Arett stared out of the window to the ship. Emotions of anger flooded
him. He hated the Tori Senshi and everything they stood for. Tears streamed
from his closed eyes as he rested his head against the cold glass.
"Crying won't
bring Gennsu back." Taku said from his sitting position. He had his legs
crossed as well as his arms.
"I-I know. Why
did we have to leave? We could...have won." Arett opened his eyes again
and looked up out of the window at the fleeting planet.
"Arett. Don't
be stupid! We can't win! I know...." Taku's voice died toward the end.
"Damn you Tori!!!
Damn you to hell!!!" Arett's scream echoed through the room.
"Oi! Keiko! What
do you have there?" Kawa asked as he came up from behind Keiko.
"It's a butterfly,
see it's so delicate and pretty." The butterfly on Keiko's finger flapped
it's wings once, it then fluttered off as Kawa tromped up.
"Oi! See what
I got!" Kawa produced a jar with a roach in it. Keiko's eyes grew wide
and she inhaled.
"Ick! Those things
are disgusting....Just don't let it get out." Keiko responded
"Jarel, the ship
has locked on and found a suitable planet for life. Shall we proceed."
A tech officer informed Jarel who stood at the helm.
"Yes, cloak our
signal so the Tori can't follow us." Jarel's voice responded. He looked
at the displays of Gennsu and the tactical data. "Is this the only way?"
Jarel asked himself as he sank back into his chair.
"Tarrk sir! We
have locked onto the Mushi ship! They have just cloaked and are going to
hype warp soon." Tarrk smiled from under his feathered helmet.
"Scan for a possible
planet that they'd run too!" Tarrk ordered the helmsman. "Follow them there
and then we shall eliminate those...insects!"
"Hype warp in
3...2...1....hype warp." The craft shook and then began to pull itself
into the anomaly formed in front of it.
"Sir! We made
it! We are 4 chaks away from the planet locked, shall we proceed with landing?"
The grinning helmsman looked at Jarel. Jarel too was happy.
"Yes yes!! Please
start, I can't wait to get to planetfall." He then sat back down. "Yes
a planet all to myself to rule. I shall be in charge!" Jarel began saying
to himself.
"OI! Arett we
made it!! We're going to our new home!!" Wheito said a little too loudly.
"Yes...but..."
Arett sighed.
"Don't dwell
on the past. Gennsu is still there and there is still a fight there. We
will return to her soon." Iliem whispered from his dark corner.
"True, I feel
like...a coward for running away." He put his hand to the glass.
"Tis, foolish
to have stayed and got our butts shot off! Arett! Be happy you are alive!"
Taku said in a not too nice manner.
"Yes Arett, now
we can live here till we get enough senshi together and then go back to
crush the Tori Senshi." Eiji said from staring at his computer panel.
"Harjak Tactical?"
Wheito asked Eiji.
"No, Tak Den
Tak, na."
"A game?!!" Wheito
exclaimed.
Arett settled
into a seat next to Taku and sank into the comfy pillows. He tossed his
antennae over the back of the couch. Taku looked at Arett then uncrossed
his arms and put one around Arett's shoulders.
"Be still Arett.
All will come together." Taku said in his older brother style voice.
"Awwwwww...isn't
that cute! ^_^" Wheito remarked from his leaning.
"Don't make me
kick some sense into you, Wheito!" Taku growled playfully.
"Oi! I think
I need a snuggle too Tak!" Wheito sat next to Taku and put his head on
his shoulder.
"Gods...I can't
remember how I met you crazies!" Taku put his head down and gave a slight
smile.
The Tori craft
hype warped in after the Mushi ship with their cloaks on.
"Tarrk sir! We
are behind the craft, they appear to be going to that planet down there."
The tactical officer shouted out.
"Wonderful! Exellent!
We can crush this small faction and return to the fleet as heroes! We'll
then take this planet as ours and rule the galaxy." Tarrk was on his feet
looking out the forward view window. He smiled and admired his reflection
before turning away.
The Mushi craft
began to enter the atmosphere. Iliem was gazing out the window at the new
planet. Taku was still sitting next to Arett. Wheito was making a last
raid on the snack machine. Eiji was finishing up his game. There was an
uneasy silence in the air. They didn't know whether they had done wrong
or right in coming to this planet. Wheito was being unusually quiet. Arett
looked at Taku, his expression giving away his feeling of anxiety. Iliem,
who was naturally quiet put a hand up to the window and closed his eyes.
They then shot open.
"There...is something
wrong.... with this planet." Iliem stated in his light voice.
"Wrong? What
is wrong with it. My Calculations have come out correct, na da!" Eiji was
frantically scrambling acrossed his holopad.
"No, it IS habitable,
but something isn't right about...it." Iliem then grew quiet again.
"Naaaaa! I still
cannot find anything wrong with this...I only hope that your...wrong Iliem.
Knowing you though you are probably right." Eiji continued to tap away
at his pad. The ship began to shake as turbulence increased. Wheito was
thrown off his feet.
"Ite! Can't they
keep this thing steady!" Wheito was complaining for no reason. He too had
a few bad feelings about this planet. He felt the whole place was too big
in his opinion. And in his opinion, things that were either too good or
too big were very very bad!
The ship soon
shook off the turbulence and continued.
"Ready to fire
the pods sir!" The officer shouted over his shoulder.
"Fire pods one
through six." Jarel announced. The pods were fired without any trouble.
"Pods launched
sir. No problems detected."
"Launch pods
seven through twelve."
"Yes, sir. Pods
launched, no problems detected."
The alert light
came on telling them that their pod was in the process of being fired.
"Well everyone,
to the stasis chambers." Arett said wearily. Every did as they were told.
The chambers released the restraints that would keep them safe. They felt
the pod detach and start it's random flight to the planets surface.
The time ticked
away, Wheito was growing impatient. After a time they felt the pod land
and slide acrossed the ground. They all didn't move. Arett was thinking
about what the new world was like, how different it could be. Wheito was
busy eating the last bits of potato chips, Eiji was stealing a few for
himself. Iliem was still contemplating his psiji pangs. Taku had his arms
crossed and his eyes closed. The clear signal finally came through. The
door opened and they all gazed out.
Seeing as how
he was leader Arett unfastened himself and stepped outside of the pod onto
the dirt. He sniffed at the air.
"Oi!! How is
it! Is it safe! Hey quit get your own!!" came from Wheito in the pod.
"Mina, it seems
to be both safe and habitable." Arett turned to examine the local plants.
Wheito and Eiji were fighting for the rights to be second. Iliem grew impatient
and shoved past them both. Taku laughed to himself.
"Arett, this
place seems too large in scale. This plant, look, it's a fern like the
kind I had where I lived." Iliem pointed out a fern leaf to Arett. Eiji
came up and popped out his holopad.
"It does appear
to be a native species to Gennsu as well. This is strange. It would seem
that this planet hasn't evolved to our level yet, na da." Eiji tapped a
few more keys.
"Sooooo....that
means it's like in the Hikagese age?" Wheito said examining an aphid. He
picked it up and was petting it.
"Correct, so
we can expect perhaps some large reptilian forms and such, na da."
"Like this cute
lil' aphid?" Wheito said pointing to the bug in his arms. Eiji came over
to examine it. A ladybug meanwhile had crawled up on to the leaf. Eiji
noticed it.
"Ah! Another
Mushijin!" He smiled and saluted to the bug, it didn't respond. Wheito
stared at it.
"Oi kid he said
hi!" Wheito shouted at the bug. Wheito then went to touch it and it flew
off.
"E~~~h!" Wheito stood
there and stared at it's parting. Eiji meanwhile had his own problems.
"I said how are
you, na da. What part of Gennsu-Mantike are you from? Moshi moshi??" Eiji
was speaking to a mantis that had crept up behind him. The mantis decided
to take a bite out of him he dodged. "HEY!! I'm not a piece of food!!!
NA~~~ DA~~~!!!" The mantis didn't care. Eiji went into mantis form to communicate
with his antennae. The other mantis was confused. Eiji was stunned as well,
this was a typical average mantis. Not a mushijin at all. But....
Arett and Taku
had gone off together to talk, Iliem was wandering through the grass in
amazement.
"Taku what do
you think about this place so far." Arett was looking for comfort as he
was feeling the skittishness that roaches usually get.
"Well, I'll agree
with Eiji that this sure is strange. Iliem has hardly been wrong so I feel
he right as well." Taku was gazing at the sky high above him. Arett was
looking at the ground.
Iliem meanwhile
was assaulting the grass with his sword. He still didn't feel right and
was angry at that. He was thinking about the damned Tori that killed his
parents and how he would make them pay!! Rushing through the grass he tripped
over an object in his path. Getting up he examined it. It was round and
brown in color. He picked it up and examined it. His eyes widened, this
was a coin, a piece of currency! A large piece of currency. He made only
one conclusion, that there were aliens on this planet, and they were much
larger than anyone wanted to think about. Leaving the money he went to
look for perhaps the owner of the coin.
Tannerisk was
watching the area from his perch on the tree. He saw the young butterfly
making his way through the grass, stop for a time and keep going. He had
marked this mushi to death, as this was the Tori world!! He swooped from
his perch and became that of a small hawk.
Iliem felt the
psiji pang and drew his sword. He sent a message to his crew as well. Tannerisk
swooped low and missed, he then landed and went into senshi form and came
at Iliem ignoring the grass. Swinging around, Iliem took a swing at Tannerisk
taking him off guard. Tannerisk was angered at this and leaped forward
towards the ingrate mushi.
Taku and Arett
felt the psiji that Iliem had sent and rushed to his aid.
Eiji had hooked
the mantis up to his holopad when he got the message. He disconnected the
wires and ran toward area where Iliem was.
Wheito was playing
with the Aphid when he felt it. Dropping the small piece of chip he was
feeding the aphid he rushed headlong into the grass as well. The little
aphid went over to the chip and began to munch on it.
Taku and Arett
were the first to arrive. Iliem had gotten in a few good cuts, but seeing
as how back-up had arrived Tannerisk went into his Tori form. Arett felt
a wave of fear wash over him and he couldn't move. Taku on the other hand
took aim and was concentrating on his attack. Taku's gium glowed and he
his arm cannon formed around his wrist and the back of his hand. Aiming
he then shouted "Fire..Negan...CHARGE!!!" the hot liquid fire erupted from
the cannon and shot toward Tannerisk. Tannerisk seeing this dropped low
and the blast missed him. Arett's eyes were still locked on the bird of
death.
"Arett! Don't
stand there and look stupid! MOVE!" Taku gave Arett a shove and he tumbled
into some local grass. Tannerisk's talons barely missed Arett. Arett was
scared and confused, this was a new planet that was much larger than he
liked and not only that the Tori Senshi had followed them here. He was
crouched into a ball shaking, tears streaming from his eyes. Flying into
the air once again, Tannerisk could see Arett cowering in the grass.
'Precious little
cockroach no doubt!' he though as he swept in for another attack. Iliem
had this one. He had snuck behind his down drop and was preparing his attack.
"Right!....Strange!....."
Tannerisk heard the shout and just as he was veering to change directions,
"NECTA~~!!!" Bright light lanced from Iliem's downstroke of his sword and
hit Tannerisk at his wing joint. He immediately reverted to his Torijin
form and fell to the ground.
"Mushijin no
baka!!!" he drew his sword once again and went after Iliem. "Precious butterfly
I hate you!!" He swiped at him.
"I am no butterfly!"
Iliem simply stated and attacked. Tannerisk took wing and leaped high.
Iliem did the same.
"I keep forgetting
you Chojin have wings...." He smirked and went back into his hawk form.
Iliem's eyes widened. Tannerisk flipped and pointed his beak toward the
buttermoth.
"Static Whip!...SPARK!!"
A strange voice was heard and a thin yellow sparking line wrapped around
Tannerisk and brought him to the ground. Everyone looked and saw Eiji holding
the whip. Tannerisk squawked as he was then shocked. He reverted to his
torijin form once again.
"Magne! Static!
KuuRASH!!!!" Eiji sent the spark along the ground toward Tannerisk, who
had only enough time to look up and see the spark lance into him.
"U~~WAAAAA~~~~~"
He screamed and tried to break free. Finally Eiji let him go, Tannerisk
immediately took wing and flew off cursing the mushijin. Eiji smiled.
"Oi! That was
some attack Eiji. I didn't know you had it in you!" Wheito stood there
agape. Eiji just smiled some more. Arett look up from the grass.
"Damn those tori!
They followed us to this planet!!" He was wiping away the tears hoping
nobody saw him. Taku went over to Arett.
"Why did you
just stand there! You could have been killed, you put everyone in hikon!"
Taku was looking angrily at Arett who only averted his eyes.
"I'm sorry! I'm
just a damn skittish roach!! I shouldn't even be here." He turned his back
on everyone.
"Maybe you shouldn't!"
Iliem interjected. Taku glared angrily at him. Wheito crossed his arms.
"Arett, don't
be hard on yourself. Facing a tori in combat for the first time is hard,
specially the hawks and eagles. I don't blame you for getting scared, ne."
Wheito gave a quirky smile and grabbed Arett's shoulder.
"That wasn't
my first!" Arett shot back and broke the gesture. Sighing Arett walked
back toward the landing site passing Wheito's aphid on the way. The little
aphid looked at Arett once and then went to the chip. Arett paused and
looked at the little hungry aphid looking for more food. Smiling he went
over and picked it up. He could sense the little aphid was scared so he
rubbed his antennae against the aphids to calm him.
Taku and the
rest came in later, Taku had his arms crossed, Wheito had already forgotten
the incident and was looking for Aphid, Iliem was quiet as usual and Eiji
went to find the mantis. Arett was on his bed with the aphid asleep. He
had taken off his uniform and was simply wearing his skin tight undersuit
and pants. The little aphid was curled up next to his warm body asleep
as well. Taku looked in on Arett and smiled, it was a long day and the
next would probably be even longer.
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