”

The brown-skinned man bowed slightly, “Commander Qulish.”

“Greetings, Commander Rara. I wish it was under more pleasant circumstances that I was contacting you, Captain Sanada, Lt. Commander Ecks. I’ll get right to the point: my people are under attack. A large alien force started attacking my people, piloted by artificially intelligent computers. We have repelled their attacks, but that may not last for much longer,” she began.

“We don’t have many allies, but the government knew we would need all the help we could get. Having had previous experience with you and your people, I was sent to Earth to request aid,” the black-eyed female explained, “We know you may not want to help us after what happened years ago…”

“A.I. pilots…could they be the same enemy that we face now?” Prof. Rara suggested.

“I wouldn’t be surprised. That possibility alone is reason enough to help. Commander Qulish, your request for assistance is accepted. Await for our arrival at Earth; from there, we shall travel to your planet,” Captain Sanada proclaimed.

“Thank you, Captain Sanada!” Commander Qulish bowed as Hiroshi Rara had before.

“Skylight out,” the captain ordered, and the transmission was ended.

“Captain…I doubt we’ll get many people willing to leave their new home here on Jintaro just to go help the Marikesans,” the American remarked.

“I realize that, Travis. Luckily the Skylight needs only a few people to operate it. We should begin the preparations immediately. The sooner we get there, the better our chances. I’ll explain the situation to the other mech pilots. Travis, you try and gather volunteers to go with us. Windbag, if you would handle the supplies…” Ken Sanada said.

“Windbag?!” Commander Rara puffed up, “Why you miserable-”

“Now is not the time for this, you two,” Travis scolded, looking at the captain.

A couple days later

“All supplies have been loaded on board. All crew members are present and accounted for. We are ready for takeoff, Captain Sanada,” one crewperson stated.

“Excellent! Let’s go then! Liftoff! Exit the planet’s atmosphere and activate a fold-space jump back to Earth!” Dr. Sanada ordered.

The Skylight rose off the ground, moved out of the underground storage area, and left Jintaro behind. “All hands, brace yourselves for fold-space jump,” was announced by one of the crew on the bridge.

In an instant, the white spacecraft had traveled many light years to a short distance from Earth. A much smaller black ship came from the other side of the planet, moving towards them. The ship appeared to be almost entirely engine, as if the only thing it was designed for was speed. “They’re hailing us,” another crewmember said.

“Well, answer it,” the captain waved his hand impatiently.

The screen showed Commander Qulish, “Captain Sanada, it really is you! How did you get here so fast?!”

“Well, we wouldn’t be much help if it took us a few years just to get back to Earth, now would we?” Dr. Sanada grinned, “If you’ll park your ship inside our docking bay, we can get to your solar system just as quickly.”

The Marikesan female muttered something that didn’t translate, but the emotion behind it sounded similar to “This is better than I ever dreamed.” “Is this true?”

“It’ll be much easier to simply show you. Open the docking bay!” he commanded.
The ebony craft flew through the open doorway on the side of the Skylight, resting on the deck as the doors shut behind it.

“Give me shipwide,” Captain Sanada demanded. At the tone, he spoke, “Everyone, battlestations! All pilots to their mechs! Ten minutes to the next fold-space jump, and soon after we’ll be right in the thick of combat!”

Meanwhile

Commander Rara entered the docking bay, “Commander Qulish, welcome aboard the Skylight. It is nice to finally meet you in person. Please, follow me to the bridge.”

“Thank you, Commander Rara,” the black-eyed alien walked after him, her crew of five behind her.

In the mech storage bay

All of the pilots got inside their corresponding giant robots. Tatsuma remarked.

“Remind me to ask for another match with them after this,” Travis smirked.

Shinigami warned Josh.

“We’ll just have to keep her safe then, won’t we?” Josh asked rhetorically.

Zinv muttered, with a glance at the red mecha.

“Zinv,” Kazuki nodded. They needed no further words between them.

the white Cha’anda said to her pilot.

“How could you tell?” Mitsuki Ecks queried.

Yuriko admitted.

“Suzue…let’s stay out of trouble. I don’t want Josh and Shin using the Triangular Disintegration again,” Dee suggested.

the blue Lin agreed.

“Sakura…with Hoshi, Tamaki, and Kagami back guarding Jintaro with Ryla, Alice, and Mina…” Mitsuki Yotsuga began.

the former CR2 finished.

Back on Jintaro

“I hope they’re alright,” Alice stared up at the roof over their heads, imagining it was the sky.

“I wish Captain Sanada hadn’t made us stay behind. Even Travis was against it!” Ryla complained.

“He was right, though. The city has hardly any offensive capabilities without the mechas. If the Devastators found it defenseless, they would destroy it completely,” Mina reminded, “Not that I like it, either.”

Onboard the Skylight

“Ten seconds to fold-space jump! Ten…nine…eight…” the countdown was announced over the ship’s intercom system, “Seven…six…five…four…three…two… one…Hang onto your stomachs!”

The white artifact ship was abruptly inside Marikesan space. “Captain, scans detect about five thousand forces surrounding the Marikesan homeworld. Given the variety of their construction and A.I. systems, they appear to be Devastators. No other enemies have been detected by the scan. They know we’re here! Sir, the enemy is headed right for us! They’re preparing to fire!”

“Release the mechas! Protective barrier up! Weapons online!” barked Dr. Sanada.

“Let’s go!” Travis shouted enthusiastically to the others as the bay doors opened. Tatsuma rushed out first, carrying a gravity shell cannon in each arm. As the Devastator army shot at the Skylight, Tatsuma returned fire with the gravity shell cannons. Giant balls of blue energy crashed through the enemy as the other Cha’anda made it out into space.

The Lins immediately used their own gravity shell cannons, with a similar effect. Shin stayed close to Suzue as they all drew nearer to the enemy, firing off energy from his blast spheres. Zinv launched his own gravity shell from his arm, far superior to those of the cannons.

When the girls ran out of shots for their gravity shell cannons, they switched them with energy rifles on their backs. Tatsuma simply dropped them, letting them float in outer space,

“You know the drill, pal! Boost on!” Travis yelled as he dodged a few laser beams. The green robot sped up, soaring forward toward the Devastators, weaving in and out through the bolts of energy coming from the enemy. His chest fired white beams of his own, striking some of his foes.

Zinv, copying a maneuver Travis and Tatsuma had once used, was following a gravity shell as he also rushed at the Devastators. The blue sphere absorbed all the shots sent against him. Once he got in close, he began grasping and crushing the unfriendly machines one or two at a time.

“Josh, go help them!” Dee scolded.

“But what about you?” Josh protested.

“Suzue and I will be fine if we stay near the Skylight,” Dee assured him.

Suzue told the dark Het.

“But…” Josh and Shin started.

“Go!”, <<b>Go!> Dee and Suzue demanded in unison.

Shin mumbled as he and Josh obeyed, “Enough said.”

“Chain Lightning!” Travis proclaimed as Tatsuma launched the sphere of electricity. The attack traveled between the units, shocking them into overloading. Some exploded, others had their circuits fried. “Again!” Tatsuma tossed out another ball of voltage. “And again!” A third and final orb of electrical current flew out.

The Devastators were dropping like flies, but the Earthlings were almost out of their greatest weapons. The Skylight couldn’t fire much, for risk of hitting their own. Only those that got close could be shot at. The Lins kept firing their rifles and blast spheres, moving around the outer edge of the armada, blasting the diverse enemy units.

As Shinigami entered the center of the fray, all of the assorted foes instantly targeted the black mecha. Josh screamed out in pain and anger as Shin’s armor was being blasted off. The Devastators didn’t seem to care that the crossfire was hitting some of their own. “Josh! No!” Dee exclaimed, No! If he gets hurt it’s all my fault!

“Fuck! They got their asses kicked by him when they ganged up on Suzue and Dee, so now they’re trying to kill him first!” Travis realized, taking the opportunity of the enemy’s distraction to wreck as many as he could, “Leave him alone, you pieces of shit! Josh, you’d got to get outta there! Get moving! That’s an order, Lt. Lands!”

“Light Hawk Wings!” Josh cried out. The gray-white translucent wings unfolded from Shin’s shoulder blades as he was regenerated. The power surge knocked some of the closer Devastators away from him and hurtling into others. The collisions damaged all machines involved beyond use. Shin roared in rage.

Josh called out, “With the power of Thanatos (incarnation of death, Josh’s name for that sword),” he says as Shin pulls out the sword over his right shoulder, “And the power of Aries (god of War, Josh’s name for Shins second sword)”, Shin pulls out the second sword, “BLADE SLAMMER!”

Shin immediately crosses both blades edge to edge then starts firing the blast spheres at the cross-point of the sword causing the blasts to fragment in multiple directions in huge cleaving blades of energy. Then he charged forward, spinning his body to send the beam all over in an attempt to spread out the attack. He then started to just slash them enjoying just using his swords to inflict damage.

As the enemy forces turned to keep firing at him, they ended up devastating each other with friendly fire. They all carried on, ignoring it or simply not caring. Tatsuma, Zinv, and the Lins had to dodge occasional stray shots, but remained unharmed. “Yeah, keep trying, you fucking morons!” Josh taunted as he flew Shinigami so as to get the Devastators to continue annihilating each other with missed shots at him.

The A.I. piloted fighters and mecha never realized the flaw in their strategy, and it wasn’t long before only one hadn’t been reduced to space debris. Tatsuma grabbed hold of it from behind and used his energy to increase the pressure upon its armor. The last of the Devastators in Marikesan space collapsed in upon itself, withering like a prune. “It may not be a cost-efficient attack, but it’s certainly satisfying,” Travis smirked.

The Cha’anda returned to the Skylight, their pilots feeling proud of themselves. “I can’t believe none of us was hit! Sakura’s so much faster as a Lin!” Mitsuki Y. remarked.

“So’re Suzue and Yuriko! And the added firepower of the blast spheres was a big help!” Mitsuki E. added.

Dee was fussing over Josh, “I’m so sorry! I never should have made you go out there like that! You were hurt and it’s all my fault!”

“No it’s not! I should have been more careful, and you couldn’t have had any idea what would happen. You were right to make me go. Hey, things turned out alright, didn’t they? If not for you, we’d still be fighting out there. And maybe more of us would’ve gotten hurt,” Josh consoled her.

Travis, however, was quiet and apparently in contemplation. “What’s wrong, Travis?” Kazuki wondered.

“That was too easy. The Marikesan army should have been able to handle a force like that themselves. That means that the armada we just fought was only a piece of what attacked there. So where’s the rest?” Travis questioned.

“All pilots, please report to the bridge. Everyone else, remain at alert status,” Captain Sanada’s voice came over the intercom.

“I get the feeling we’re about to find out,” Kazuki commented.

On the bridge, a few minutes later

“I have some bad news. Very bad,” Dr. Sanada said once all the pilots had arrived. “What’s left of the Marikesan government contacted us right after the Devastators were destroyed. They told us…”

“That was only a tiny fraction of the force that attacked this solar system. The rest is, right now, on its way to their next target. Earth,” Commander Rara finished.

Gasps came from the pilots, except Travis. “I knew it,” he muttered.

“At the speed they were traveling, it will take a couple days to reach it. I don’t know if we stand a chance against a fleet of this size. But we must do something. Even with all the advancements made to Earth’s planetary defenses, it doesn’t stand a chance. We’ve already sent a message to warn them, so at least Earth will be ready,” Ken Sanada continued.

“Captain, if I may?” Travis interrupted. The man in glasses nodded. “If we have a couple of days, I recommend everyone get some rest before we try anything. We’ll need to be at our best.”

“I quite agree, Lt. Commander Ecks. I’ll announce it to the crew,” Dr. Sanada nodded, “Give me shipwide.” The button for the intercom was pressed. “This is Captain Sanada. First off, I would like to congratulate everyone on a job well done. But I’m afraid things are not over just yet. An army many times larger than the one we just faced is on its way to our solar system. Earth has been warned, but the Devastators will be there in less than two days.”

“If we don’t do something, Earth won’t even stand a chance. Therefore, at this time tomorrow, the Skylight will execute a fold-space jump to intercept them. It is quite likely that we will not survive the confrontation. I ask that anyone not willing to give up their life for the world they were born on to be in the cafeteria in twenty hours. We shall return anyone there to Jintaro. After that, we will be preparing for our largest combat yet. That is all,” the captain ended the transmission. Everyone on the ship was silent.

Twenty hours later

Travis peeked into the cafeteria through the doorway. It was completely empty. “They’re all staying. And chances are they’re all going to die. Unless I do something about it.”

Another four hours later

All of the pilots were inside their mechs. Everyone on board the Skylight was at their battlestations. “Fold-space jump, now,” was announced over the intercom as the ship was suddenly moved into the flight path of the Devastator armada. The enemy was just visible on the scanners, and getting closer every second.

The airlock to the mecha bay opened, and all of the Cha’anda drifted out of the spacecraft. “If only I could just use the Triangular Disintegration…So, what’s the plan, bro?” Josh queried.

“You remember your promise, Josh? The one you made to me back on Jintaro, after the first Devastator bombing with us there?” Travis checked.

“You made me promise that, if you ask me to do something and I don’t know what you’re planning, I'll just do it, without questions. And help the others to trust you. Even if it might be suicide,” Josh’s voice betrayed his nervousness at saying this.

“Now’s the time,” the older American declared.

“Travis, what are you saying?” Mitsuki Ecks questioned worriedly.

“I’m saying there’s only one chance for us to survive this. I don’t have time to explain; the Devs will be here in just a couple minutes. So you all are just going to have to do what I say,” Lt. Commander Ecks stated, “Can you do that?”

“I already promised I would,” Josh replied.

“You haven’t let us down yet,” Kazuki agreed.

“Well, you are the commanding officer,” Mitsuki Y. smirked.

“I trust you, Travis,” Dee proclaimed.

“Travis…I will,” Mitsuki E. nodded.

“Great. First thing’s first. Josh, Kazuki, follow my lead. Tatsuma, Light Hawk Wings!” Travis shouted, and they appeared, “Overload!” The gray-white wings turned solid white. Zinv and Shinigami did the same thing.

“We can’t hold this up for long, bro!” Josh warned.

“You won’t have to. Give all the energy to Tatsuma, now,” Travis ordered.

“But you can’t possibly hold that much power!” Dee protested.

“Now!” Travis repeated.

Zinv and Shin each touched one of Tatsuma’s shoulders. Their Light Hawk Wings faded as the energy gathered into their arms and into the green mecha. Travis gritted his teeth as Tatsuma glowed entirely white. Zinv and Shin collapsed in exhaustion. “Take them back inside, and stay in there,” the older American commanded. Then Tatsuma struck off toward the approaching Devastator army.

“Travis!” Mitsuki Ecks called out his name.

“I love you, Mitsuki,” he told her, right before he cut off all communication. Laser blasts came at the supercharged machine from the enemy, but Tatsuma zigzagged to avoid them.

“I love you, too, Travis,” the white Lin’s pilot whispered as she helped get Shin and Zinv back inside the Skylight.

“What is he doing?!” Captain Sanada screamed on the bridge, “They’ll annihilate him!”

“He better come out of this alive!” Commander Rara threatened.

Tatsuma reached the center of the enemy force and stopped. All of the Devastators aimed their weapons at him.

“For my planet. For my friends. For my love,” Travis spoke.

Tatsuma decreed.

the white Lin objected.

I’m sorry, Mitsuki. Forgive me, Travis thought, “Give it all you got, Tatsuma! Chain Lightning Dynamo!”

As the Devastators began firing, giant bolts of electricity shot off from the Het in all directions. The enemy units started exploding as they were shocked by the energy that traveled from craft to craft. More and more bolts came from Tatsuma as he was shot from all sides. Travis roared in agony along with his mech as the emerald green armor was obliterated.

Once the armor shattered Tatsuma was defenseless. His arms and legs got blasted into dust, then his head. Travis made one last outcry and Tatsuma’s remaining torso glowed so brightly as to make it impossible to see him. A massive spherical shockwave of electricity burst out and grew, enveloping the many of the surrounding Devastators. They detonated moments later.

As the glow faded and the multiple Chain Lightning attacks blew up the remaining forces, it was revealed that nothing was left of the green Cha’anda.

“Bro…” Josh stared at his screen.

“Travis…is gone,” Captain Sanada was in shock.

“Travis!” Mitsuki Ecks shrieked, and started crying.

Later

The Skylight had returned to Jintaro. Mitsuki E. locked herself in her house all alone. Alice, Mina, and Ryla tried to get her to let them in, but she wouldn’t do it.

Dee was with Josh, who was trying hard not to weep over his lost blood brother, “He wouldn’t want me to cry…”

“I can’t believe he’s gone. If the Devastators come back…would we even stand a chance without him? I mean, Travis was our leader…and Tatsuma was such a huge part of our strength…” Mitsuki Y. asked Kazuki.

“I…I don’t know. But he wouldn’t want us to just give up. He gave his life for us. He knew he was going to die. I won’t let his self-sacrifice be for nothing. I can’t dishonor him that way,” Kazuki held her.

Meanwhile

Somewhere in the universe, onboard a small ship with a mirrored surface, a group of floating lights, each about the size of a person’s eyeball, communicated by some sort of telepathy. They all floated inside a darkly lit room.

“We got him out just in time,” one seemed to sigh.

“Luckily we had been about to bring him here anyway, or he surely would have died,” a second remarked.

“If something is not done soon, he will still die. He is in highly critical shape; even our technology cannot keep him alive for long,” a third warned.

“I already have a solution to that problem,” a fourth informed the others.

“What solution? What possible way could you have found to regenerate the human body from this much damage? I know of no such technology. And artificial parts will not work,” a fifth wondered.

“Do not tell me you contacted him?!” a sixth exclaimed.

“Who?” a seventh asked.

Just then, a flash of energy that very closely resembled chrome appeared in the air. The energy started small, but grew in a split second to human size. The energy flashed again and winked out. It left appeared to be a human male, six feet in height and in excellent physical shape. The shadows of the room covered him, so that no real details could be made out.

“Spare me the pleasantries. What do you want?” he queried.

“Please, follow me, and I shall show you,” the fourth light moved out of the room and down the hall. The stranger followed, staying in shadow. His right hand did get caught in the light of one of the beings, revealing what looked like a tattoo. It was the same color as the energy that showed up before he arrived. A circle, split vertically by a thin line, with an infinity symbol horizontally across the center.

“Who is that?” an eighth light pondered.

“That mark on his hand…” a ninth noted.

The fourth light took the stranger to a small room. The room was empty, except for a transparent cylinder full of luminescent blue fluid near the far wall. Inside was a skinless man, missing everything below his rib cage. “Holy shit,” the stranger frowned, speaking calmly, “Why are you keeping this guy alive like this? He should be fucking dead.”

“He must live. Unlike you, he cannot complete his task after death. Without him, this universe will fall to slavery,” fourth explained.

The stranger walked over to the tube, “And you need me to heal him.”

“For starters,” fourth confirmed. The other lights had now followed them to watch what was about to happen.

“Well, at least you’re not asking me to take his place or something. He’s going to need a lot of food, and he’ll be weak for a while,” the stranger cracked his knuckles and placed both hands upon the cylinder. Energy like that just before his arrival surrounded his hands before flowing into the blue liquid and the remains of the man.

The body started regenerating at an alarming rate, beginning with the skeletal structure and ending with the flesh. The blue fluid drained away and the tube opened. The regenerated man coughed up some of the blue fluid out of his lungs.

“Welcome back,” the stranger greeted

“How are you feeling, Travis Ecks,” the fourth light greeted.

“I’m starving, I’m exhausted, and I can’t feel Tatsuma. But I’m alive,” the naked man stood up, also cloaked in shadow now that the blue liquid was gone. “Who’re you?” he questioned the stranger.

“Eric Xtor. Now, what’s this about a Tatsuma?” the stranger wondered.

Author’s Note: I’ll bet you got a lot of questions. Such as: What is the story of the stranger with the tattoo? How did he do that? What about Tatsuma? Who are the lights?
Well, those questions will be answered in part 12.
I’ll tell you this much right now, Eric Xtor is not some kind of self-insert. He is a character from some other stories of mine, and my login name, Xtor49, comes from him. Not the other way around. He’s just in this story for a “cameo appearance”, not as a major character.
Second AN by Thorin Blauvelt: The combat that Shinigami was is was modified by me so that the scene would fit Shinigami’s and Josh’s personal fighting styles. The rest of the chapter is Will’s