Stuck at the airport (3)

Mendez shouts to the tank-driver, stepping in before anyone has time to question IQ #5 further. "He's FBI. You really want to frell around with that?" Mendez winces at his inadvertant use of the word 'frell', but fortunately no one else notices it.

"I'm liasion between Special Agent in Charge Sunaeryn and my unit!" Mendez snaps. "Now you do as this man says or I'll bring you all to the attention of Section Chief Katlyn! Is that what you really want? Sir?" Mendez demands, not believing his own gall.

that he could keep them informed on what the military was doing to make their job easier, when he was called away. The poor guy was starting to feel like a double spy. Except both sides were on the same side. Kay ducked back behind the crates. Wow. That guy was cute. But the main problem was still out there sounding more confused than mean. Ragnar had been right in trying to find out what it wanted. But, would they be able to help it? Jila saw the look on Kay's face when she looked at Corporal Mendez. Laughing, she said "First things first, Kay. Monster, then cute guy."

*Man, I've been here to long. Being here is making changes that could get someone hurt, especially if I don't control my thoughts* Sun thought to herself, not realizing that for some reason, her thoughts traveled to Mendez

*Um...here, as in the airport, Mendez. Sorry. I thought I had...never mind. It would take to much time to explain it now. Sorry* Sun responded, making sure Mendez didn't feel what she was feeling

Sun started walking towards Rae and the Monster, so she could get a better connection with it. With all the people around her...all the worried and scared people, it was hard for her to focus on just the Monster.

"Better." Rae nods and leads Sunny to a chair. "But in the future, let's stick with verbal communication. You still haven't told us what you want with the girl, which is going to determine, in large part, if we help you."

As she started understanding what was going on. HOw sad. She noticed Jila's and the other Scoobettes were trying to control their own emotions and blinking a lot. All the Scoobs stood up at that moment. They knew as one, that they would do whatever it took, no matter what it took, to help. The monster, frightened of all the new faces popping up from behind crates, started sending out laser rays. Rae yelled for him to stop, and very calmly introduced the Scoobs as her friends. "They are all here to help", said Sunny.

"Right, so let's get to it, " said Rae, "Spyral, you got anything in that wing of yours that could help us track her? And anyone know if Ragnar is ok now? Mouse? You were keeping an eye on him right?"

"Well, Spyral and Laeryn shared a very close space before the... ah... unpleasantness. Therefore, Spyral's energy signature now more closely matches Laeryn's than it did before. I have a reading from before his vacation, and based upon my extrapolations, I have a very good idea of what her signature must look like."

"Look," the angel continued. "I don't know what the frell is going on, but take a look around. This place is a war-zone. Whatever that thing was that took the girl obviously was in one HELL of a hurry to get the frell away from here, before YOU got here. Like maybe it was being pursued by you? Or maybe just trying to reach the girl before YOU did! Now what does it want with her?"

*The children were sent away for their own protection from our enemies.* he began. *It was hoped that the flower of our planets youth, that was our children, would be spared the sacrifice of their parents. The ULTIMATE sacrifice, that our enemies might be defeated and our planet would be saved for the eventual return of our children, who would then rebuild our civilization.*

*Long ago... my people, the Baynaed, lived a life of peace and harmony. Our planet was a paradise that was rivaled only by that that may exist beyond Life itself. We lived for song, and art. War, famine, destruction, these were concepts long extinct to us. Until the coming of the Qu'uatyne. 'The'Dark Bringers'. With their combination of Dark Magic and even darker technology, they sought to leave the "Quag", their fetid homeworld, and make our world their own. They began with an attack on one of our outer moons. Wiping the entire population from the face of the planet. We knew their destruction would not stop there. So it was decided that in order to survive the encounter, my people would have to make use of a long forgotten technology. A technology that would entail a sacrifice. Our very humanity.*

*...yes...* the beast continued. *We possess a technology that combines life essense with these suits of battle armor. It provided my people with the power to fight our enemies. But we pay a price for this power. The process is......irreversible.*

"So you sacrificed your own lives, and sent your children away, in the hopes that you could defeat your enemies, and one day...........your children could come home," Kay said, wiping her eyes of the tears that now flowed their.

*The war was almost at an end. Victory was certain to be ours.....until.... Our enemies discovered that we had sent our children away. With the intention of them one day returning to make our world live again. Knowing that they were almost certainly defeated, and that WE, the Sacrificed, could never retrieve our OWN humanity and continue our existence, the Qu'uantyne decided that if they were to cease to exist, that they would ensure the end of our existence as well.*

"In a heartbeat. Even if we united with the off-shoot species, it wouldn't be much of a competition." Rae shrugs placidly. "It's amazing the kind of things that Central Intel can keep secret when it suits them."

"Face it. Earth couldn't handle an invasion, and they'd be no better off knowing. Besides, um, nothing personal, but your planet just isn't of that much interest to off-worlders. Not really worth the trouble of even invading."

"I can't do that without a direct order from..." he hesitates as Rae grabs a cell-phone from IQ #1 and begins dialing. "Yeah, Katlyn here. Can I speak with the General? Thanks. Hey! Lane, sweetie, I've got a bit of a situation here."

"Of course they do." Rae shrugs. "Trying to join was probably less than wise. They nailed me on the physical." She shakes her head with a little smile. "Fortunately, they're... reasonable people. We came to an arangement."

"Look, Parker will take care of things from the miltary end, and she'll probably even manage to maintain a decently low profile for all of this insanity, but she'll expect us to clean it up quickly, so can we PLEASE move?"

Rae tries to look innocent. "Me? Of course not. I'm a consultant." She smiles and loads Mendez into the back of one of the vans. "Someone give me another cell-phone, please. I'll assemble a coinatinment crew. Save Parker some foot-work."

"Hey, how else am I supposed to maintain Sebacia's zero-presence profile on your planet if I'm not closely involved in the Coverup? My gods! My very presence here constitutes an act of war, a fact that my good friends at Majestic are more than happy to overlook in exchange for services rendered." She dials the phone. "Agent Stanton please. Tell him it's Rae. Yes. Hold. Seven-Ten-Charlie-Five-Niner-Delta-Tango-Bravo-Two-Five-One-Eight-Three-Foxtrot-Omega." Rae waits a dew moments. "Ah, Alan!" she says in a cheerful voice. "It's Rae! We have a situation. Yeah, the airport..." Rae sighs and pulls out a notebook. "Someone hand me another phone, please. Gunnie, could you take care of establishing a paper-trail. Oh, no Agent... Just a new operative of mine. No, Alen. Born and bred right here on Terra. Back to business, then. I'm going to need a containment crew here, ASAP. No, negative on that. In pursuit of hostile E.B.E. now. My team has that covered. Right..."

Mendez looked so in awe of the Scoobs, who never thought of themselves as anything other than regular. Jila and Mouse giggled at what he was probably thinking. Kay was so worried about Laryn. She just had to be okay. Along with the other children.

Mendez, I don't know anymore than you do. Hell, I'm surprised daily that they haven't caught on to me.* Sun whispers to Mendez, and Mendez only. Granted, Rae is good, but she's not that good. No one here realized just exactly the strength of Sun's "talent". It had been so long...that she had forgotten it's strength as well.

"Rae, Spy, I can hear Laeryn...she's very faint. We have to hurry. I don't think the Darkwhatevers have her anymore...but I can't be sure." Sunny told them...trying not to let Spy know how weak Lareyn's voice was.

"I'm having trouble centering in on her," the pulse rifle replied. "There is an anomalous reading that is causing a disruption in her energy signature. It's making her difficult to maintain a fix on her position."

"Mendez, I'm not going to hurt you *or frell your mind*. You do need to calm down...so, tell you what...why don't you think of a nice calming place. Ok?" Sunny said, walking towards Mendez, who starts to back away.

"Oh, come on, you big chicken. If you keep going on like this...the others are going to get even more nervous than they are. We need them to remain calm. So we can get this creature and Laeryn together and out of here." Sunny says, putting an arm around Mendez's shoulders.

on what feels like two wheels in her haste to get the Scoobs to the Industrial section of town. Inside the van, Raegun and IQ are trying to get a fix on Laeryn's enerfy signature when the van screeches to a halt, and the Scoobs are mostly thrown together in a heap.

The pile shifts as the Scoobs uncoil themselves and they all look out at what appears to be a shimmer right in front of the van. It's about 20 feet high, 20 feet wide, and is shimmering more and more. They are mesmerized for a moment.

on Rae, Kay made it a few more feet before she, too, buckled over. She reached out her hands to Laeryn, who was looking at them with a mixture of relief and fear and sorrow in her eyes. "No", she said softly, shaking her head, "Go back. Don't come closer."

"What the frell do you think?" Rae grunts. She looks up at Learyn, who is watching her, tears dripping from her eyes. It takes Rae a few seconds to realize the signifigance of this action. "You're going to be okay, sweetie." Rae assures her, crawling forward.

into the van, and Kay manages to get out, "Hazmat...Rae...field..." before she collapses. Mouse starts directing. "IQ, please see to Kay. Jila, you, Kara, and I can get the Hazmar suits on and help Rae. Chryse and Spyral, you guys get the van ready to receive Rae and Laeryn. No, I don't know how, but do your best. Everyone else, stay sharp!"

Kara, Mouse, and Jila got into the Hazmat suits and brought one out for Laeryn and one for Rae. Rae had gotten through the force field and pulled Laeryn out, and they were both attempting to get back to the van. Kara got Laeryn's suit on her, while Jila helped Rae and Mouse guarded. Soon, they heard Mouse yell, with a quiver in her voice, "Hurry it up and get back in the van. Something wicked this way comes..."

Rae thinks, without knowing what it means or refers to. As she puzzles over this, she suddenly has more pressing concerns. "Get this frelling helmet off of me!" she orders, tugging weakly at it. "I think I'm going to be ill."

"By the pricking of my thumbs, something wicked this way comes..." Mendez mutters. "There's SOMETHING out there, I can feel it." Mendez suddenly grabs Rae by the shoulders and pulls her nose-to-nose. "WHAT DID YOU PEOPLE DO TO ME?"

she says sitting up. She looked over to see Rae and Laryn and smiled at them. Laryn was looking very frightened but, she never took her eyes off of Spyral, and he in turn had his eyes glued to her. He kept reaching out as if he wanted to take her hand, but, wasn't quite sure if he should.

He nods weakly and sits, staring silently out the window. Rae watches Spy and Laeryn staring at each other. Spy keeps reaching out, tentatively. Rae sighs and reaches out, grabbing them both by the wrists. She plants Laeryn's hand firmly in Spy's and gives Spy a look that dares him to protest. Laeryn smiles shyly at Spy, who grins back.

Everyone in the van jumps as Rae's cell-phone rings. She routes it through her head-set. "Go. Yeah? Understood. Thanks, Lane. Out." Rae hangs up the phone and looks at the Scoobs. "Majestic has cleared every living person out of this area in a ten-mile radius."

"Because, child, there is someone YOU need to talk to." Rae informs her. She crawls over the van's seats (and multiple other Scoobs) and knocks out the back window. Equiping Raegun with his grenade launcher, she watches for pursuit.

The one-winged angel sat, staring in almost fascination at the small golden haired blind girl who sat, huddled between Rae and Mouse. He could see that she was obviously feeling the fear and strain of the past terifying hours, yet holding her hand in his, the angel could also feel the deep well of inner strength that she seemed to possess. That strength, not to mention the intense clarity of her thoughts and the incredibley sensitive sensory perceptions that seemed to be emanating from her like a massive vibration-sensitive radar system, that had caught the angels attention. He had not felt such raw unharnessed power in a single person in a very long time. Such a beautifully gentle person, capable of creating so much destruction... or so much beauty. It was almost sad in a way.

"I knew it was you," she said as he began to pull his hand back, and her grip tightened a bit to keep his hand in hers, her sightless eyes now seeming to connect with his somehow on an even deeper level. "The one I couldn't 'read'."

The rest of the Scoobs pulled closer, the better to hear her words, even as the van rocked from side to side, Sunny now driving at top speed thru the Industrial area. There had still so far been no sign of the Qu' uadine from the airport, but Mouse's razor shapr senses had picked up something and whatever it was heading their way, it could not be good.

The angel was standing atop a towering cliff, staring off into stars a in a place far away and at a time long distant in the past. In his company was the strikingly beautiful woman named Quistis Thade, a White-Caster from the crystalline ice-world of Trabia, and the mysterious tall and thin Dhracian bounty hunter known only as Dusk.

"One of the reasons I've survived for so long in my line of work, is that I've never left a job half-finished," came the sandy, deathlike voice from under the long billowing black scarf that covered the lower part of Dusk's face. "Allowing him to live is a mistake that we three will live to regret."

"And they are SO infallible," Dusk replied in disgust. He pointed to them each in turn. "Both of you mark my words: By not finishing this now, we are only delaying the inevitable." He looked to the angel, his pitch black eyes seeming to grow even darker. "I'll not be held accountable for the destruction he may cause when he goes searching for his 'Toy' again." With that, the Dhracian bounty hunter turned and strode like a wraith toward his waiting ship.

Quistis walked to the angel, her crystalline gown shimmering in the light of the four moons of Averyys. "I believe that the universe will fall to ash and rise again seven times and more before the day comes when I will admit to that man that he speaks the truth," Quistis said, a troubled look upon her porcelain face.

"But he's right," Spyral said. "I think we WILL live to regret not destroying Macius while we have to opportunity. If he somehow manages to escape...."the angel trailed off, his eyes returning to the stars once more.

"It makes one wonder just how 'All-Knowing' the Primes really are," Quistis said. "How many suns will grow cold, do you think, before we two will find ourselves back in the company of that Dhracian death-machine?", she added, speaking of Dusk as his small ship sailed off into the horizon.

The Scoobs tumbled from their places curses and cries filling the air as the van rocked violently from the sudden impact. The Angel kept a firm grip on Laeryn as he struggled to maintain an awkward semblance of balance, as the van lurched with another impact closely following the second.

"No, really?! We need to find shelter? I could have come up with that!" Sunny retorted. Rae looked at Sunny...*Now is not the time.* Rae thought to Sunny *No kidding...but I'm serious...one more hit and the van and everyone in it will be toast!* Sunny thought to Rae as she tapped the sensor panel on the dash board of the van. Rae and Sunny had spent many days several months ago installing sheilding and sensors to the van, just in case. Rae looked at the panel and went back to digging in her pack.

Mendez just looked at Sunny, he was not sure what was happening *I did not sign on for this!* came his thought, so loud and clear that Sunny whinced. *Listen, Mendez, none of us did...but we are here and we have a job to do...unless you want to see your world gone.* Sunny shot back. "Mendez, answer me.....is there a bomb shelter near by? We need to get out of sight for a bit...regroup and replan our attack." Sunny said...still managing to keep the van going and from turning over.

a small toy car and it's remote control. It had a long antennae that pointed up and out of the back of the car. She leaned down and dropped it carefully out the back of the van through the broken window and it landed on it's wheels and bounced a few times, but stayed upright.

"Sunny, HIT IT!" She yelled, more to alert the other Scoobs and Laeryn to the sudden change in speed than to communicate with Sunny. The little van took off with an incredible jolt. "Do you have nitrous on this thing?" Mouse yelled over the roar of the engine. "Kind of..." Sunny said, and then Rae said, "Ok, that's good, we should be far enough away..." and hit the button on the remote control.

Jila and IQ feverishly were working the command center board looking for a hideout, Kay and the corporal were huddled over the coms, and Spyral and Laeryn were just sitting there holding hands, not saying a word.