[LNH] Vel #7

[cabbagewielder at yahoo.com]

My other and his companions had journeyed from across time and space.
He did not come to talk.  He came to make a decision.  One that would
color every one he will make til the day he dies.  I saw it in a
vision.    It will be bring him his greatest joy, his ultimate despair.
  It will grant me my redemption at the cost of his joy.   It will
bring him to a new understanding of his dual nature.   The cost to me,
I cannot say.   Fate has its way of balancing things.  That much I
know.

	Frozen rain hit the ground outside the cave.   The fire was running
hot as they sipped their soup.  Our discussion turned dark.

	"So you came back in time to help me crush the enemy and set history
right," he said.
	"I guess... whatever saves the most lives," Vel said.
	"So, you're saying if you could go back in time, which come to
think of it you can, you'd kill Hitler," I asked.
	"I-I don't know..."

	We were silent for a moment.

	"What about Taup?"
	"Now that's a name I haven't heard in a long time," Vel said.
	"Who's Taup?" Seductress asked.
	"Taup?  You mean THE Taup?  The recently exiled former head of the
Dorfan intelligence and weapons development bureau?" Starless said.
	"Vel? What are you not telling us?" Carina said.
	"Nothing," he said.
	"You can't fool me..." Carina replied.

	So he hadn't told them.  Of course, perhaps he never thought he'd
ever hear the name again.  Wishful thinking.   Or maybe, like I thought
at the time, he didn't realize the full scale of what was going on.
I mean, back when I was ten I thought it was fun.   To some extent it
was.  But if I knew then what I do now, it would have scared the crap
out of me.

	"It was a long time ago... I... we...," he said.
	"I is correct.  We were still one person then.  Remember, one man
diverged in a wood.  And I-I took the road less traveled by...," I
said.
	"Right... I was only about 10 years old at the time.  I was walking
home from school and I had a run in with some soldiers.  That's
it," Vel said.
	"Really?" Seductress said.
	"No," I said.  "Allow me."

	   Little Vel #7
	   Schroedinger's Planet part Four
	  A Time to Stand
	  By Jesse N. Willey

	As you may have heard, Haven didn't quite live up to its name.  The
entities may have allowed the various residents of the planet to live
in peace, they couldn't stop influence by various intergalactic
foreign powers.   Every few years some race or another would attempt to
annex the planet in some strategic maneuver or another.  Otherwise, the
status quo was an apolitical zone where anyone could seek refuge.
Which meant that criminals deposed military leaders and even the
occasional terrorist cell or Black Ops unit would set up bases there.


	On July 3rd, 1991 at approximately 15:53 Eastern Standard Time, the
Dorfan Empire annexed the planet Haven in order to set up some sort of
orbiting repair station to use in their on going war against the Enobi.
  Not that I knew that.

He was right about one thing.  I was walking home from school.  And I
did have a run in with some soldiers.  It was not nothing.  It was a
glorious battle. I was walking across the two miles of desert between
school and home.   When I reached the half way point a tank was waiting
for me.  Their guns were raised.

	"Are you Vel?" the guard
	"Affirmative," I said.
	"You are a Dorf.  You are no longer to attend the human educational
station or associate with Humans," the guard said.
	"My dad told me never to take orders from strangers," I said.

	The guard cocked his gun.

	"Your father is a human.  You aren't supposed to listen to him
anymore," the guard said.
	"Moakonzi says that The Father's Word is law," I said.

	The guard shot me.   My blood hit the sand.

	"Take that up with The Emperor.  He is your father now," the guard
said.


	================================================================

	So the next day my father,  the real one not the emperor, sends to me
to school.  The human school.   The teacher was in a panic as I
approached school.  A guard had gun.   The other Dorf at the school, a
girl from my class was being escorted out the building.     I paused.
I stared at my teacher in horror.   Before I could make my decision, he
shot her.   That was when I first saw death.   I made my first, and
strongest war cry.   I charged the bastard.  I smashed the glass of the
guard's helmet.  I shoved some of the sharper shards into his eye.


	"So he was right," the guard said. "You do have potential."
	"Who?  What was this about," I said.
	"TA--- " he said.

	The electricity began to spit out of his body.   He had a suicide
chip.  They are programmed to stop the spread of crucial information
from getting into the wrong hands.  If I could beaten him to the point
where he wanted to slip, that information should have been mine by
blood right.  Whoever my opponent was, he was highly dishonorable.

	"Vel, I think you'd better go home now," said Rod.

	==================================================================

	I began walking home.   I passing the old abandoned drive crystal mine
when I heard a soft rumbling from the ground.  I turned around.   I saw
no major damage to anything, so went back on my way.   Then it happened
again.    Only a giant robot was blasting out of the ground about two
hundred feet behind me.  It was nearly two hundred feet tall and I was
caught in the umbra of its shadow.

	"You disgraceful half-human whelp! You killed my son!" it shouted.

	That's when it realized it wasn't fully mechanical.  It had a
human pilot.  Which meant it was an older model.   That also meant it
was a lot more vulnerable to attack.   A few of the older kids said
that there was a whole fence in the crystal mine somewhere and the
generator still worked.   If I could get in there, I might have a
chance.  Normally, I don't put stock in urban legends but I didn't
have any better ideas.

	"Come and get me... ya wanna be Voltron," Vel said.

	It is the first time I've used that trick.   It was sort of a staple
of my repertoire for awhile.  Before Killfile turned me into a
fighter.  As I traveled around the fence, I found no hole.   The robot
fired its lasers at me.  The fact that I'm around to tell about it
gives you an idea how good the shot was.   As luck would have it, the
beam blew a hole in the fence.   I crawled through   The giant robot
stampeded through the fence.  I began to look for the generator.   It
was at the bottom of a large pit with power lines hanging above it.
I climbed some barrels and leapt for the wires.

	"Foolish child, quit delaying the inevitable," the robot said as a
giant blade snapped out of it.  "No one escapes Taup."


	I swung on the lines like a man on the tight rope and jumped down the
generator.   I was almost too late.  I hit the ground, the blade cut
the wire.  I pulled the switch on the generator.   The electricity
began to crackle out.

	"Happy fourth of July!" Vel said.

I devilishly turned the power knob up to 11.

	"What is so special about the Fourth of July, babbling human?" he
said.
 	"This!"

	There was a loud explosion.   Then next thing I remember was a month
stay in the hospital

================================================================

I sat in my cave telling my story.   Their voices began to become a
cacophony of small conversations.

"So what happened to Taup after that?" Vel asked.  "I know he was
around for years after that."
"His body slowly degenerated.  He equipped his head with a little a
metal tail, and tiny laser bone saw, and electrode clamps.  He
essentially rides around in a corpse suit till he wears them out," I
said.
"Ewww..." Vel said.


I glanced up.    Twelve more figures arrived carrying blaster rifles
that were definitely not of this era.  I expected as much.   Vel,
Starless and I leapt to our feet with Seductress and X'zchi following
mere seconds after.  Carina stepped back.   Blasts fired rapidly and
with absolutely no finesse.  It was clear to me these were Taup's new
converts.  They weren't even used to their new cybernetic limbs yet.
 One of their errant blasts hit the dwindling flames causing them to
erupt.   Simply distraction techniques.   Cheap.   Of course it
distracted them too.  Vel pulled out his laser sword and Starless's
thunder gauntlets were lightly primed.

	"Die Insurrectionist scum!" the cyborgs shouted.

	Starless smiled and held three fingers behind his back.  Vel and
Seductress smiled evilly.

	"We surrender," Starless said.
	"But you don't know what Dorfs do to prisoners," I said.

	The Cyborg Dorfs charged forward.   Starless's thunder gauntlets
blasted through three of them.   With only a few swipes, Vel sliced
through two more.   Without considerable effort, Seductress hovered two
high enough that they had trouble breathing.  Considering we're near
the top of the tallest mountain on Dorfia, that doesn't take much.
That must have hurt was when she dropped them.   X'chi grabbed her
blade and joined the attack.  Soon the whole lot of them  were scrap
metal and living flesh.

	I sniffed the air.  Something wasn't right.   We were attacked by
twelve cyborgs.  My senses were picking up the unholy number- thirteen.
  I turned to Vel.

	"You smell that?" I said.
	"Smell what?" he said.
	"There were more."
        "Head check," Starless said.

	They glanced around at each other.

	"X'Zchi, Starless, both Vels, me..." Seductress said.
	"Carina," he said.

	He charged off into the darkness of the cave with the only the light
of his sword to guide him.   I followed close behind him.   After
several minutes, we saw the creature's robotic eyes blaring like a
head light.    The soft gentle notes from Carina's voice filled the
air.   The cyborg had a laser swiss army knife with various sharp
instruments pointed at her throat.  Something about the half-robotic
warrior seemed familiar.

	"Hello Lovers," she said.   "Let me escape with her, or she
dies-NOW!"
	"Zara?" Vel said.

	He foolishly began lowering his blade.  She threw the knife at him.
He barely had time to parry.   He sliced through the weapon as it fell.
  He lunged for Zara.  She touched her check.

	"Taup.... Flashport for two... now," she said.

	That's when the cavern exploded.

	To Be Continued....



Sing Along Lass created by Jeff Barnes.  Seductress created by Martin
Phipps.  All other characters copyright Jesse N. Willey.  This document
copyright Jesse N. Willey.