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Part One - The Realization



It is the year 3087...



Forty-seven years ago, it was Hell on Earth. Ultimate chaos. It had seemed that He had abandoned His children. That is what it seemed like to most people on Earth after The Incident. Ninety percent of the Earth’s population did not even know why it was happening. There was not enough time to warn anybody, not even a news report, which was usually broadcasted every 20 minutes, thanks to the numerous satellites in orbit around Earth. Some say there was not enough time. Some say the satellites were sabotaged. No one will ever know for sure. The only thing that history knows about The Incident is that freak ‘monsters’ smashed the world apart. These ‘monsters’ were not the typical ones that lurked under your bed when you were little, these were genetically created perfect beings. Animal genes coded to bond with human genes, and enhance the performance of muscles, and reflexes. History also notes that these ‘monsters’ (read: hybrids) were completely wiped out by a virus created by the same man who opened up Hell and spilled it’s demons onto the Earth; Dr. Cloud. The virus was created to bond with the genes of the hybrids, and destroy them cell-by-cell. The entire cleansing of Earth took only three weeks. It was genocide at an accelerated rate. Dr. Cloud disappeared after giving the virus to the military. Now, in the year 3087, he is needed once again.



* * *



North Bay 22 Wing Air Defense and Training Facility, 12:00 AM



The Gauntlet: a straight, one-mile trench, capable of ripping a human body to shreds if it wasn’t fast enough. Spinning blades, falling scythes, rising spikes and plasma ejectors. All this to test and hone reflexes, to create the ultimate killing machine. Humans in general, however, would not be able to make it through alive. Only a special breed of humans, genetically engineered, would be capable of making it through alive. One of these humans also made sure his second in command stayed alive until the end of the Gauntlet.

“ALYA! Jump! NOW!” screamed Tek as the murderous swinging saw blades narrowly missed Alya’s feet by mere centimeters. Now, she was only five meters away from the end of the Gauntlet, and the only thing that was between her and the exit were motion-sensing plasma ejectors. Their “fields of vision” were only pointed straight across the trench. All she had to do was really quickly run past the ejector, and she would only get a slight burn on the back of her body. If she didn’t run very quickly, the white-hot plasma would melt her bones, and set her skin and muscle tissue on fire. It happened to everybody, it was the rule of the Gauntlet; go through and get burned. She would break that rule. She walked right up to the ejector, stopped, raised her right hand, and moved it quickly in front of the ejector. Her hand was a blur as it moved past the motion sensor. The ejector fired once, then, in between the first and second plasma bursts, she ran. The second burst came after she was out of the Gauntlet. Tek could only stare at Alya as she removed her helmet, turned, and walked through the barracks door. She didn’t even look back.





22 Wing Training Facility, Upper Intelligence Station



“Sir Above, we’ve picked something up on the space-range scanners.”

“What is it?”

“Sir, it appears to be a large subterranean base with extensive tunnels running through Pluto, sir.”

“Pluto? A base? Enhance scan.”

“Yes sir. Running enhanced scan. Detecting... um...”

“What? Detecting what?”

“Something we have not detected in forty-seven years... animal/human hybrid DNA signatures...”

“My God... could it be... ? No... it couldn’t...”

“Sir, I’m reading at least over one billion of these signatures. What does this mean, sir?”

“It means that unless we find some way to stop those signatures from reaching Earth, we’re all dead.”

“Sir, are you referring to... The Incident? The Incident that almost destroyed all human life on Earth?”

“Yes, and the only way we’re going to be able to remedy this... this... ‘Second Incident” we’ll call it, is to wipe out all the hybrids with the same virus that Dr. Cloud created forty-seven years ago.”

“Sir Above? Dr. Cloud is dead, and he never gave the formula to anyone, sir.”

“No, not dead. ‘Disappeared’. We only have to find him, and convince him to do what made him leave in the first place; commit genocide.”

“Yes sir Above. But how will we find him? The galaxy is so big...”

“There’s only one solution for fighting genetically engineered hybrids; genetically engineered humans. Get Tek on the main screen.”

“Yes sir, sending signal to Tek’s nano-receiver. Tek is picking up.”

“Sir Above? You signaled?”

“Tek... We have... an incident... a second one, to be more precise. Do you understand what I’m saying?”

“Sir Above, I believe so. The Second Incident... The Incident... animal/human hybrids... Is the situation the same? The destruction of Earth?”

“That seems the only reason for the signatures appearing again.”

“But all of the hybrids were wiped out with the Cloud Virus forty-seven years ago, sir Above.”

“Yes, there is a possibility that some survived. A possibility of exactly one percent, but a possibility none the less.”

“Sir Above, what are my orders?”

“Your orders are to locate Dr. Cloud. I will supply you with his DNA signature, and his last known whereabouts. You are to take your full squad, load up the Enforcer jet, and move out in 24 hours. After you find Dr. Cloud, you will contact me, and I will supply you with further orders. Do you understand?”

“Sir Above, yes sir!”

“Good. Get moving”



* * *





Part Two - Preparation



22 Wing Training Facility, Sub-Level 21 A, Munitions, 8:19 AM



The gear worn by the Enforcer squad was highly advanced. When worn by a human, it turned the human into what looked like a cyborg. The helmet contained various voice command controls, radio connections, and various satellite uplink controls. The helmet also contained a number of tongue controls, where one could easily flip a switch and get a drink of water, or activate other features of the suit. The weapon systems of the suits were contained in the arm units, strapped onto the wrists and forearms of the soldier. Weapon systems included back-hand lasers, grappling tools, and ‘sticky-bombs’, tiny bomb clusters that were propelled by refined gun powder, and were capable of locking on to any object, adhering to it, and seconds later, detonating. Shoulder-mounted lights provided the soldier with a backup light source if the helmet’s night vision failed in combat. A chest-mounted control panel, protected by a small force field, allowed the user to configure the boost power of the rear mini rockets for reaching higher ground, if needed. The suits were powered by advanced fuel cells, lending power to the suit for about half a soldier’s lifetime. However, conditions of battle have been known to degrade the fuel cell quicker than expected. There have been horror stories of suits failing while on deep space missions, or under heavy enemy fire.

The members of the Enforcer squad suited up: Ramsey with his ancient projectile weapons, Alexander and Martin with their advanced automatic laser rifles. Magnus’s suit was a specialized one; it had an attachment on the back for special radar and map extensions, and the helmet was capable of storing map information in it’s internal memory. Alya also grabbed an advanced projectile pistol and her burst-function laser rifle - she was very accurate with small arms. Tek suited up with his sniper rifle, and laser sidearm. He also slung a burst-function laser rifle over his shoulder. They all checked their suit’s systems and other main functions, and all checked positive. They loaded into the Enforcer jet and moved out.



Enforcer Jet, 12:02 PM



“Incoming coordinates, sir!” exclaimed Ramsey, somewhat cheerfully, for the past hour, Above had not contacted them yet.

“Is it Dr. Cloud’s last known whereabouts?” Tek asked.

Ramsey paused for a minute, then answered with, “Yes, sir.”

“Good, load the coordinates into the computer, and engage phasic engines.”

“Sir.”

The galaxy was a big open area, and most of it had not even been mapped out yet, but high speed engines have been developed to map out greater distances than in previous years. Phasic engines had only been recently developed. They worked around the concept of bending space, and stopping time. When the phasic engines engaged, the entire ship and everything in it or touching it would leave existence for one hour, then “phase” back in at the coordinates given to the computer. The engines were only used if the total distance desired to be traveled would take up more than an hour of time, because it took an hour to phase back into existence.

“Sir, coordinates inputted, starting up phasic engines.”

“On my mark... Mark.”



* * *



Part Three - The Journey



Time stopped. Space bent. Bodies froze solid. Everybody aboard the Enforcer jet was dead. Wiped from existence. There was no light. The only thing that existed outside of existence was the Enforcer jet. Occasionally, people would report that when they were outside of existence, they saw other ships through the view ports of their ships. Alien vessels. There was never any proof to these “sightings”, but the people who have seen them think that it’s a sign that aliens do exist, and that they have the same technology as humans. At any rate, there will never be evidence to support these sightings, because the time spent out if existence was short-lived, and no appropriate data from scanners could be recorded.

Five minutes after the Enforcer jet left existence, it re-entered, and the bodies on board unfroze, and life began again on board the ship. In real life, four hours had gone by, but the people in the ship had only aged five minutes. It’s comparable to time travel. Some people have even tested this theory, to it’s maximum. They’ve entered a ship equipped with phasic engines, entered coordinates, and blasted away into the far future - the far future. Nobody even knows if they succeeded or not, because it’s impossible to come back from the future. Some people are scared of time travel, other people find it fascinating, and want to explore it. The Enforcer squad had no choice but to accept some time travel in their career. They didn’t have the choice. The squad was created exactly 47 years ago, however, they have only aged 30 years.

“Sir, we’re at the coordinates. Getting ready to dock with Meteor Station 2.”

“Good. When we board the station, split up and talk to anyone you can and get any information from any computers as to where Dr. Cloud said he was going, or maybe hinting at going.”

“Sir, yes sir!”



* * *



Meteor Station 2, 5:00 PM



Ramsey took the upper plate of the station, Martin took the lower plate. Alexander took the engine level, and Magnus assisted his fellow tactical officers in the main bridge level with computer records. Alya stayed with Tek to conduct space-range scans of the surrounding area.

Two hours later, the squad returned to the Enforcer jet.

Ramsey relayed his information first. “Sir, I was talking to some retired workers that used to clean up the place. They decided to retire here because it was most comfortable. They told me that they remembered a Dr. Cloud working on a formula or something of the sort. They once overheard him talking to someone about moving to the Galapy Sector.”

“That’s a start. Anyone else?”

Martin shook his head. Alexander also shook his head. Magnus spoke, “Sir, while working with the tactical officers on the computer logs, it mentions a departure from the station to the Galapy Sector, via cargo transport. The only one that ever left here in 50 years.”

“Good. I think we know where to look now. Everybody strap in, and prepare to die.”

That was a common saying among the few people who utilized phasic engines, because, technically, then one left existence, they were considered ‘dead’.

“Sir, yes sir!”



* * *



Galapy Sector, Outer Fringe, 9:12 PM



The Galapy Sector was sparsely populated, and only really used for raw material mining purposes. There were some colonies, but nothing really worth seeing. Criminals ran amuck in the colony streets, and murderers chose the inner colonies to hide in, to avoid the law. This was a ‘rebel’ sector, a hideout for people who didn’t believe in what the Galaxy Government believed in.

Inside the Enforcer jet, Tek and Alya sat at the helm, scanning the Outer Fringe for Dr. Cloud’s DNA signature. After a good hour of scanning, Alya finally got a beep from the scanners. “Tek, I’m getting an erratic reading from colony E-21.”

“Is it Dr. Cloud’s?”

“Probably, but it is a bit distorted. It may be from various transmissions, or it might be Dr. Cloud attempting to jam any scans meant for him.”

“The latter is most likely true.”

Magnus yelled from the back of the Enforcer jet, from his communications room, “Sir! Transmissions are OUT! Someone or something is jamming ALL our frequencies!”

“What? Everything?”

“Everything.”

“Blast!”

“Sir! Could it be Dr. Cloud?”

“Most likely, but I don’t know why he would make it this obvious. Perhaps he’s just over-reacting, getting all excited because the Enforcers are near him. This is a hideout for criminals, you know.”

“Sir, suggest we land at colony E-21.”

“Advice taken. Alya, land this thing.”

“Sir!” acknowledged Alya.



* * *



Part Four - The Finding



Colony E-21, Lower Landing Strut, 10:05 PM



The Enforcer jet touched down on colony E-21's landing strut. The crew unstrapped themselves from their seats, and began floating towards the exit hatch. The only way to create gravity in space was to either construct a gigantic solid structure for people to walk on - which would take more time and money than anyone had. Or, one could construct a spinning hollow object, place people in it, and, using centrifugal force, keep them from floating around in space.

This is what colony E-21 was. A giant spinning cylinder. Access to the tube was periodical. Placed around the tube were entry hatches, and in five minute spans would be accessible. The colony was dangerous, but there were doormen positioned to help people get through. The change of no gravity to Earth-gravity felt like your stomach moving up into your skull cavity. Tek opened the exit hatch, and the crew floated behind him. They had to wait a full minute for one of the entry hatches, then commenced entry into the giant spinning tube. They all made funny sounds when the gravity kicked in, and they were all on their backs.

“Sir, permission to stand?” asked Ramsey with a slight smile on his face. It was a common ‘joke’ for military personnel to ask permission of their commander is this type of situation, due to a typo in one of the manuals handed out to cadets-in-training.

“Ramsey, stand up. The rest of you too. Alya will be handing out mini DNA signature trackers, which will be programmed to Dr. Cloud’s DNA. You might get erratic readings because Alya and I both believe him to be using some sort of signal jamming device. Be on the lookout for him, he may have changed his appearance somewhat. Split up and move out!”

“SIR!” came the reply, in unison.



* * *



Colony E-21, Interior, 11:45 PM



Ramsey’s DNA tracker hummed in his ear. If he should get close to Dr. Cloud, the humming would turn into beeping. Then faster beeping would indicate that he was getting closer. He had been walking around his designated area for more than an hour now, and the humming had not yet stopped. Not even once. He was beginning to think of turning back, and informing Tek that Dr. Cloud was not in his area, when suddenly, as he was walking past a storage door, it beeped once, then began humming again. He took a step back, and it beeped once again. But only once. He was standing in the exact place when it had beeped, but now it was humming. “This has to be him.” he thought. With one hand, he reached up and grabbed the handle. It wouldn’t turn. In fact, it tingled when he touched it. He stared at the door for a while, and kept trying the handle. It wouldn’t budge. He had an idea. He radioed to Tek and asked him to meet him at his current location and bring with him a multi-signal and laser jamming device. He was going to disrupt a hologram surrounded by a force field.

Tek showed up, with Alya carrying the signal disruptor and a separate laser jamming device.

“Sir, this is going to be difficult. We first have to disrupt a force field. Normally, a force field around a door would be easy to get rid of with our technology, but I’m guessing that if the genius Dr. Cloud is behind it, he’s got it reinforced with a separate signal device. Also, the hologram should be easy to get rid of, we just have to weaken it and we’ll be able to walk through it, but unfortunately I’d like to see what’s behind it before walking through.”

“Get to it Ramsey.”

Ramsey set up the multi-signal disruptor first, and aimed it at the ‘door’. The field flickered green, then red, then stopped flickering.

“I assumed so.” Ramsey stated. “We have to locate the other signal emitter. Possibly more than one more...” More time passed as Ramsey tried to locate the second emitter. He used a radar device, but could find no other source of emission.

“Alright Ramsey. Dr. Cloud’s too good. We’re going to have to use plan two.” Tek sighed. Ramsey sighed as well.

“Sir, request permission to get the gear myself, so you can get set up.”

“Granted.”

“Sir” Ramsey ran down the hall. Tek reached into his chest pocket and brought out a piece of chalk. Chalk was still being manufactured for use in schools back on earth - it was the preferred way, and was cheaper than holopads - according to the government. Tek calculated an area around the ‘door’, and marked off a giant triangle around it, with various ‘X’s around the perimeter of the triangle. Ramsey returned with a big box that he carried at his side. He knelt down at Tek’s side and opened the case. Plastic explosives. Refined to the point of a clean explosion, only affecting the area under and directly around the explosives. Him and Tek arranged the explosives around the door, tracing the perimeter of the triangle Tek had drawn earlier.

“Sir, I have a feeling that this might injure Dr. Cloud when it goes off...”

“Ramsey, if Dr. Cloud has gone to these lengths to keep us out and make us use explosives, he most likely has some sort of observation equipment, and is well away from this ‘door’.”

“Sir.”

Tek took several steps back, and motioned with his hands for the others to step back as well. Ramsey finished up with placing the explosives, and he too stepped back. When they were well out of the blast radius, and out of range of any possible shrapnel, Ramsey hit the switch. The hallway lit up with orange light, and dust filled it. The explosion was loud enough to reverberate off the walls as well. Tek and his squad walked back into the hallway, and observed the piece of the wall that had been blasted away. The triangular section of the wall was lying on the ground, and was in two pieces. The hole that was now in the concrete wall revealed a staircase going down with a small green door at the bottom. Tek advanced slowly. Very slowly. Obviously, Dr. Cloud did not want anyone to find him, let alone get into his place of dwelling. Tek would have to be cautious... very cautious, because a ceiling-mounted laser cannon pivoted down and hit Tek with a beam of concentrated light right in the chest. It knocked Tek back up the stairs, and into Alya’s arms.

“Tek! What happened? What was that flash? Are you alright?”

“Alya! Calm down, it was just a small laser cannon. I’m just a little singed, is all.”

“We have to disable that cannon somehow!”

A voice came from the doorway, “That won’t be necessary.” The Enforcers turned and gasped.

“Dr. Cloud?”

A man with completely white hair, and a long green overcoat stood at the small green door.

“May I help you? Obviously you want in here, you blew up my door.”

“Dr. Cloud?”

“Yes, it’s me, the ‘famous’ Dr. Cloud.” he threw his arms up to accent the “famous”.

Tek and the Enforcers explained the current situation to Dr. Cloud. Having once committed genocide, he wasn’t about to do it again.

“Sorry officers, but I won’t do it.” he explained. “I can... no... yes, I... I must... I can... aid you in it... if I must.”

“How can you aid us by not giving us the formula?” Tek inquired.

Dr. Cloud explained that he knew of a weakness in the hybrids, a weakness that should be there if these are, in fact, the same DNA signatures of The Incident. A flaw that was “programmed” into the genes of the hybrids that he created long ago. Apparently, if a neon blue light was shone directly into the eyes of the hybrids, they would go blind for a few seconds - enough time for the Enforcers to dispatch them. So, the plan had been set. Tek and his squad reimbursed Dr. Cloud, for the damages, and left. They had a mission to complete.



* * *



Part Five - The Battle



Enforcer Jet, 8:09 AM



Tek sat in the main chair, up front, and had access to all the ship’s systems if he wanted to. Complete override and control could be taken by him at any time, simply with the input of his command code. So simple an action and he would get complete control over any situation, except that this situation called for a more complex code override - the DNA code. Ramsey was rigging up the laser rifles and his ancient projectile weapon with very bright neon blue flashlights; bright enough to even blind a human for a few seconds. They were coming up on Pluto, it was almost visible to the naked eye through the cockpit window. The scanners designated to scan for hybrid activity was going insane, the readings were shooting off the charts. But then again, most of the DNA signatures were just strands in test tubes, and couldn’t hurt the Enforcers. However, there was no telling how many hybrids were roaming around in the tunnels in Pluto...

The plan was simple: enter the base through the top, and blast all the way to the deepest part possible, set the drilling nuke, and then run straight back. Once Ramsey was finished with the neon blue rigging, he went to work fitting each squad member with drop-boots. These were special large boots that were used for long distance infantry drops. The soldier would step into the boots, strap in, and the floor underneath them would fall away, dropping them onto the planet’s surface. The boots had excellent shock absorption, so when the soldier landed on the surface, the boots would register the impact, and make the drop feel like falling five feet, instead of the long distance from the drop-ship. Once the soldier had landed, the boots would disengage from the soldier’s feet, and the soldier would be free to move about once again. After Ramsey handed out the weapons, each squad member stood in the boots, and they closed around their feet. Tek would stay behind, and give Alya command of the squad - someone had to pilot the jet. Once they were over their target drop-area, Tek pulled the lever that opened up the drop hatches, and one by one, each Enforcer disappeared from view, and changed into green blips on his squad monitor.

“This is it... we’re saving the Earth.” Tek thought out loud.



* * *



Pluto’s Tunnels, 9:32 AM



Some hybrids did survive genocide. A son and a daughter of the original hybrid parents. They saw their parents melt right before them, melting from what was called the Cloud Virus. A human creation destroyed their parents, and now the children, brother and sister, would destroy the humans.



Pluto’s Surface, 9:32 AM



The Enforcers landed. Gears and motors hissed and cooled down as the soldiers landed and their boots disengaged. They surveyed the landscape. Pluto was different now that the base had been built; it was beginning to slowly melt from all the heat suddenly placed into it. Small and large pools of water had begun to form on the surface. The entrance to the base was just over a large pool of ice water. They touched their control pads on their chest plates, adjusted their boost power, and lifted off towards the entrance. They thudded down on the other side of the pool, and Ramsey again went to work with his explosives; they were going to blast a hole in the side of the exposed entrance building. As soon as the hole was made in the building, Alexander, Martin and Alya pointed their weapons into the building, shining neon blue light into the already lit building. “Will this work?” they wondered, “If the building is already bright, will the neon blue lights work?” They did work, there were two hybrids stationed in the upper building, and almost instantly they fell to the ground holding and clawing at their eyes. The Enforcers showed no mercy, and blasted the hybrids. They proceeded down an elevator, and encountered no resistance along the way. The turned a corner at the end of the hallway once they were off the elevator, and stared into the eyes of a room-full of hybrids. Instantly, their weapons came up, and began firing at the Enforcers. The Enforcers ducked and rolled back out of sight. They came back into sight with their weapons drawn, and shining neon blue light into the room. All the hybrids dropped, and were wasted by the Enforcer’s laser rifles. The Enforcers proceeded down the to the other end of the room, and Alya stopped them with her hand raised. She motioned for them to keep to the sides of the doorway. She sidestepped into the doorway, and quickly shone her light around in a complete circle. There was four thumps, sounds of bodies hitting the floor, and screaming sounds. The others moved in, and again, with complete ease, killed the four hybrids. All was easy at the moment, but soon it would prove too much for the Enforcers. Far too much...

Tek watched the blips from the Enforcer jet, now in orbit around Pluto, mainly to keep out of range of surface-to-air missiles that had been fired earlier. The blips were steadily moving towards the drill point for the nuke. All was going according to plan.

Alya led her squad through the base much slower now, their presence had been detected, and more and more hybrids were advancing on their position. The Enforcers fought bravely, emptying laser battery after laser battery. There wasn’t enough ammunition, and the squad knew it. Tek knew it as well, they had been in the base far too long. Alya knew what she had to do. She crouched, and began to set up the drilling nuke. There was no escape for the squad, but they could still cripple the base, and hopefully destroy it, with help from Tek and the Enforcer jet weapons. Alya heard a scream from behind her; Martin had been killed, shot in the forehead. Alexander was next, getting white-hot plasma in the right shoulder. It set his upper torso on fire, and he writhed, screaming in shear agony on the ground. Ramsey took his projectile sidearm, and fired one round into Alexander’s head, ending his pain. Magnus was dragged off into the crowd of hybrids, screaming and kicking. Ramsey looked at Alya, and Alya looked at Ramsey. They shook hands one last time, and Alya pressed the starter button on the drilling nuke.

“NO! NO! ALYA!!!! MARTIN!!!!!! RESPOND!!!” Tek screamed into the transmitter. “COME IN!!! ANYBODY!!!” A single tear ran down Tek’s cheek as he thought of Alya, and what he would have to do. There was no way the nuke would get the entire planet from where Alya had planted it. Tek armed the heavy laser cannons, and aimed at the planet. Even if his squad was still alive, they wouldn’t be, even if he didn’t fire on the planet. Suddenly, an alarm sounded in the cockpit, warning him of multiple warhead lock-ons. The computer read out said that there was no way to avoid the multiple locks, that he would have to take manual control of the ship to avoid them, but Tek knew he couldn’t do that, or the planet would not be destroyed, and he would be destroyed, and their mission would fail and Earth would be doomed. Tek counted down the drilling nuke timer. He could now see the warheads coming straight at him through the cockpit window. This was his death staring him in the face, and he would fire through death to save Earth. The timer reached zero, and he pulled the trigger, keeping the cannons on automatic.  The planet shook and then exploded in a shower of water and metal shards. One warhead smashed directly into Tek’s cockpit, and the rest completely annihilated the ship. Hybrids and genetically engineered humans both died at the same time, both trying to stop each other. It was over.



Colony E-21, Dr. Cloud’s Apartment, 2:00 PM



Dr. Cloud sat in his chair in front of his television set watching the news coverage of the disastrous destruction of Pluto, and the mysterious ship firing at the planet, then getting destroyed in the process. Dr. Cloud merely sighed, and changed the channel.









the end