by Jake Bible
"You don't know that. He could have allowed himself to be found. Which is more likely. If that little fucker wants to hide then he'll stay hidden."
"Possibly. But the galaxy has changed since my last hunt. I know what he is. That info alone switches up the game."
"This is not a game."
"You know what I'm saying."
"I do. But…"
"Yeah. But…"
"Roak?" Hessa called. "Reck?"
"We're here, Hessa," Roak said.
"The Klav have agreed to all terms and are opening the House of Teeth to us," Hessa said. "We'll be docking shortly."
"Is it an ambush?" Reck asked.
"Not that I can tell," Hessa said. "They've allowed me access to their entire system. That's what's taken so long. I've searched every bit of data in that system and they are not planning any type of deception that I can see."
"Doesn't mean it isn't an ambush," Reck said.
"It's not," Roak said and stood up. "Moltrans?"
"That is now possible," Hessa said. "Do you need more gear?"
Roak patted his light armor and his Flott. "I'm ready."
"Reck?" Hessa asked.
"Give me a minute," Reck said. "I need to suit up."
"Let me help," Hessa said.
Reck was moltransed out of the mess, but reappeared a few minutes later.
"Vogga, Evil, Gerber, and Motherboard will be joining you," Hessa said.
Roak and Reck found themselves standing in a corridor directly outside the vat laboratory on the House of Teeth. There were several bots cleaning up various fluids and hunks of…something from the floor.
Roak stumbled slightly.
"You good?" Reck asked.
"Great," Roak replied despite that last moltrans nearly flipping his stomach upside down. He'd need another soak in Ally's bath soon. Moltrans travel was catching up to him again.
Vogga, Gerber, and Motherboard were standing there looking disgusted. Evil looked bored.
"We are having calibration issues," Orvra said as the Klav slowly, cautiously approached Roak. "The clones refuse to remain intact just like before."
"The clones from my genetic material?" Roak asked.
"Precisely," Orvra said.
"I wasn't an easy one to create the first time," Evil said. "Maybe only one me is all we need."
"We need more than that," Gerber said. "We need an army or we won't even come close to achieving our objective."
"Oh, you shall have an army," Orvra said and waved a few tentacles towards the laboratory. "The Chassfornians are emerging from the vats in better shape than we had hoped. We keep them sedated while we transfer the newborns to a holding deck below."
"Whoa, whoa, whoa, dudes," Vogga said. "You doped the clone me's up?"
"The damage one disoriented Chassfornian can do is extensive," Orvra replied. "An army? Our station would be destroyed within the hour."
Vogga shrugged. "Fair enough, dude. Fair enough."
"How soon until they're in fighting shape?" Roak asked.
"They come out in fighting shape," Orvra said. "How long does it take for them to adjust to their new reality is a better question."
"Then answer that better question," Roak snapped. "We don't have time for your head games, Orvra."
"It could be a few hours," Orvra said. "Or days. It depends on the individual clone." Orvra waved some tentacles at Vogga. "He will know best."
"Which holding deck?" Vogga asked.
"Forty-eight," Orvra said.
A different Klav hurried up to Orvra's side.
"She will take you to them," Orvra said.
The Klav motioned for Vogga to follow. He glanced at Roak, who nodded, then followed the Klav's lead.
"My clones? Any hope at all?" Roak asked.
"We cannot say," Orvra replied. "The variables are too great. We do have a batch of thirty about to be birthed from their vats. You are welcome to observe as we try to stabilize them."
"Surely there will have to be at least a couple of stable clones out of thirty," Gerber said. He looked at Evil out of the corner of his eye. "Or as stable as we need."
"I'm plenty stable," Evil said and shuddered. "In my own way."
Two Klav hurried forward with a large bucket. Evil stepped inside.
"Have you thought about cloning me?" Evil asked. Then he melted inside the bucket.
All eyes fell on Orvra.
"That would…not be wise," Orvra said. "The chance of pure madness is too great." He pointed one tentacle at the bucket. "And to clone that abomination would go against all that we stand for here at the House of Teeth."
"Not too concerned about your moral code," Roak said. "Is it possible, though, that's what I do care about. Might solve the stability issue."
"Yes, because that is so stable," Motherboard said, her eyes on the bucket, her lip curled up in disgust.
"Try one," Roak said to Orvra. "I want to see what happens."
The protests that were voiced were not just from Orvra. Gerber and Motherboard were not thrilled and even Reck gave Roak a worried look.
"Do it," Roak said. "We're running out of options."
"This could go very wrong, Roak," Hessa said just to him.
"Do. It." Roak ordered Orvra.
"We shall try," Orvra said and gave a small bow before retreating back into the depths of the laboratory.
"Let's go meet the Chassfornians," Roak said. "At least we know what to expect with those."
20.
Roak was wrong. Very wrong.
None of them could have expected the scene they walked in on.
"And then I shot him in the face!" Vogga shouted. "Remember that? Brilliant!"
An entire holding deck of Chassfornians burst into laughter. They slapped each other on the shoulder and doubled over as they struggled to breathe. The noise was like happy thunder that threatened to rumble the bones straight out of the beings that walked into the holding deck.
"Roak!" Vogga yelled as he caught sight of the bounty hunter.
"ROAK!" the Chassfornians yelled too. "Dude!"
"This makes me uneasy," Motherboard said.
"Because your ego wasn't big enough already, Roak," Reck said with a sigh. "Great."
"And his sister, Reck!" Vogga shouted.
"RECK!" the Chassfornians cried. "DUDE!"
"Alright," Reck said with a grin. "It's not too bad a thing."
"Were they yelling louder for Reck?" Motherboard asked.
"No," Roak said.
"Yes," Reck said.
The two siblings eyed each other.
Vogga sauntered up to the group.
"Dudes, this is amazing," he said as he hooked a thumb over his shoulder. "These guys? They're me! And all of them are totally on board with going to war."
"It's for a good cause, dudes!" one of the clones shouted.
"Saving the galaxy!" another yelled.
"We will be legends!" a third announced. His statement was quickly followed by deafening cheers.
"See?" Vogga said. "When do we leave?"
"Hold on," Gerber said. "There is a lot to do before we leave this place for the Sol System."
"Oh, right," Vogga said. "We need weapons. We're still waiting on Sha Tog, right?"
"That and we need a solid plan," Gerber said and looked to Roak. "Now that we've seen the Chassfornian Army." Gerber shivered. "Still not an easy thing to see or say. But, now that this part is under control, we should finalize plans for our assault."
"We're blowing the nexus point the fuck up," Roak said. "Right, Hessa?"
"Yes, but Gerber is correct, Roak," Hessa replied. "We should have a more comprehensive plan in mind. Should I return you all to the ship?"
"No," Roak said. "We can stay here. Orvra?"
The Klav appeared by Roak's side. "Yes, Roak?"
"We need a conference room with a holo projector," Roak said. "Someplace we can throw this plan together in."
"Ah, yes, of course," Orvra said.
"If you will follow me."
"Should I go too?" Vogga asked.
"Yes," Roak said. "Unless you think your brothers need you here."
"Nah, we're good," one of the clones said. "Right, dudes?"
There was a resounding "Right!" from the rest of the clones.
"Thanks, dudes," Vogga said and joined the rest of the group as they left the holding deck and made their way through the House of Teeth to a small command center.
"Will this suffice?" Orvra asked.
"This'll work," Roak said. "I'm going to need an update on your progress with the last batch of my clones and the test clone from Evil."
"Evil?" Orvra asked.
"The Roak in a bucket," Reck said.
"An interesting, yet fitting name for the abomi… For the being," Orvra said. "I shall report as soon as possible."
The Klav left and Roak faced the others.
"Can we all agree to say the planet's name without spitting?" Roak said. "We're going to get dehydrated if we have to spit each time."
"One last one for all the good luck," Motherboard said. "Earth…"
They all spat on the floor then focused on a holo Roak immediately brought up.
"Earth," Roak said. "The site of the nexus point. Somewhere."
"If I may, Roak?" Hessa asked.
"Go for it," Roak said.
"From the information I was given by the SMC bosses, there are four possible locations," Hessa said and the image zoomed in on the planet.
Wasteland continents flew by until the image stopped on a massive range of snow-covered mountains.
"This was known as Tibet," Hessa said. "For many humans, it was considered a holy site."
The holo image began to shift and change, showing different energy spectrums.
"While I cannot speak to the spiritual aspects of the region, it is obvious that the area does represent the convergence of lines of energy that crisscross the planet."
The energy spectrums disappeared and the image again flew across the planet. Then it reached an area in the middle of a vast ocean.
"At one time there were islands here," Hessa said. "Made from ancient volcanoes. Unfortunately for the inhabitants, the volcanoes were never truly dormant. Over thirty-two million lives were lost when the volcanoes erupted as one, destroying the chain of islands."
"Same evidence of energy lines" Roak said. "And the other two?"
"The third is at the North Pole," Hessa said.
Images of small hunks of green were seen then Hessa zoomed in.
"One of the few areas of the planet that has some life left," Hessa said. "Well, life that isn't horribly warped and mutated. Much."
It was quickly apparent that the energy lines there weren't as strong as the other two locations.
"That's not it," Roak said. "Last one?"
The image moved one last time and Roak felt his knees get weak. He managed to stay standing, but he knew Reck had caught the reaction. She watched him closely.
"Of the four locations, I would consider this one to be the most dangerous," Hessa said. "You can see that the landscape is plagued with pits and pools of toxic waste. At one time the waste had been stored deep, deep underground."
"But nothing stays buried forever," Gerber said.
"That's our target," Roak said.
"How can you possibly know that?" Motherboard asked.
"A hunch," Roak said.
"We can't base our plan on your hunch, Roak," Gerber said.
"It's a strong hunch," Roak replied. "And that is the place. You'll have to trust me."
"I have been trusting you, Roak," Gerber said. "But this is different."
"How?" Roak asked.
Gerber pointed at the holo. "We cannot risk losing our meager resources on a hunch, Roak. If you are wrong then the battle is over before it begins. We will not have the opportunity to regroup and try a new location. We'll barely get through the Skrang ships, and the other ships en route, to get down to the planet's surface. We'll have sustained significant damage and casualties before we even reach the location."
"Ah, I see the problem," Roak said. "You think I'm taking everyone down there with me. My fault for the confusion, General."
"All the Hells," Reck muttered.
"I'm sorry, but what are you talking about?" Gerber asked.
"I don't need an army down there with me," Roak said.
"You aren't going alone," Reck said.
"Wasn't planning on going alone," Roak replied. "We'll take the ship down with just our team."
As soon as the word left his mouth, Roak knew he'd pay for it.
"Team?" Hessa and Reck asked at the same time.
Roak sucked it up and nodded. "It'll be our crew along with Skabz, Evil and Ally."
"You want to bring Ally?" Reck asked.
"I don't want to, but she'll be safer with us and we may need a Tcherian," Roak said.
"Not a chance in all the Hells," Motherboard said. "DTZ will go with you."
"No," Roak said. "DTZ will be needed in the fight above the planet. So will everyone else."
"This is ridiculous," Gerber said. "I will not even entertain this idea."
"I don't give a terpigshit about you being entertained," Roak said. "This is my war and it's my call."
Motherboard began to argue, but Gerber held up his hand and she stopped before she could get started.
"This is far from your war, Roak," Gerber said. "This involves every being in the galaxy. I'm not talking about the controlled, I'm talking about every single being regardless of their status. You don't get to claim this war, Roak. You simply do not."
"I simply do," Roak responded. "Reck can too to a lesser extent."
"How is my extent lesser?" Reck snapped.
"I'm the clone killer," Roak said. "I'm the one that Father has been after. I'm the one that Pol truly played. I'm at the center of this. Anyone want to argue that I'm not? I'll be happy to step aside, but we all know that what I'm saying is true."
"May I ask a question?" Motherboard said.
"Nothing stopping you," Roak said.
"Why do you want to be in charge?" Motherboard asked.
"Don't get me started," Hessa interrupted.
"I'm asking a serious question," Motherboard said. "I know what it is like to be in charge. General Gerber knows what it is like to be in charge. I doubt either of us would want to be in charge of something on this scale if we didn't have to be."
"I do run FIS," Gerber said. "That is a lot of scale. But I understand what you are getting at, Lieutenant."
"Roak?" Motherboard asked.
Roak thought for a moment. To be honest with himself, he didn't want to be in charge. He didn't want anything to do with the entire war. Hells, he'd walk away that second if he could.
But he couldn't. There was nowhere to walk to. He couldn't hide from what was happening and he couldn't hide from the impending war.
He wasn't one for hiding, anyway.
"I don't want to be in charge," Roak admitted. "But someone has to be. I'm not volunteering, I'm just saying that I'm in charge by Eight Million Gods damn default."
"That is one way to look at it," Gerber said. "Another way is to-"
"No," Roak said. His voice was firm and resolute. Most everyone in the room stiffened at his tone. He didn't care. "We're not doing this. We aren't going back and forth. We aren't deciding by committee. We aren't hooing and hawing."
"Hooing and hawing?" Reck laughed.
"Shut it," Roak said "All this time we're wasting right now? This is why I'm in charge. No more wasting time. No more waiting for the war to start. I'm in charge and we do this my way or I'm out."
"You know you can't actually be out, right?" Hessa said only to Roak.
"Not now," Roak muttered.
"Fine," Gerber said with a nonchalant shrug. "You are in charge. I wish you all the luck and Eight Million Godspeed, Roak. You will need it."
"I doubt even that much will help," Roak said. "So we're
good? Everyone fights off Mother and Father so my team can reach the nexus point and destroy it. That is the plan."
"You're in charge," Gerber said. "Any objections?"
There were none.
"I do have a request," Gerber said.
"I'm sure you do," Roak responded.
"You take Agent Prime with you," Gerber said. "So there's at least one GF representative on your ship. It'll cover a small part of my ass when this is all over."
"If it ever is all over," Reck said.
Gerber ignored her and watched Roak.
"Fine," Roak said after a few seconds. "Prime can come with."
"Good," Gerber said. "What's next, Roak in charge?"
"The hard part," Roak said. "Getting from here to there."
"May I?" Gerber asked. "I'm not trying to hijack your op, but I do have some expertise in moving large amounts of troops and equipment across the galaxy."
"By all means," Roak said.
Gerber brought up a holo of their region.
"Sha Tog should arrive soon with the equipment from Gilga's outpost," Gerber said. "We will then load up all the Chassfornians."
He swiped out, bringing up a wider view of the galaxy.
"We will have six wormhole portals to travel through."
Six dots appeared in the holo. Then the dots started to disappear one by one.
"Or we would have. But Father is already making it very difficult to travel freely."
"I am monitoring the portals closely," Hessa added. "They are systematically being destroyed. By the time Sha arrives and we are ready to leave the House of Teeth, there will be only one way to travel to Earth."
A completely new set of dots appeared in the holo.
"If we are to travel via wormhole portal then this will be our one and only route," Hessa said.
"We're traveling a route that Father has created?" Reck asked. "Why not shoot ourselves in the head now and get it over with."
"We will not be traveling via wormhole portal," Gerber said. "Hessa has informed me that she may have developed a way to use Mother's transport tech one last time without fear of being destroyed or monitored."
"But you ejected that tech during our trans-space travel," Motherboard said.
"I did, yes," Hessa said. "But I am building new tech as we speak. I am unable to modify the tech as much as I'd like. If I were to change the tech that significantly then we'd risk annihilation."
