Teknoman Fan Fiction ❯ Shara's Last Gift ❯ Returning Pasts ( Chapter 4 )

[Taking a walk in the mountain range by the Space Knight Command Center, Warhammer enjoys a walk in a cool autumn morning.]

WH: In all of nature's beauty, one could sometimes never tell that a war's going on or if there was peace. (dives for cover as a transport ship flies through the place where he was.)

Teknos Warhammer

presents:

Shara's Last Gift

Chapter 4:

Returning Pasts

*****

"There's something odd about that guy, Jamison. I've run as many tests as I could about gene structure and to be honest, his baffles me. His DNA has all the standard traits of everyday people like you and me, but I'm telling you that there's something strange about him. I mean, how many albinos do you see with skin that will not change in color when they are supposed to be sunburned? "

-From the doctors log of Timothy Galloway, Solar Moon physician. Dated: Februray 12, 2084

*****

On the eastern edge of the mountain range in northern Israel, the sun's light broke through the clouds. The night before, rain had fallen and gave the earth the life-giving water it so desperately needed in a dry area such as this. Several animals that had taken shelter in a cave began to exit and explore the surroundings of the area that was now drenched with water.

The peace and quiet of the morning was quickly shattered as a single CMF-456 transport ship flew over the horizon. The ship kept a steady course over the top of the canyon ranges that lead to its destination. The storm from the night before had left the wind silent, letting the ship go without turbulence that would bring its passenger any discomfort.

The pilot, seeing his destination coming into view, activated the transceiver and spoke, "Attention, Space Knight Command Center. This is transport 456 requesting permission to board. I repeat, this is transport 456, requesting permission to land, over?"

With seconds, a reply from Ensign Yuuki came through his radio, "That is affirmative 456. Direct your course to runway C-7." After a pause, the ensign continued, "I believe your passenger has friends here, right?"

With a smile, the pilot responded, "That's what I heard. If my guess is right, your guests will be pretty surprised who it is."

From behind the pilot, the passenger began to stir in her seat. She had been sleeping in the chair for several hours and waiting for the signal to come when the enemy had left had been a tedious experience for her. "Oh... what time is it?" she said, rubbing her eyes, attempting to wake up.

"Around 9:30, ma'am," the pilot said, keeping his gaze straight ahead. "We've almost there, so it was a good thing you woke up when you did."

The woman stood up for a second to stretch and took a look outside the cockpit window to see the Command Center get larger as they drew closer.

"Could they still be alive?" She wondered hopefully. It had been so long since they had left her alone and when she had heard that her family had vanished, it nearly drove her to despair. Yet, upon receiving word that they were here, her hope had been restored. In addition, the informant had provided transportation for her to verify if the people here were the ones who they claimed to be.

"Please... please tell me they're all right," she whispered below her breath.

*****

In one of the hangar bays, the commander had invited both of the Carter siblings to that particular bay at the time he had requested. They were both able to make it on time, but the reason behind this rather impromptu meeting had left them wondering why.

The siblings turned to see the stone-faced commander enter the bay and walk towards a control panel nearby.

"Sir... I don't understand. Could you please explain why you brought my sister and I here?" Ness had asked.

As the massive doors of the loading bay began to open, Jamison answered simply, "An acquaintance of mine gave me word on someone you two may recognize."

The very instant he finished, the transport had entered the bay, sending a strong wind every which way with the propulsion systems. The three shielded their eyes from the sun and from the dust that was kicked up as the transport finally settled down on the ground.

Shara, just as confused as her brother, turned to the commander and asked, "Who's that?"

He only gestured to the transport as the hatch on the bottom began to open. The platform, supported by two stretching beams, slowly reached the ground and steam began to flow from exhaust ports nearby. The siblings edged closer to see a single figure walking down the platform and into plain sight.

Despite how physically fit she may have been, the woman was clearly showing
signs of age. Her well-worn face would have led one to believe that she was in her late forties or mid-fifties. Her light brown hair, now faded with streaks of gray, was held in a simple ponytail that stretched from the back of her head to the small of her back.

The woman's eyes locked on the Carter siblings, widened, and she gasped, "Ness?! Shannon?!"

Hearing the woman's voice and seeing her face clearly made them both remember who it was. "Mom?" they both exclaimed in shock.

Almost as if it were a dream, she walked to them both and took an even closer look. They were indeed her children. Harri Carter had found two of her children again.

"Ness... Shannon... you're all right!" she said, near to the point of shock with joy. Her children, not having seen their mother in more than a year and a half, hugged back their mother as best they could. Her voice soon degraded into sobs as she held the only other members of her family in her arms. "I was so worried..." she managed to get out between sobs.

"It's ok, mom. We're back," Ness said, trying to reassure her. Yet, hearing those words made Shara flinch slightly, keeping her slowly worsening condition still fresh in her mind.

Seeing two of her children back had made her so happy, it brought another question to mind that made her worry more so than when she first came. "Wait... where's your father? And what about Conrad and Cain?"

The siblings looked to each other, almost asking each other who would be the one to bear the bad news. Shara's head hang low as she answered, "I'm sorry, Mom. But... Dad's dead... I don't know what happened to Conrad... and Cain's... he's one of the enemy."

Hearing of her husband's death was bad enough to her, but not knowing what happened to one of her sons and knowing that her other son was fighting against them had made the situation worse.

Ness's head hung down, as if he felt he were at fault. "I'm sorry, mom."
Harri was about to break down and cry when she wiped away the tears that seemed to flow so freely the past several months. She had made that choice long ago to stop crying and be strong, even if it was more than she could bear.
She turned to her son and asked, "Tell me... tell me everything that happened, from the beginning if you need to."

As Ness began to tell his tale, none of the three ever noticed the commander leaving the loading bay. Staying only until the point where Ness had gone into detail, the capture of the Argos Exploration ship, and the ensuing war. He had left when he felt he had heard enough.

*****

Elsewhere in the command center, Tina still lay upon her bed, staring at the ceiling, lost in thought. She raised her hand and examined it carefully, knowing that it was still human, though capable of much more than before.

"Wow... it's hard to believe that I'm a teknoma... er, Teknos," she thought. Being in the armor, wielding a scythe, and being able to fly on the wind had nearly overwhelmed her sense of imagination. A smirk began to develop. "I sure had those jerks surprised, that's for sure."

Almost as if her thoughts where spoken outloud, a voice responded. "It is never wise to think so highly of yourself when you are less experienced than your opponent."

She bolted up from her position on her bed to see a tiger, sitting by the foot of her bed. A tiger was sitting by the foot of her bed?

"What the...? Did you just say that?" Tina asked the tiger, wondering if her imagination was overworking itself again.

The tiger, having much more intelligence than one would first think, nodded and answered in a deep and regal voice, "Who else could have?"

Tina was truly shocked now. There was a talking tiger that seemed to have appeared out of nowhere and for all she knew, it could have been smarter than she was. Her first thoughts were to either stop eating sugar completely or finish reading that Tarzan comic book she had purchased several months before.
More than wondering where it came from, how was she supposed to get rid of it? Even if she tried, would it try to eat her? Tina never thought enough about tigers to consider herself as a food supplement.

A rational thought surfaced. If she tried to reason with this tiger, which clearly had the capacity to understand higher thinking, it might leave. But first things first.

"Who... or what are you?"

"I am Kahn; teacher and guide. Yours to be specific."

Tina blinked in complete confusion as a response. A teacher and guide? For what? Could this tiger be somehow related to what Konatsu had been telling her about getting a teacher? If it were so, it was far too strange for her to ingest completely.

"But why would I need a teacher for? Didn't I already learn all I needed to know from Konatsu?"

Kahn answered casually, "Quite to the contrary, you have much to learn about what you can do. I chose you because I can tell you have the potential to become very powerful. Which, of course, corresponds with the attributes I teach: Power and Drive."

Tina's shoulders began to slump. "Oh great! Now I'm the middle of some stupid
D&D game." She paused. "Wait. Doesn't power corrupt?"

Kahn nodded. "Indeed it does, has, and will corrupt. However, when power is given to those who are not in love with it, there's no limit to what it can do for good. That is what I teach."

The whole thing had left Tina completely speechless. How was she going to explain to the commander about a tiger, living in her room... or was she the only one who could see him?

"Fear not, my dear. You're the only one who can see me. I can come an go as I please, so you need not worry about me." As if he was about ready to leave, he asked, "Now that we've formally introduced ourselves, Ms. Corman, have you any questions?"

She quickly searched for all the questions that she had been asking herself, but none of them would come to mind. "Well, not at the moment... Wait! There's something I need to know. Ever since I've emerged from the chamber, my right leg's been hurting a bit, do you know why?"

"Ah, yes. It is growing pains, nothing more. Your body is starting to undergo a change." His response only made Tina blink in confusion. "Meaning, since you've accepted the power, it has begun to affect your real body as well. Within a month or so, your body shall reach its full physical prime."

Hearing his words brought a glimmer of hope in Tina's eyes, "You mean... I'll be taller?" Kahn only nodded. She gripped her fists and wanted to scream in triumph. Her smile grew as large as her face could hold as she proclaimed, "At last! I won't be mistaken for being a kid anymore!"

Kahn's tone grew impish as he added, "Oh, you'll be much more than that, my dear."

"What do you mean?"

"What I mean is this," as he spoke, he opened his paw as if it were imitating a flower. "Your body will blossom and mature into something men would lust after. A true beauty among beasts."

All of a sudden, the thought of being taller lost its appeal. "Thanks for telling me that!" she whined, slumping her shoulders again.

Kahn only laughed and replied, "Think nothing of it, my dear." He then turned away, "Now, if you'll excuse me, I must be going."

"Oh, wait! How am I supposed to find you? How will I know when to talk with you when I need to?"

"Don't worry. I shall find you when you need me." With that, he casually stepped into the shadows and vanished.

She sighed in exasperation and fell backward onto her bed. All this was almost too much for her to take. If she recalled correctly, her shift would begin in about a half an hour, she needed to start getting ready. Yet, a thought that she'd been constantly putting away in the back had returned.

"The Lahdam," she whispered. "Darkon... if Slade was right and his cruiser's just a probe... then that means..." Her eyes widened at the next idea, "...more of them will come!"

She sat upright as a scary thought came about from all this. "Even if we can turn this one back, who knows how many more of them will follow?" She took the fastest shower she could, got dressed and ran out. All the while thinking, "I've got to let the commander know about this!"

*****

In his office, Commander Jamison sat silently in his chair. Gazing at the sky, his thoughts returned to the reunion of the remaining Carters. He didn't have to think hard about how painful it must have been for their mother. Suffering in isolation all this time, only to find that most of her family was gone.

"In one event at that." He moved his eyes to view the sun, breaking its light through several clouds. "Chaos and Order certainly play strange games with us."

"Yes. I do." A voice replied simply from the shadows. Jamison turned to see a man standing in the darkness by the door of his office. What the man wore appeared to be a jumpsuit, perfectly melded to the color of the walls, making his appearance almost non-existent. From the shade, his face was partially concealed, leaving only traces from his long, colorless hair hanging about his shoulders.

Not quite thrilled to see strangers appear in such a manner and readying the derringer in his sleeve to fire, Jamison asked, "And you are?"

"A little over a century ago, I was mostly known a rather feminine looking young man in college, named Kisaragi. Though that life has passed and now I'm what I am, it has little to no relevance. However, if you must know, I am commonly referred to as Shun."

Still unmoving, Jamison questioned, "And is there anything else that you are that I should be aware of?"

Shun only beamed and replied, "Other than the fact that I control all the entropy in the universe, not really."

"Am I supposed to be impressed?"

Shun's smile did not change at all, "No. That's why I prefer to talk to people
like you."

Jamison's patience was beginning to wear. "And your reason for being here?"
Shun walked out of the shadows to show he looked no different than any other person. Yet, the most startling fact about the stranger was that his person had absolutely no colors whatsoever. No colors on his skin, clothes, face, and eyes. He ended up at Jamison's desk and stroked a finger across the top as if checking for dust.

"Personal in nature. Yet, it has quite a bit to do with this little reunion of the Carters. It's about your own family, Nathaniel Jamison..." he leaned over the desk, reached over, and placed the index finger of his right hand on Jamison's forehead. "Or should I say..."

Shun's last words were lost as Jamison felt all consciousness fade into darkness. Everything in his mind and body had suddenly shut down and was taken to somewhere else.

As Jamison felt everything and nothing move past his being, he could hardly describe the vortex that he had been sucked into. Everywhere he turned, there was movement of light and darkness. It seemed like he was falling through a passageway though time and space.

After what seemed to be an eternity, all movement stopped and Jamison found himself alone in what appeared to be a large and spacious, oval shaped room. He shielded his eyes as best he could when he tried to look up at the source of a great light that permeated the room.

The light was very powerful, but not so much that he could not see what exactly was above him. It appeared to be a large blue flame, hovering in mid-air below the great light that radiated the void. There seemed to be no source from which the flame burned, yet it did not appear that it was going to fade out.

An explanation was definitely in order. He looked over to his side to see Shun looking up at the flame as well. What also surprised Jamison was that Shun was a lot shorter than he was, more so than most of the members of his crew.

Taking another look at the flame, Jamison asked, "But what does all this..."

"Shhh, listen." Shun interrupted.

The flame seemed to glow more brightly and a voice came from it and said,
"Mother."

The great light turned to the flame, "Yes, my child."

"It is still dark... yet I can see the light outside... why is that?"

"Because you have yet to be born, my child."

Jamison's ears strained themselves to place the voice of the light that spoke to
the flame. He was sure he had heard it before, but could not remember where.

"I see... I have another question."

"Go on."

"This concept, marriage. What does it mean? You and Father often speak of it."
"It is... somewhat hard to explain to one as young as yourself... but simply defined... it is a promise. A very sacred promise. A while before you came to be, your father and I made a promise in front of He who created all. It is a promise that binds our souls to each other for the rest of our days. And should we remain faithful to each other in life, even until our dying day, we shall not be separated at death. The reason why is because I love him... and he loves me. We both know it will not always be easy, but we both work our hardest to make it right. It involves trust, friendship, and sacrifice to name a few..."

The flame, a bit overwhelmed at the response, replied, "That seems very complex, Mother."

The light stifled a giggle and said, "You will understand someday."
No sooner had the mother spoke her words, Jamison found himself back in the office, with Shun sitting on the side of his desk. His face was a mask of complete shock, after hearing the voice of the light, had brought back memories he had thought lost. He knew whose voice it was.

He turned to Shun, "That was my mother, wasn't it?" Shun nodded in reply. The stranger's interest in doing this sparked another question, "Why? Why did you show me that?"

"A part of my compensation towards you. Your life was led in this direction because this war and all that would occur within was foreseen long ago and you were needed to be who you are now. However, you don't need to understand everything at the moment."

Jamison's face soon turned hard. "What you're doing is not exactly helping me with this war."

Shun's smile never faded, "Be nice to me, Jamison or else you might regret it. Besides, I've been wanting to show you this for years."
Jamison stood up and glared down at Shun, "What do you want? What is the end you're trying to reach using me?"

Shun's smile faded slightly at his demand. He then turned and started to walk away, "Something you cannot begin to understand, even if you tried." Before Jamison could continue, Shun had walked out the door. He figured that if he was who he said he was, Shun was most likely already gone.

Jamison leaned on his hands on his desk and sighed deeply. That vision had caused him to think more deeply about who and what he was. He had been separated from his real parents at a young age and had been raised by loving foster parents. However, everything that had to do with his childhood was lost from memory, due to the extensive injuries that he had received in the incident which separated him from his parents.

"...mother..." he whispered quietly.

More questions emerged. Who was she? What was she like? Who was his real father?
How did she meet him? What was the meaning of the flame and the light?

A knock on the door broke him from his thinking and he answered, "Enter."

The door opened and Tina walked in with a somewhat panicked look on her face.
"Commander. I need to speak with you. It's about the aliens."
Jamison gestured for her to take a seat. "Continue."

"If what Slade said about Darkon's ship being a Lahdam probe, then there may be a good chance that more of them will come after him."

The idea did make sense to Jamison, "So, when the Lahdam discover him not reporting back, they're going to assume that this place is either too dangerous or perfect for their designs."

"From what I've learned, the latter seems more likely. And what makes it worse is that we have no idea when and from where they will come."

Jamison turned in his chair to the window, "Unless we happen to know someone who's more than familiar with them."
"Should we let the UEG presidency know about this?"

Jamison's head shook after a moment of thought, "No. Not yet. Let's concentrate on this war before rearming ourselves for another one."

Tina stood up, "Yes, sir. Anything else?"

He turned back in his chair, "At the moment, nothing. Return to normal status."
"Understood." She then turned and made her way to the door.

"Ms. Corman," The commander asked before Tina could walk through the entryway.
She turned to him and acknowledged his call. "Have you grown? You seem to appear a bit taller."

The observation made Tina blush a bit and she said with a bit of embarrassment, "Well... I am sir, I also found out that going through the process does this to one's body." It also made Tina realize that if it was going to continue at this rate, her clothes wouldn't even fit her anymore! "No wonder my shirt felt a bit tighter than normal..." she wondered silently.

Sensing her concern to the situation, the commander said, "If you need to, get a change in size for your clothes." She nodded and hurried her way out.
Tina's face had gone several shades of red and now she was ready to smack her head against the wall several times, but was too frustrated to bother. "ARG! I can't believe that the commander was the one who had to tell me that! I'm so embarrassed!"

With her little tantrum completed, she sighed and figured it would help to scream in her pillow later on. However, what she needed to do was get some new clothes and since she did not have any days off anytime soon, she'd just have to make do with what she had.

*****

On the outer part of the solar system, a silver light flew near one of the rings of Saturn. As the light flew through the rings, it left a hole that would be there until the debris closed it again. The light then stopped and the figure within flew from the haze to examine a certain patch of space with trained eyes.
"Yes... that's it. A Lahdam ship... looks like an Asyden-class probe used a warp gate here...." The figure then cursed beneath its breath, "I should have known it was going to come here. Why didn't the Noum-Ishoph get me here sooner?!"

The figure turned again to where the only inhabitable planet in the system was.
The traveler found it ironic that Darkon would have decided to wipe out primitive civilization to further his own ends. It never used to be that way... It didn't matter. Soon the truth would be known and Darkon would be punished for his actions.

"HALT!" A voice screamed over radio frequency that the traveler could hear. "We are the Earthen Defense Fleet. You have entered Sol System Space. State your name and business at once!"

The traveler turned to see several arrow-shaped ships moving about it, trying to close all avenues of escape, which came as no surprise. However, more important business needed to be attended to, and now was not the time for protocol!

"Ishatauw oun ijow oht heaman auw kareoam oun ijow ianawed!" it screamed what sounded like a hiss, growl, and human vocal cords. Before the soldiers could make heads or tails of what it had said, it sped off at speeds none of them could match.

Had they the capacity to understand they would not have been pleased to know that the stranger said, "My name and business are none of yours!"

Turning on his radio, the leader of the squad announced to his commander. "Captain Jessie! This is Private Wedge. Vicks' squad and my own found an alien craft, or unit of sorts. However, before we could get a proper identification, it flew away and we assume it's heading towards your position!"

The captain quickly responded, "Can you follow it?"

Wedge replied incredulously at the radio, looking at the space where he once saw
the stranger, "Follow it?! I can't even see it!"

At the bridge of the United Earth Government cruiser 'Churchill', Captain
Jessica Fielding raced to the communications officer who had received the new
alien craft on radar.

"Can you see it?" The captain asked.

"Yes sir! The object the squads found earlier is heading in our direction at
half the velocity of light. Our scanners say its dimensions are about the same
size and shape of a power suit. However, because of the strong energy field
around it, we can't get a reading on its power source or configuration."

"Half the speed of light? How can an object no larger than a power suit be
capable of traveling that fast?"

"I don't know sir, but its ETA to our position is less than a minute and a
half."

"Can you give me a visual?" The officer nodded and brought the single silver
streak speeding towards their position. "Have you tried to hail it?"

"Many times sir. But it does not appear to be responding."

The captain began to eye the streak with suspicion, "It doesn't appear that it's
after us... where would it course take if it continued as it is?"

"Computers are saying it will head straight to Earth."

The Captain frowned and ordered to the officer, "Hail it!" The officer did so,
rather quickly one might add. "Attention alien craft. You are entering Sol
system space without proper identification. State your business or else leave
this system immediately."

No response.

"I'm warning you! If you don't state your business, I'm going to open fire!"

Still, no response.

With her patience gone, the captain turned to the officers on the deck, "That's
it! As soon as it's within range, I want all batteries firing at that thing!"

The stranger was more than aware of the danger it was about to get itself in.
Nevertheless, its mission had to be completed.

Within the silver light, the source of the light itself, being a suit of alien
shaped armor, peered at all the gun batteries, pointing at it. A frown crossed
its face and braced itself for what might be a rather tedious experience.

Within seconds, all the guns of the fifteen large cruisers, that had been sent from Earth to assist in colonizing the planets several years earlier opened fire on the stranger who failed to acknowledge them for what they were.

The figure still kept to its course, while dodging lasers from every which
angle. Practically mocking the greatest weapons mankind had created, the
stranger almost casually danced around the beams of light from the ships.

It was about the time the stranger was within the very center of all the ships
when the stranger's patience had decided to run thin. Throwing a glare at the
ships, the stranger screamed, "Kareoam auw ishautauw oun naukiij owu
fuiruiguakaust!"

The stranger stopped suddenly and the sliver light about it gathered more and
more until it turned into a large and pulsating sphere of silver light. The
ships' lasers could not penetrate the sphere, no matter how much they tried. And
just when the lasers could no longer seem to do any effect, the sphere burst and
the fleet was showered with silver light.

The bridge on the 'Churchill' rocked this way and that as if it were a building
in the middle of an earthquake. The captain held on to the guardrail for dear
life as the ship slowly came to a steady position. Looking to the frontal
display screen, whatever the stranger had done, it had knocked the entire fleet
for a wallop.

"Where did it go? What happened?" The captain demanded from what few officers
that were still standing or sitting at their consoles.

One officer replied, "We're not sure, but from what I can gather, it seems to
have emitted an EM Pulse. And a big one at that!"

Another continued, "We can't find it, sir! All scanners have been knocked out."

Finally reaching her seat, she turned to the same officer from before, "Can't we
fire?"

"With all due respect, sir. It would be the best if we started repairs on the
more important systems. Or else we might find ourselves without life-support."

The captain growled beneath her breath and then complied, "All right, begin
repairs, immediately." She hated leaving a situation like this left alone
because of the present circumstances.

*****

On the moon, Darkon's astral form sat in silent meditation on the bridge of his
craft. Even though everything was operating smoothly, he could not help but get
an uneasy feeling that there would be some detail that would lead to his defeat.
He had used every bit of his mental resources to try and discover what, but it
lead to a conclusion that he was imagining it all.

Nevertheless, he saw it fit to keep his eyes and ears open.

At the moment, Saber was inside the pods, receiving a similar enhancement that
Slade had been able to utilize. The process needed time to work effectively and
since Sword was handing the affairs of Earth at the present time, it resulted in
no loss of efficiency. The end result would be Saber with greater power, Sword
terminating Slade, and soon enough, the Earth would fall.

The armor that Teknos and Teknamin wore was all the same in the capability of
evolving to higher levels of strength, endurance, speed, and agility. Like with
the physical bodies of many species, it could endure levels of stress and
discomfort to a certain point and then would break, only to repair itself
stronger than before.

Darkon, himself had gone through such a process many times in the past. From all
his years of battle, his body had hardened itself to the point where even
without his armor; he was still a force to reckon with. However, he knew that he
could not trust in his strength alone, for many had done so and it led to their
destruction.

Total victory required more than just brute strength. It needed a mind, sharp as
a blade. Reflexes that only time could surpass. Intelligence to shame any
computer. Speed greater than the sight of the naked eye. Most of all, the
foresight to see ANY detail that could create a problem.

He was not foolish in the least. He knew of Sword's former life and her
affections towards another one of the ill-fated Argos crew. Sword had saved
Saber's life in the hopes of gaining favor in his eyes. Yet, he had seen through
her ruse and knew of her plans. She would pay dearly in the future for thinking
such. Now, he only needed to continue using her the way he had used Gunnar and
Saber until they were of no more use to him.

A disturbance in another plane awoke him from his thoughts. He drifted out from
his chamber and onto the surface of his ship to try and get an idea as to what
happened where. He reached out his hands and consciousness to as far as he could
go and found the faint aftermath of what appeared to be a Naig Houn, or a Silver
Nova in his own language.

A maneuver that had the capability to emit a strong electromagnetic pulse that
could knock almost any piece of machinery out of order temporarily. Whoever was
using it was certainly no beginner.

It also led him to the conclusion that there were shadows of his past that were
still following him. Negias had trained them well. Too well for Darkon's taste.

For who knew how long, the last few Teknos had been hunting him with the sole
intention of stopping him in his mad goal. Who were they to call him mad? Yes,
the means did not justify his ends in the present, but the future would
vindicate him. The future would prove that he was right.

Now, it appeared that the past would still not let him be.

What made it worse was that he had a pretty good idea of who it was. A trusted
friend, like Rolf was.

*

"Hello?" A young stranger said inside of the cave that he currently was using to
help recover his wounds from a previous battle.

Darkon turned to see another Teknos in an unarmored form. What surprised him
more was that she was of the same race he was. She appeared no older than a
woman of his race just entering the part of her life when maturity became more
physical, after the emotional stage was complete of course.

"Yes?" Darkon replied.

"I was told that you might have been here. I've heard a bit about you and wanted
to see what you looked like in person." She asked stepping up to the rock he sat
on.

"Disappointed?" he said with a smirk.

A similar grin developed on her face, "Not at all. In fact, you're worse."

He began to turn away to continue bandaging his tail, "Good. Now if you're done,
you can go now."

Her smile vanished and a frown took its place. "What if I don't want to?"

He turned around and frowned back, "Then I'm going to have to punish you like a
child until you do."

She whipped her weapon out of nowhere and held it in a defensive stance, "I do
not think so."

He resisted the urge to bring out his own weapon, hopped down, and looked
straight into the youth's eyes. "Tell me then, young one. Why are you here?"

Her eye twitched in agitation as she replied, "I heard that there were some
Teknos that originated from Kharuse like I did and I wanted to see for myself.
Is that so wrong?"

He casually hopped over her head and ruffled her hair with a wry grin on his
face, "Yes it is. Now go home before your mother gets worried about you."

With a growl, she spun around and failed to strike him on the side of the head
as he hopped backward.

"I am not a child!"

Her remark did not support her claim as she continued to swing and miss.

"I'm not so sure about that."

Though at that time, she was not the fighter he was. Yet, as the years passed,
she proved herself time and time again to be more dangerous than one would
expect, and here she was, back to destroy him for what he had done to her
comrades.

Before retreating back to his lair, he tossed a glare towards the location of
his foe and whispered, "I'll be waiting for you... just like I always did..."

*****

Star took a look from her meal to the clock on the wall to see only half an hour
left before her shift started. She had heard about Ness and Shara's mother
coming to the command center and wondered how he must have been feeling.

She continued to stir the contents of her bowl of oatmeal with her spoon, being
lost in thought about the situation with the Carters. Leaning her head on her
left hand and stirring with her right, her gaze never wavered from the bowl's
center as the stirring motion of the spoon continued.

"Morning," Ringo chimed as he sat down across from her, his own breakfast in
hand. She looked up and gave a nod, which gave him acknowledgment of his
arrival.

"You all right?" he asked.

She didn't bother to look up as she nodded in response. To anyone else, this
only communicated that something was indeed on her mind. Ringo tried several
more times to get her attention, but she seemed far too lost in her thoughts to
pay attention.

Family. Her own family in particular had been on her mind since her conversation
with Ness about it. One would suspect that since she had not gone through the
same ordeal that he had, her memories of family would have been clearer.

However, such was not the case. It had been far too long since she had seen her
brother and sister. So long that she had bringing them to mind was more of a
physical effort than a mental one. What made it worse was that she had no
recollections of her teenage years with them.

Here she was, twenty-three years old and memories of nearly ten years of life
were lost due to an accident from which only vague images were left over.

All that she had salvaged was a few childhood memories of her older sister,
Novillia. A quiet and reserved child with remarkable patience, especially when
it came to annoying younger siblings. Star recalled that she always liked her
hair short and that she had a secret she wouldn't tell them. She found it
strange that those little nuances were what she remembered most clearly about
her.

Then, there was her younger brother, Comthy. As wide-eyed, happy, and cheerful
as he seemed, she always had this feeling that he knew more than what others
thought. He was by no means slow in mentality, just a little naive.

After that, there was nothing more for Starrik Summers to recall about her
siblings. In addition, the war had thrown the earth into such disarray that
finding them now would be next to impossible. She sighed again and looked up to
Ringo, who had given up trying to talk with her.

"Sorry, Ringo. I got lost thinking. What were you saying?" She asked.

He looked up a bit and frowned at her lack of attention to him earlier, but
lightened up a bit and said, "Thank you. Anyway, did you hear about the Carters'
mom coming here?"

Star nodded, "Yes, I have. What about you?"

"I heard that one of the top brass in the company that owns the Space Knights
brought her here, all at their own expense for Slade and Shara," he said,
twirling his spoon about his fingers.

Starting up on her breakfast again, Star replied, "Well, I think they deserve
it. After all, they've been through things we can't imagine."

Ringo smirked, "Or maybe you think that way because of how you feel about
Slade."

Star's eyes leveled out quickly, "And what business of that is yours?"

Ringo only continued, despite the thin ice he was starting to walk on, "None
whatsoever. But you should hear what people are saying about you two already.
And all you two have just started to notice each other and people are whispering
that you've gone all the way with him."

Star's eye twitched murderously, "I'll pretend you didn't say that!"

Starting to pick up his tray, Ringo continued, "They're just rumors, Star. Don't
get so uptight! Besides, I don't really know who started them in the first
place."

Star's frown soon developed into an impish grin when she said starting to stand
up, "Ok then, how about I go and tell Slade how you and Shara have been doing,
hmm?"

It was now Ringo's turn to twitch.

Star put her index finger on her chin and pretended to act as innocent as
possible, "Gee, I wonder how Slade would react to the thought of seeing you
getting pretty friendly with his sister, hmm?" She giggled a bit and put her
hands behind her back and continued, "Oh, I'd bet he'd just go nuts over the
thought itself!"

Both had played their hands and Ringo had lost hard. "ALRIGHT! I didn't say a
thing, Star! Geez!"

Despite all his protests, Star was having too much fun torturing Ringo to stop.

*****

"Ok, make sure and get those machines up and running as soon as possible, we
don't know when the aliens are going to attack again!" Ensign Yuuki cried to the
working bay crew that had finished unpacking all the materials that they had
received the day before.

Aside from food and other such materials, most of the shipment was comprised of
machines made for production of Zetronic antimatter and Teknosuits.

Running to the ground level, she held the board tightly, which held the orders
for each team, hoping to get things started as soon as possible. The team
leaders gathered at the bottom of the stairs, all waiting for their respective
assignments.

Pulling out a single sheet of paper for each of the leaders, she called out,
"All right. Team one, you start with the production of the Z-Tron generator.
We're almost out of the stuff that came from the plant a few weeks ago and we
need more. We got enough materials to help us last a while so we got to make it
snappy."

"How long do we have?" the man asked.

"Before the aliens strike again," she replied promptly, then turned to the next
man and handed him a set of papers. "You guys got to start building the
production line that installs the energy to the suits and Z-Tron as well. All
the plans and procedures are in here."

"Understood," the man said, taking the papers.

"Team three is to start the production and instillation of the recently
developed weapons that Ringo got on his Teknosuit. All the plans and such are
right here, so don't lose them." She said to the third team leader, handing him
the sheets of paper with the vital information.

She then walked up the stairs a bit and reiterated to the crew, "Just to remind
you, we've been given orders from the top brass that we got to get all these
things up and running as soon as possible. We have no clue when and where the
aliens are going to strike so we need to keep everything working as much as we
can. Also, it may even result in all of you being put into the teknosuits we're
about to make."

"Are you serious?" said one worker.

"Ask the commander that. The aliens have been far too quiet recently. They've
only been attacking us. The commander is getting a bad feeling about all this
and he wants everything ready for something big," Miaka snapped. "As soon as
you're all done with making your respective machines, you're all to report to
the training facility as soon as possible."

Another worker from the bridge ran to the top of the stairs Yuuki stood on and
announced, "Everyone, to your stations, let's go! Ensign, you're needed at the
bridge."

She nodded and ran back up to follow the other communications officer to the
main hallway that would lead to the bridge. When she reached the entryway,
however, she stopped to take a look at a member of the crew that seemed a bit
out of place.

When she ran back to the edge of the platform, she saw that the member was a
woman that appeared to be moving through all the crews, almost as if she were
trying to make herself blend in.

The ensign made a note to check for that particular person before something bad
happened.

End of Chapter 4.

[Just outside the vicinity of the loading bay, Warhammer sneaks about from crate
to crate and sits in a chair in an office.]

WH: Ahh, don't you love this. Plot development is the stuff which dreams are
made of. It also makes the story much more enjoyable to read when you know
what's going on.

First off; Mrs. Carter. The person I had in mind when I came up with the
character was based off the character from a book I read when I was a lot
younger. It came from Robin McKinley's newbary award winning book; The Blue
Sword. I liked it a lot and kinda modeled her after the character from the book.
And so, if by some chance you get a chance to read it, make sure you read The
Hero and the Crown first. It gives a bit of back-story as well.

Next; Tina's statement about D&D does not reflect the opinions of the author. It
just seems to me that Tina would know about it, but wouldn't really get into it.
I know a little about D&D, but I've only read The Legend of Huma and that's it.
I might go back and get started on it... but if it's a massive universe that
requires a lot of time to understand... we'll see.

...and yes, that Kahn is whom you think it is. Whether you curse my name for
using him is your own prerogative, but remember, this is the mere beginning of a
mega-xover universe where there are no established rules as to which series' I
can use. In other words; :p Biiida!

Now, I for one liked Jamison's little visit to the past. There was never any
back-story given about him, save for the short event when he had turned his back
on an old friend and saw him leave Earth, meaning Doctor Random. I had a little
fun when creating his past and a few of your are probably going to want to
either lynch me or just think that I'm smoking crack or something like that. For
those of you who already know, DON'T GIVE IT AWAY! ...please?

Also, Shun's involvement is nothing more than small parts of something much more
massive which is to occur later on in my universe. He will have the appropriate
explanations given and I assure you, it will be worth the wait.

The stranger and Darkon's memory of her were at one time nothing more than just
a passing mention in the script I wrote for this fic. How strange that when I
finished the chapter in the first place that that small idea demanded to be
expanded... I had no choice! It threatened to sue.

Also, everything that occurred after the fleet's little tryst with our new guest
wasn't there in the first place. The real reason for the expansion was due to
the fact that I felt that more could be done for this chapter. So, for all I
know, I may have to rewrite this chapter again. But if it test well and no
problems occur, I just might as well leave it as it is.

Before I forget, I intend to incorporate Tekkaman Blade II into my universe,
which is the reason that you're seeing a colony fleet in the outer solar system.
And for those who have seen TBII, like me, we all know what becomes of those who
aren't smart and stay on Earth, right? Right.

As for Star's siblings. They'll get their chance in the spotlight, helps the fic
get larger. Yes, I know that the names sound odd, but hey. I've heard stranger.
At least the names here sound better than something like Squall! Right? Right, Squaresoft? Huh?!

Finally;

Teknoman belongs to Saban and all who are concerned.

Tekkaman Blade belongs to Tenkou Suzuki, he wrote the manga in the first place.

Miaka Yuuki belongs to Watase Yuu-sensei.

Kahn belongs to Disney. (THERE! I said it! And I'm gonna say it again...
sometime.)

Shun Kisaragi belongs to Yuki Nasae-sensei.

Any and all things related to Teknos belongs to me.

Any other reference not mentioned belongs to whoever made it in the first place.

No cash received from this fic = no reason for being sued.

'Till next time!

[Warhammer rushes away in a rush to finish his physics homework.]