Part II

By John Kanost & Gordon Scott

Special Note: This presentation of the story makes no distinction between the sections written by John and those by Gordon. Please read this version if you're interested in seeing who wrote what.

Update:

When we last left Nestron Briega, he, Remonté, and Jooblon of Necctu had invaded the Vetalis Empire’s flag warship, the Korvensika. As Nestron and Remonté infiltrated the interior, Jooblon remained hiding outside in their battle cruiser.

While this mission was being carried out, the headquarters of the Obverse Powers was being transferred into plastic domes due to the change of climate of Shouqvale, a class M/K variable planet. A short time ago, the powers had to transfer to this planet from Trilston due to an Empire raid.

Chapter 3

Nestron and Remonté made their way down a corridor of the great ship. Nestron was sure that he could easily pose for his twin brother. Dressed in the Empire uniforms, they had no need to sneak from shadow to shadow. The two found a travel cubicle, and stepped inside.

"The Empire must have a higher technological level than we first realized!" said Remonté, indicating towards the voice-activated controls.

No problem," said Nestron, as he opened his mouth to speak to the computer.

"Take us to engineering," ordered Nestron.

"ENGINEERING IS A SECURITY CLEARANCE AREA. YOU MUST HAVE SECURITY CLEARANCE. STATE YOUR NAME FOR VOICE-CHECK IDENTITY SCAN." said the computer.

Nestron stated his name. "Briega, Darakon, Rank: Major." stated Nestron.

"BRIEGA, DARAKON, RANK: MAJOR, IDENTIFICATION... CONFIRMED. SECURITY CLEARANCE CONFIRMED." The computer hummed for a moment. "REQUEST: WHICH LEVEL OF ENGINEERING?" it questioned.

"Wow!" exclaimed Remonté. "This is a big ship, if it has more than one engineering deck!"

"Computer," said Nestron, "take me to the control core of engineering."

The lift began to move. Nestron and Remonté rode the turbolift for five minutes as the device took them to Central Engineering. When the doors opened, all the officers on duty stood to attention. Nestron strode down the ramp and approached the central station. Remonté began looking for a place where he could discreetly deposit the mines they brought along. All of a sudden, the worst thing that could ever happen to the undercover operation happened! The buzzer for lunch break sounded. And of course, everyone in engineering goes to lunch, for it is the break they get. So Remonté and Nestron were forced to go along, unwillingly.

Lunch interval was nearly over when suddenly, Darakon, the high major of the Vetalis Empire and Briega's twin brother, entered the room. Luckily, the room was so huge that they weren't noticed immediately. Briega and Remonté exited quickly, but were met by two guards in the passageway outside.

"Sir, didn't you just go in?", inquired one of the guards.

"Yes, but I, uh, didn't want to eat with the, uh, the crew."

"But sir, you always did before!"

"Mind your rank, mister." said Nestron, harshly. Abruptly, he turned and headed towards engineering.

Presently, the real Darakon exited, having finished his meal, and he was greeted by a loud scream, cries of "TRAITOR" and "SPY" and a fat ensign flying towards him doing a mindless leap. The ensign landed, crushing Darakon and giving himself three broken ribs.

"This is just the diversion I have been looking for!" said Nestron, and he activated his secret spy channel which opened a direct link to both Remonté and Jooblon. As the battle ensued between Darakon and the ensigns, Remonté, already back in engineering, pushed THE BUTTON! Unfortunately, Nestron had accidentally left one of the self-destruct devices in the lunch room. The doors exploded outward into the corridor, along with tables, chairs, forks, knives, spoons, fat ensigns of all kinds, and a bowl of fried glub-nob^®. Not only did Nestron have to get off the ship with Remonté before the chain reaction (from the explosion in engineering) destroyed it, but he had to make his way through THIS mess!

Smoke began filling the air. Nestron couldn't breathe. He signaled Remonté to go ahead and beam out without him.

"Jooblon will become the assistant and you are the new Leader of the Project." said Nestron. With that, he cut off the communication. Nestron was breathing heavily now, for crawling through three feet of char-broiled glub-nob^®, fruits, and other meats is no easy task. Every breath he took was labor, because the smoke was getting thicker. Nestron was about to black out when he noticed an open cargo door. He got through and shut the door, and quickly recovered from the smoke. However, that didn't solve the problem of the self-destructing warship. Nestron could hear the explosions within the ship, as the chain reaction destroyed more and more systems. He estimated approximately five more minutes before the big explosion. He quickly surveyed his surroundings, searching for a means of escape. Then he saw it-- a box marked "PRESSURE SUITS". He opened it, grabbed one, and put it on. With four minutes left, Nestron ran to the end of the cargo bay to the airlock, and blew out the hatch. With a loud POP, he was ejected out into space. Hopefully, Jooblon would locate him and pick him up in time.

Meanwhile, the explosion's confusions caused the guards to release Darakon, and he got away. He estimated about four and a half minutes before the ship blew up.

"Curse the fools who allowed those rebel spies aboard. Five years of work, destroyed in five minutes! Oh, ℜ@#!?Σℵ!!!" , muttered Darakon.

Arriving at the fighter bay, Darakon quickly boarded a heavy attack fighter and blasted out.

Three and a half minutes left.

As Darakon came around the ship, he knew he had to get around the other side of the planet, otherwise, he would be destroyed. As he turned 60° to the left, he noticed the shiny reflection of a pressure suit! As he swooped by the lone figure, he noticed the face-- of his twin brother! Darakon seethed with anger! So this was the one who was responsible for his warship's destruction.

"Never again will you trouble me, brother!", shouted Darakon, although he knew Nestron could not hear him. He maneuvered the craft around to incinerate Nestron with a neutronium torpedoe.

"Wait," thought Darakon, "it's too easy this way..."

"C'mon, Jooblon", thought Nestron. "Less than four minutes till destruction..."

Suddenly, a fighter swooped by him-- but it wasn't Jooblon! The craft came back, facing him. Suddenly, he felt himself being caught in a transporter.

"Well, this is better than being vaporized by the explosion", thought Nestron. Or so he believed...

Jooblon was frantic. Where was Nestron? Less than one minute to go! Jooblon and Remonté stared in disbelief as the Korvensika became a small sun. Long after the pulse died down, the two were still staring into the debris field which had once been the flagship of the Empire.

"Nestron... is dead." said Remonté. "We are to carry out his final wishes to the best of our abilities."

Jooblon then headed the craft back towards Shouqvale.

Darakon looked into the face of his twin brother. Now unconscious from Darakon's stun ray, Nestron's body was limply hanging from the restraints Darakon had put him in.

"I will not be so foolish as to let you live this time, dear brother." spoke Darakon. "Your death will be the most horrible..." Darakon stopped in mid-sentence. His face grew contorted and twisted as a horrible, agonizing idea came to his mind. The edges of his mouth quirked upward in an evil smile. "I will not kill you", he said, "instead, I will... turn you over to the emperor. I'm sure he can think of many fine ways to make an... example of you." Darakon turned away from his unconscious brother and strapped himself to the pilot seat, and began the landing procedure.

Forty minutes later, Darakon had landed, and was preparing to take his brother into the newly-constructed capital building. Nestron was awake, and desperate.

"It would've been better if I had perished in space, than to face the cruelties of the empire," thought Nestron. "I must find a way to buy some time."

The guards came to take him. Darakon smiled as they began to cuff him, and an idea struck Nestron, and he shouted, "No, you fools! I am the real Darakon! He is lying to you! He means to kill the emperor!"

In response, the squad leader said, "Arrest him as well. We'll get to the bottom of this." Nestron's ploy had worked... for the moment.

The guards took the two to the High Command Council. The emperor glared down from his throne, obviously infuriated about the disturbance. "What's the problem?" his booming voice resonated.

"We are having trouble distinguishing the real Major Briega, your esteemed putridness..." said a guard.

"I have a solution!" stated the emperor. "Nestron deserves to die for destroying our warship..." said the emperor, "and Darakon deserves death for allowing it to happen. Execute both of them!"

The guards took the two to prison and locked them in a cell together. As soon as they were alone, Darakon spoke up.

"Fat lot of good that did, you idiot!", he muttered. "Now we'll both be killed. And to think I trusted that fool of an emperor."

Darakon said no more. Nestron just sat there thinking. Finally, he spoke.

"Brother, I no more wish to die than you. We must, no matter how much we hate or despise each other, put aside our differences and try to escape."

"Ha! What then? I would be a refugee. I am no longer welcome in the empire. Where would I go?", said Darakon.

"Darakon, you and I are of the same blood. If you had been under the influence of our parents, you would be a rebel, too. And now, you have seen the true nature, the treacherous evil, that the empire has become. Join me, join the Obverse Powers. Help us fight and overcome the emperor!"

Darakon hesitated. He could not believe what Nestron was asking. It was against everything he had ever learned!

"Very well.", stated Darakon.

"Good. Now, c'mon and help me find a way out."

Nestron turned, and did not see the evil grin on his brother's face...

Fortunately, because of Darakon, the two found an escape quite easily! Darakon used his knowledge of the ventilation systems to mastermind an escape from the cell. The two then stole around the base, found a fighter hanger, and slipped inside. Once there, they planned to capture one of the available crafts. Unfortunately, they couldn’t steal two because it takes two people to run a single fighter. The brothers chose the heavy attack fighter. It was the best one because it had more armament, and larger engines, hence greater speed. It also had its own transporter, the only fighter which has one of those. They blasted out of the hangar and into space...

Once safely out of the Vetalis system, Nestron then headed for the base on Shouqvale. While halfway there, Nestron began to notice a problem. A light on the instrument panel was gradually getting dimmer. Nestron was perplexed, so he asked Darakon about it.

"Oh, that's only the fuel gadge." Darakon stated. "The level of fuel would be about empty by now, I'd say."

"EMPTY????!!!" the two shouted as the engines sputtered and died. They were stuck in the middle of nowhere! Worst of all, they were out of Ho-hos. Nestron knew just what to do. He activated the transmitter and sent out a transmission in the code of the O.P. toward Shouqvale. Soon, a rebel craft came to pick them up. It was Jooblon's!

Hours later, Nestron and Darakon were back at the headquarters of the Obverse Powers, Shouqvale. Many changes had occurred since Nestron was there last. Shouqvale was now a class K planet and all life outside the protective domes had gone into a dormant state. Air was the main need now, for the combination of the air on Shouqvale and its water vapor made the mixture lethal to humanoids.

After spending many weeks on Shouqvale, Darakon obtained a subspace radio and transmitted a message out into space. No one knew what he had done except Jooblon, who had seen him. Darakon knew he'd been seen by Jooblon, and a few days later, several new cans of Necctuian meat were consumed on several nearby planets. Soon, the murder of Jooblon was discovered, and the high council was outraged. An indigo alert was called up, and the planetary investigators questioned everyone on the planet, including Darakon. However, Darakon was so brilliantly clever that he wasn't found out.

Later on, the investigators were still searching for clues to Jooblon's disappearance, and Darakon was preparing to leave Shouqvale. As he was packing his year's supply of Ho-hos, a passerby came up to him and exclaimed, "Excuse me, sir, but isn't that a Super-Duper-Dry-n-Fly-O'Matic?"

"No! It's a year's supply of Ho-Hos!" explained Darakon.

"Remarkable!" said the passerby, and went on his way.

Darakon got in and flew out. As he flew, he heard automatic speakers proclaiming: "Unauthorized fighter exiting bay: Do not attempt to leave or you will be shot down!"

"Oh, poo", thought Darakon, "They won't dare to shoot their own fighter down!"

BOOM!

"Nestron Briega , please report to Quad 317-4-9P" blared the intercom.

"Blasted good for nothing..." mumbled Nestron as he clamored to get into his uniform. "It's two o'clock in the morning!"

As Nestron walked down the hall he was greeted by stares, murmurs, and snickers (not the candy bar). As he walked into the quad, Commander Zoich coughed once and exclaimed, "Haven't you forgotten something?"

Nestron looked down and saw that he had neglected to put on lower body coverings. His "Luv-me-truly" boxer shorts were plainly visible. He broke into a cold sweat.

"This sort of thing is not acceptable among the Obverse Powers, Nestron" said Commander Zoich. The commander pulled out a ZYT-950 neutronium blaster and fired.

Nestron woke up, screaming. "Man, does everyone have that sort of dream or just me?" thought Nestron.

All of a sudden, the intercom blared. "Nestron Briega , please report to Quad 317-4-9P."

Nestron made sure he put on his pants and then finished getting dressed. He then left his room, heading for Quad 317-4-9P.

As Nestron made his way down the corridor, he was greeted with stares, murmurs, and snickers, just like in his dream. Nestron then realized he had been so careful putting on his pants, he forgot his shirt. His "love-me-truly" undershirt was in full view.

Embarrassed, Nestron scurried back to his quarters and pulled on a flight jacket, then hurried to Quad 317-4-9P. When he arrived, Commander Zoich had a stern look on his face.

"Nestron, a few moments ago, we shot down one of our own spacecraft that was taking off without authorization. Your brother, Darakon, was on board. With him were star charts showing a route to Shouqvale, and the plans of this base. Do you know what this means?"

"Uh, that my brother owes you a lot of money?"

"No! Darakon was a traitor! He was going to betray us all!"

Nestron was very disturbed. "Where is he?" he growled.

"He's dead. He burned up in the wreckage."

Sand blasted across the plain, rushing down from the nearby mountains of Shouqvale, driven by the relentless winds that flew over the mountainous peaks. As the wind subsided, a figure crawled along, dragging its useless legs in the cold, red dirt, creating an irregular trail in the sand. Mere luck had saved him this time. If it hadn't been for the storm, Darakon would have surely died at the hands of the O.P.'s supreme guard. The blinding sand was probably why they missed him. Stopping frequently to catch his breath in the thin air, Darakon made his way to a nearby cave where he could rest.

As Darakon lay in the cave, he realized why he was having such a hard time breathing-- the planet had entered its K phase, and the atmosphere was beginning to freeze. And so was Darakon... he had to find someplace warm soon.

While he was resting, Darakon noticed a general feeling of warmth coming from behind him! He crept in that general direction, and found that the cave was an old riverbed! The spring that had created it had just moved further underground, that's all! He also discovered that it wasn't the ordinary cavern spring, either. It had been heated by a nearby lava flow! Green lichen clung to the walls next to the river, benefiting from the warmth it provided. Those plants were what kept Darakon alive for the next year as Shouqvale slowly circled its sun, eventually becoming class M once more. However, not even Darakon would have known that those plants would lead to his presence on Shouqvale being known years later!

As Shouqvale became habitable once more, Darakon emerged from his cavern exile, obtained a pirate ship, and took off for Vetalis. Once arriving on the Capital planet, Darakon reported directly to the emperor.

"Our plan is a success!" said Darakon. "I may not have maps to guide you to Shouqvale, but I can take you there myself!"

An invasion force was prepared... not wishing to be unprepared, the Emperor amassed a humongous invasion force. This took several years as warships had to be recalled from all over the Empire.

Meanwhile, on Shouqvale, the planet had become habitable again, and Nestron and Remonté had gone out on a wilderness hike. Nestron had gone every year to the site of his brother's "death", to memorialize the site. This year, however, the winds had uncovered the opening to a cave, which Nestron had never seen during the previous visits. He and Remonté decided to explore the cave.

Meanwhile, the Vetalien Empire launched the invasion force bent on totally demolishing Shouqvale and the Obverse Powers forever!

As the invasion force drew ever closer, Nestron and Remonté scoured the interior of the newfound cave. After about three hours of exploring, the two came upon a natural hot spring, and a startling discovery: it was Darakon's wallet! He had been here and was alive, somewhere...

To Be Continued...
(Or Not)

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