We Are Not Alone (RP 1 of 5)

Dramatis Personae:

The Guardians - self-proclaimed defenders of the realm, upholders of justice, and scourge to all things heinous.

Core team:

* The Polar Phantasm - the big dumb jerk whose big dumb jerk brain inspired this big dumb group.
* Bonnie Blue - most delicious Southern specialty since biscuits and gravy, and unofficial captain of the space dragon.
* Jay Omega - voted worst dancer among white people for six consecutive years. Haters gonna hate.
* Nightmare - angriest mom since that broad from Malcolm in the Middle.

Series supporting cast:

* Grimmauld - the Guardians' pet space dragon/mothership, who lives inside Project: Antarctica's massive missile silo. Grimmauld communicates telepathically, and seems to have a special bond with Bonnie; the depths of which we've only just begun to plumb... for now she is the only one able to fully understand Grimmauld's manner of "speaking". Grimmauld both functions as the Guardians' main method of interstellar travel and as a handy compatriot in combat- especially if people fuck with Bonnie. Grim don't like it when fools disrespect his homegirl.
* Iceberg-7 - unsung hero of Guardians promos; everyone's favorite artificial intelligence that's starting to sound a bit too much like Polar.
* Nikola Tesla - America's favorite 'Uncle Nicky' since 2016, Guardians tech genius/actual mad scientist.
* Alex Richards - one of the strangest people around, living or dead.
* Princess Tasha - statuesque space princess, rebel warrior woman. Think Princess Leia meets Xena: Warrior Princess. Charismatic leader of a ragtag rebellion against her sister, the cruel and oppressive Empress Sasha of the Darrikaan Empire.


~Somewhat dazed, stunned at the revelation his body was no longer exuding heat, Cameron Bankston, Junior - better known to the vast majority as the Polar Phantasm - walked out of his bathroom, and over to where his wife Crystal - similarly known by her alter ego Nightmare - lay sleeping in their bed. Polar scrubbed a hand through his hair while he tried to think of what and how to tell his wife, then reach out and placed a hand on her shoulder. Nightmare jerked awake with a hissed intake of breath, knocking his hand away. "The fuck?!" She exclaimed in surprise and anger, "Jesus, Cam, your hand's like ice!" Little did she know. Cameron sat down on the edge of the bed, and gave her a tremulous smile. "Yeah, that's kind of why I woke you up," He began carefully, his tone putting a glint of worry in Crystal's eye.

  "What's wrong, baby?" Nightmare asked, the worry in her eyes coming out in her voice. "Big, big stuff, Crys," Polar replied, unsure of how to continue. "First off, I think we're about to make first contact," Crystal's eyebrow rose in surprise; not just at the revelation, but the implication there was more. "What, you mean like with aliens?" She asked breathlessly, to which Cam nodded. "Eye-Seven picked up a small ship about two and a half hours ago when they passed Saturn. I don't think it's a coincidence that they're heading our way." Nightmare threw back the covers at the assertion, and sprung to her feet, hurriedly moving to collect her clothing. "Well shit, what are we waiting for? Let's go meet Ee Tee!" Polar reached out to take hold of her forearm, and Crystal hissed again as she pulled away, clutching her arm.

  "Ah! Okay, seriously, what the fuck?" She exclaimed, rubbing some warmth back into her flesh. "Yeah, that's the other thing," Cam said hesitantly, "I... I don't know how to explain it, but Eye-Seven says I don't show up on his thermal scanners anymore. I think I might be turning into Jack Frost or something." Crystal gave an involuntary shiver, then went back to getting dressed. "Well, you'd better figure out how to control that shit real fast, because I am not keen on the idea of getting frostbite all up in my--" The details of Nightmare's anatomy were overruled by the musical sound of sentient computer Iceberg-7 literally chiming into the conversation. "Proximity alert; the unidentified spacecraft has entered the asteroid belt. At current speeds, estimated time of arrival is thirty-eight minutes, eighteen seconds."

  "Well, sounds like I'm gonna get to put my new space tank to the test," Crystal said cheerily, "I'll put the coffee on, you go wake up the team." Nightmare suited her words, walking out of the room as she threw a rumpled T-shirt over her head. Polar shook his head in amazement at his wife's reaction, then stood, and went to follow her advice. Outside the bedroom assigned to Jay Omega, Cam pressed the call button on the intercom, and patiently awaited a response. Several long moments later, he pushed the call button again, not-so-patiently awaiting a response. When none came, Polar punched in the access code and entered the room, only to find it utterly devoid of Omega's presence. "Hunh. That's weird," Cam muttered to himself, wondering where Jay could be at this time of night. "Hey, Eye-Seven, where's Jay at?"

  "User Jay Omega is located in the hologym." The helpful computer replied instantly, then added an update on the alien ship's position. "The unidentified spacecraft has just passed the inner perimeter of the asteroid belt; revised Ee Tee Ay is thirty-two minutes, twenty-seven seconds." Polar nodded as he began to make his way toward the hologym at a jog. "Thanks Eye-Seven, be sure to keep an eye on them for me, will ya?" Iceberg-7 responded with a flat note before it spoke. "Unable to comply; this unit does not have eyes. This unit is currently overriding positional controls of India's Astrostat orbital observatory in order to monitor the unidentified spacecraft." Cam rolled his eyes at the computer's literal translation as he picked up his pace. "Well, keep doing that, then. Just let me know when they're on this side of Mars."~


*Welcome back, True Believers! Our video fades in on a black and white montage of a bunch of tech monkeys setting up a sound stage, and several people preparing for some sort of audition. Make up artists ply their trade, hair stylists do their thing, and wardrobe warriors match outfits to personalities, interspersed with shots of people practicing dance moves, or lip-syncing words in front of a mirror. This continues for almost a full minute, when whistling picks up from somewhere off camera; the catchy tune of "Moves Like Jagger" by Maroon 5. The whistling is soon accompanied by the sounds of soft-soled shoes approaching, and we cut from the black an white montage to a coloured version of the sound stage. Jay Omega walks into view, shirtless, and wearing a pair of tight leather pants, with a Gibson Flying V guitar hanging from a strap around his neck. Jay is obviously the one whistling, and makes it through the cycle of notes four times. We get a quick black and white image of a young blonde woman closing a clapperboard, then cut back to Omega in colour, though the music that he starts playing on the guitar is much heavier than the Maroon 5 original; more in line with Leo Morrachioli's metal cover of "Moves Like Jagger". Omega repeats the cycle of notes four times, this time with the guitar instead of his lips, then breaks into song.*


*As Omega sings, we cut back and forth between shots of him playing the guitar and singing, and shots of everyone's favourite holographic backup dancer, the-collection-of-hard-light-photons-my-lawyers-insist-I-assure-you-is-not-actually-Frank-Patrick-Venable-but-looks-just-like-him. If that's too much to say, just call him HoloFrank, like I do. Today HoloFrank has his hair fluffed and feathered like an early 80s rock god, and is sharing screen time with a digital representation of Linda Hamilton as Sarah Connor, circa the original Terminator's 1984, because I'm running out of backup dancers.*


*Multiple shots of HoloFrank and Sarah showing off their best Jagger-inspired moves, while wearing a multitude of outlandish costumes. Starting with HoloFrank skipping out onto the stage, wearing tight leather pants and a sparkly black button up, under a red blazer. As he skips out, he points to the sky with the arm matching each stride. The we cut to a bored looking Sarah wearing a flesh-toned catsuit and a cape made from Britain's flag, with the word "CROW" written across her chest in black marker.*


*We cut back to shirtless Omega, making bedroom eyes at the camera while he rocks both the vocals and lead guitar. Unlike his previous parodies, Jay is actually providing (some of) the music on this one. Metal music isn't just one of his passions, it's also one of his talents. He's also apparently pretty good at choreographing holodancers, if Youtube comments are to be believed. Bitches love HoloFrank; whom we see strutting across the stage in black-and-red striped pants, wearing a form-fitting black T-shirt under a leopard print vest, followed by a shot of Sarah in a one-piece black bodysuit, wearing her bra on the outside, with a fisherman's bucket hat on her head, bouncing her way across the stage in the opposite direction.*


*From a full-body shot of Omega swaying back and forth at the hips in front of a mic stand, we cut to a close up profile of Sarah slowly shimmying her hips in a pair of Daisy Duke shorts and a pale orange shirt knotted just under her cleavage. Then we cut to HoloFrank in some tight blue pants with a gold sequined jacket, cutting a rug in such a way as to remind us why disco died.*


*We see Jay hopping across the stage on one foot, the other leg extended straight out in front of him while he continues to play guitar and sing, somehow still being heard despite not being in front of the microphone anymore. Then we cut to a side view of HoloFrank grinding in front of another camera - something like a GoPro built into a quadrotor drone; it's a Guardians thing - wearing tight leopard print pants and a long red velvet vest, with a slate grey tie around his head in place of a bandanna. Next we cut to a rear view of Sarah grinning over her shoulder at us, while shaking her ass in a pair of skin tight leather pants - one half red, the other black - and a frilly, loose white blouse.*


*By this point Omega has joined in on busting a move; showing off a little fancy footwork that moves him a few steps from side to side, with a quick spin thrown in here and there. They don't call him the Emperor of Entertainment for nothing, folks. We also get to see HoloFrank in a pair of large round sunglasses, wearing a dark blue Speedo, and a red jacket resembling a British royal guard's coat doing the Running Man; his lips puckered out in what is known as a "duck-face". The we cut to Sarah in a pair of white bell bottoms with a fur poncho, grooving around in a small circle, in a rather serpentine fashion.*


*At this point the holodancers' outfits begin repeating as we cut back and forth between them and Jay, because I'm lazy and this shit's not as easy as we make it look. So while Omega continues to be shirtless in his leather pants, his dangly bits obscured by the placement of the custom Flying V guitar, when we next cut to HoloFrank, he's back in his black pants, sparkly shirt, and red blazer. Although now he's doing the Hustle. Then we cut to Sarah rocking out in her flesh-toned catsuit, waving her flag cape with wild abandon.*


*Jay goes off on a guitar solo, while we cut to a shot of HoloFrank and Virtual Sarah both dressed in black leather, headbanging along with the music. Because this is a metal cover, after all. We eventually cut back to Omega as he steps up toward the mic again, and the final refrain of the chorus begins with a cut to HoloFrank in his red-and-black striped pants and leopard print vest gyrating his hips with hands overhead, followed by a shot of Sarah in her black-and-red leather pants/white frilly blouse combination shimmying and shaking her stuff as she struts toward the camera.*


*Jay bounces around on his toes, headbanging and just rocking along in general. We cut to HoloFrank in his blue Speedo and guard's jacket, twerking at us in a threatening manner. Then we get a shot of Sarah in her Daisy Dukes and knotted orange shirt, pretending to ride a horse across the stage in slow motion.*


*Omega plays out a few final chords, then both the music and the holodancers fade away, along with the sound stage backdrop, leaving us in the matte black and blue-lined grid of the Guardians' hologym. Jay's face breaks out in an easy grin, and he removes the guitar from around his neck, carefully putting it in place on a nearby stand; one of the few things in the room that hadn't been a creation of hard-light photons.*

Jay Omega: Well, that was fun. Much more fun than last week's, I'll tell you that much. I don't know why I ever thought doing this with a country song would be a good idea. But hey, it seemed to work, right? And as the old saying goes; if it ain't broke, don't fix it. Which is as good a segue as any for getting down into the nitty-gritty of this here World Championship tournament finals, I guess.

*This doesn't seem to be the case though, as Omega cuts off at the sound of fast-approaching footsteps, followed shortly by the Polar Phantasm bursting onto the scene.*

Polar Phantasm: Dude! Briefing room, stat!

Jay Omega: Can it wait? I'm kind of in the middle of something.

Polar Phantasm: Don't care; this is super fucking important! We are not alone!

*Polar then releases his death grip on Jay's shoulders, spins about face, and bolts back out of the room. Omega throws a somewhat confused glance at the camera, then shrugs and walks off screen. The scene then fades to black.*


~A steaming mug of coffee in his hand - triple triple with milk - Jay Omega entered the conference room the Guardians had taken to using for mission briefings. The chill in the air caused him to shiver slightly as he took a seat, and he threw a look over at Cameron. "I know it's summer, but it's not that hot, do we really need the Ay See cranked?" Jay asked, prompting Polar to bark a laugh and shake his head. "It's a bit of a problem; we're looking into it." Cam replied with a wry twist to his lips. Bonnie Blue entered the room a moment later, bleary eyes half open, both hands cupped around a mug. "I hope this is important, Cam," Bonnie said grumpily as she plunked down into a seat, "If you woke us up for another laser show slash astronomy lesson, I'm gonna be upset." Polar put on a hurt expression, and pouted at Bonnie.

  "Hey now, not only was 'Laser Rush Twenty-One Twelve' a great team-building exercise, it was also a good source of some light entertainment. Heh heh, 'light' entertainment." Blue just shook her head at the lame pun. "I grew up on a space station, since y'all seem to keep forgetting. I could give you astronomy lessons." Cam's expression grew serious, and he pointed a finger at Bonnie. "That's right, you did grow up on a space station. Which makes you the first person I'd like to ask; ever seen one of these before?" Polar pointed at the wall, and Iceberg-7 projected an image on the wall; a slim, wedge-shaped vessel of unknown origin, its markings designed to blend with the vast blackness of space. Blue leaned forward to study it intently for a moment, then fell back with a shrug and a shake of her head.

  "Not that I can recall," She said half apologetically, and took a sip of her coffee. "Why, what is it?" Cam also shrugged, and the image pulled back to reveal the ship cruising along within our solar system. "I don't know either, but it's on its way here." Jay froze in the process of rolling a thumb-thick blunt, and looked up from the task at hand. "I'm sorry, did you just say that Earth is about to make contact with another alien species?" Omega finished rolling, and licked the edge before he sealed it shut. "One that didn't make contact with us in Bonnie's original future timeline?" Jay let out a low whistle before he stuck the blunt in his mouth and lit up. "Yeah pretty mu-- wait, what do you mean another alien species?" Cam asked, catching on to Omega's phrasing. Jay filled his lungs and passed the blunt before he replied.

  "It's a long story," Omega said with a dismissive wave of his hand, "Remind me to tell you some time when we're not getting ready to go meet a potentially hostile extra terrestrial race." Bonnie passed the burning bud in Polar's direction, and he gratefully accepted. "At least, that's what I assume this is all about," Jay continued, "Or was there another reason you had to drag us all into this fucking freezing room? Seriously, can we turn up the heat a little?" Cam and Crystal shared a look, and Nightmare shrugged at her husband, indicating it was his call. Polar blew out a sigh, and nodded in Jay's direction as he passed his wife the blunt. "That actually is the other thing I wanted to talk to everybody about," Cameron began slowly, "This might sound kind of crazy, but considering we have a space dragon on site and fought a dark god at a Renaissance fair a few days ago, I'm hoping you'll at least hear me out."

  As best he could remember it, Polar related the events of his dream to the Guardians; everything from seeing Nightmare engulfed in a pillar of flame, to somehow flash freezing the room, to having I-7 inform him that he no longer registered on heat scanners. Everyone took a moment of silence to absorb this startling piece of information. Accepting the blunt from Jay again, Bonnie was the first to offer up a possible explanation. "I ain't sure 'zactly what kind of powers the Dark Timekeeper's got now that he's callin' himself Timastenzi," She started off hesitantly, but gained confidence as she continued, "But with the general warpin' of timespace that went on around him beforehand, it's possible that run-in we had with him might've given evolution a kick in the pants." Omega raised an eyebrow at the suggestion, and turned to see Cameron with a thoughtful look on his face.

  "There are worse fates than somehow becoming Iceman," Polar mused. On the other side of the table, Jay was staring intently at his hand. Staring so intently, in fact, that veins were beginning to stand out along his neck and his face was turning red. "What the hell are you doing?" Crystal asked him, her tone making it clear she already knew he was being an idiot, and wanted a different answer. Omega relaxed, and released the breath he'd been holding. "Trying to see if I got any cool powers too," He replied, as though it should be obvious, "Do you have any idea how badass it would be if I could, I dunno, throw fireballs, or turn invisible?" Bonnie chuckled at him as she passed the blunt to Cameron. "Y'all have a walking tank, a hovercycle slash spaceship, and a pair of the slickest pea shooters I've ever seen, but you want superpowers too?"

  "Says the girl who can slow down time," Jay said sarcastically, "Fuck yeah I want superpowers! Don't you want a set of power armor like mine?" Bonnie shrugged in consideration. "I'd prefer not to need it, but if'n I do... that might not be a bad idea, actually." Polar nodded in agreement with the assessment. "Yeah, you right. We should definitely put Nicky to work on getting us some suits made." Omega chuckled lightly as he leaned forward to take what was left of the blunt from Nightmare. "Way ahead of you, compadre," He said, and kicked his feet up on the table. "I had Nicky start tinkering with my threads as soon as we got back from the Rock; between him and Erin, they should be able to put together something for everybody in short order." Polar clapped a fist over his heart twice, and extended a peace sign to Jay.

  "Proactive; I like it. Way to take initiative." A soft, musical tone filled the air, as Iceberg-7 once again literally chimed in. "Proximity alert; per user Polar Phantasm's request, this unit is informing usergroup the Guardians that the unidentified spacecraft has passed Mars orbit, and will be within detection range of Earth's various national defense forces in approximately seventeen minutes, forty-two seconds." Cam shrugged his shoulders and spread his palms at the announcement. "Well, I guess that's our cue. Everybody gear up, assemble in the vehicle bay, and let's go meet the neighbors. I want to be burning sky in less than three minutes, people." Polar clapped twice, and gestured toward the door, indicating the briefing was over, and everyone filed out; Bonnie and Crystal heading to get changed, while Omega and Cam made their way to the garage.

  A little more than three minutes later, the three slightly more experienced Guardians watched in amusement as Nightmare wobbled her way out of the hangar, not quite used to the controls of the D.R.E.E.M.* Machine yet. Over her headset, Nikola Tesla provided reassurance and guidance, and within moments Crystal was handling the highly advanced hovertank as if she had owned it for years. Once she'd cleared the hangar, Nightmare began to slowly ascend, until Tesla informed her she was at a sufficient height to switch over to flight mode, which she did without hesitation. Crystal could barely contain her glee as her seat sunk down, and the entire control section swiveled one hundred eighty degrees. A series of display screens flickered to life; providing not only a view of the outside world, but also a comprehensive head's up display that overlaid the view with tactical information.
(*-Depleted Radioactive Element Electro Magnetic)

  A few moments later and the Guardians were starbound; their repulsor engines pushing them along at a speed of 1,000 miles per hour. The quartet breached the outer layer of the atmosphere within another two minutes, then had to pause for a few moments while the ion drives came online. Once the interplanetary propulsion systems were active, the Guardians hauled collective ass out to the far edge of human-explored territory. Tucked inside the A.R.C.T.I.C.*, Polar brought up the communications display and sent chat requests to the other Guardians' vessels. "All wings report in." Cam said with a small smile. "Blue Leader, standing by." Bonnie said, her face the first to appear on the screen. "Gold One, standing by." Jay checked in, his face appearing with a cocky grin. "Red Hottie, standing by." Nightmare chimed in, her eyes shining with excitement.
(*-Advanced Reconnaissance/Combat/Tactical Insertion Capsule, c'mon man, keep up)

  "All right then, White Jackass, taking point," Polar said as he moved into position, "Let's make first contact nice and easy people; don't want them to get the idea we're here for a fight." It had taken nearly the entire amount of the allotted time, but the Guardians now hung in space, only a few hundred miles more distant than the moon, and awaited their first glimpse of the incoming alien vessel. Little did they know, the vessel - a scout ship designed for stealth and surveillance - was already in the area, and passively scanning their active systems. "I thought Eye-Seven said they'd be here, like, five minutes ago," Crystal complained, and Omega shifted uncomfortably in his seat. "Yeah, well, maybe they saw us coming," He muttered darkly, prompting Bonnie to quirk an eyebrow in a mixture of curiosity and worry.

  "What, you thinkin' they might not come in peace?" Blue asked, half joking. Her smile faded as Jay shook his head, and he began checking out the surrounding area more intently. "I was ambushed enough times during the Wars, and I'm tellin' you guys right now, I got a bad feeling about this." Whether his finely honed survival instincts, or some other sixth sense, Cameron was inclined to agree with Omega's call. "Yeah, you right," Polar said, angling his ship about, and preparing to head back to Earth, "Let's pull back guys; maybe we ought to bring NASA in on this or some--" Polar cut off as a series of green running lights suddenly flared up very close by, and illuminated the sleek, angular hull of a small, yet intimidating ship. Clearly a scout vessel, the ship was still a good deal larger than any of the Guardians' vehicles; easily large enough to require a crew of five.

  Only the fact the he had already been in motion saved Cam from being incinerated by the energy blast that passed so close to his left flank, it left the paint on his ship bubbled and peeling. "Jesus Christ!" Polar exclaimed, pushing the throttle to the maximum, "Somebody want to tell these guys we're friendly?" Maneuvering thrusters fired wildly as Cameron took evasive action; jinking, shunting, and zig-zagging as he tried to put distance between himself and the death-spewing alien ship. "Y'all got any suggestions on how to do that?" Bonnie asked dryly, "I don't know about you, but my Alienese is a little rusty." In the DREEM Machine, Crystal flipped a series of toggle switches, bringing her weapons systems online. "Motherfuckers just shot at my husband; I'm not interested in making friends."

  Polar wanted to tell his wife to stand down, that it was surely just a misunderstanding, but he was having a very hard time believing that himself, as he dodged another burst of emerald-hued weapons fire from the pursuing vessel. Besides, the pure giddiness in Nightmare's voice made it unlikely she'd listen at this point. "Oh, holy shit!" Crystal exclaimed in delight, "So many buttons! Which one do I press? Eenie, meanie, meinie, all of them!" Unable to contain her destructive glee, Nightmare stabbed at the control console with both hands, managing to press ten buttons all at once. Multiple apertures opened up along the hull of the DREEM Machine, the targeting system locking the various weapons onto the alien scout, and firing wildly. "Ha! I like this chick," Jay declared, "She's like the little sister I'm lucky to have never had!" Omega then activated his weapons as well, and joined the fray.

  A dorsal cannon along the top of the alien ship's hull rose up like a periscope, and tried to take aim at Jay's ship, but the relatively tiny craft was far too maneuverable to get a lock on. Crystal's tank, however, was not quite so nimble. Reflexes honed by many hours logged in X Rebirth 2.0 told her to do a barrel roll, and a quick jerk of the control sticks sent the DREEM Machine into a tight spiral that turned what would surely have been a direct hit into a glancing blow. A control panel exploded in a shower of sparks, and Nightmare let out a small yelp. "Okay, fuck that; no more Mister Nice Guy," Cam said with a hard edge to his voice, "Guardians, lock and load; let's show these alien assholes who they're fucking with." Several directed energy weapons popped out of hidden compartments on the ARCTIC as Polar got his spacecraft combat-ready.

  Omega swept in from behind the alien craft, and let loose a salvo of missiles that impacted along what he presumed to be the engines, or the exhaust ports, or some other gizmo that was probably important. Unfortunately, the explosives seemed to have little effect. Similarly, the directed energy weapons on the ARCTIC were hardly inflicting any noteworthy damage. When Crystal was able to get a clear shot, her weaponry seemed to have some small effect, but the scout ship kept her in a constant state of evasion, not allowing her to get a clear shot. Jay tried again, firing off another salvo to no effect before he zipped past the target. "Sweet Buddha, what is this thing made of?" Omega asked; half frustrated, half amazed. "I was just wondering that myself." Cam replied, then isolated what he thought to be the ship's command bridge.

  "Everybody focus fire on these coordinates," Polar ordered, and saw two little green lights blink in acknowledgement. "Everybody, Bonnie. They started this fight, but we're damn sure gonna finish it." The Daughter of Time blew out a reluctant sigh, but acknowledged the order, and locked all weapons on the bridge. "Whoa! Damn girl!" Jay exclaimed as he caught sight of the vast array of weaponry Bonnie was packing, "Nicky wasn't kidding when he said you were loaded for bear!" Omega then peeled left to come back around for another strafing run. At least, that was his intent. Instead, his ship merely spun 90 degrees, and retained its forward momentum. "Gwah! What the hell? Who nerfed my controls?" Jay cried in confusion. From her little chat window, Blue stared out at him, dumbstruck. "Are y'all serious?" She asked in disbelief.

  Though it took him a moment, Omega quickly figured out the trick to maneuvering in microgravity. It was too late to spare him a condescending look from Bonnie, unfortunately. "Newton's First Law of Motion, Jay," She said, her tone making it sound like she were explaining something patently obvious to a slow child, "C'mon, basic astrophysics is the kind of thing they teach you in sixth grade!" The trio of other Guardians all exchanged silent looks, then Cam spoke up. "Uh, no. No it isn't. That's, like, university level stuff, Bonnie." Blue blinked in surprise, then shrugged. "Oh. Well I learned about it in sixth grade." She said by way of apology. "Yeah well, I may not have a fancy future edu-ma-cayshun, but I knows what I likes, and I likes blowing shit up, so let's get to it, shall we?" Jay suggested, and once more Polar took point.

  The battle was fierce; due to their smaller size, the Guardians were able to avoid the majority of the energy weapons fired at them, but the trade off was that their own weapons were largely ineffective. However, once they began concentrating fire on a singular area, it wasn't long until they began to see results. So intense was the action, that none of the Guardians noticed that they had been drawing closer and closer to Earth throughout the course of the fight. Finally, the alien vessel lurched to the side, and began venting smoke after one particularly strong salvo from Bonnie in the Ranchero. A follow-up strafing run from Crystal in the DREEM Machine tore open a sizable hole in the bow of the ship, and the alien scout began to list lazily to the left. The ship made no further independent motions, and after a few moments the Guardians came to the realization that the battle had been won.

  They also came to the realization that the tail end of the dogfight had taken place well within range of any number of satellites, and that even now, the defense forces of various nations were probably watching the skies in apprehension. That was a matter for later on, though. What was important right now, was the issue of how to salvage the alien vessel adrift in a deteriorating orbit. "We absolutely need to get our hands on that ship," Cam said, stating the obvious. "Fuck yeah, but I think I left my tractor beam in my other hover tank." Nightmare replied sarcastically. "Shit, I knew I forgot to ask Nicky about something," Omega piped up, "I remember mentioning that when we got back from our first test flight; I wonder if he's got a working prototype yet?" The issue soon became a moot point, as the Guardians all noticed the ship beginning to plummet toward the Earth. "Uh-oh." Was all Cam could say.

  Polar quickly angled the ARCTIC to follow the alien ship into the atmosphere, switching off the ion drive as he approached the outer layer. "Come on, guys," He said, keeping a visual lock on the falling spacecraft, "This thing's gonna crash somewhere, and I'd much rather we get our hands on it than some kids, or worse; Frizzell and the Ay Ess Ay." The concept of that callous agent having access to alien technology was a terrifying enough thought that Crystal pushed the DREEM Machine to just inside the stratosphere before she switched off the ion drive, putting her only a few feet behind her husband. Bonnie and Jay also began their re-entry, and it was at that point that the plummeting alien scout ship started to break apart. Several small pieces came loose at first, but once they had breached the ozone layer, the flaming wreck exploded, sending pieces hurtling in a handful of directions.

  "Well fuck." Jay said simply, speaking for all of the Guardians. "Yeah, that definitely complicates things." Cam replied, then turned slightly to track the largest piece. "All right team, split up. Track down one of these pieces, recover it if you can, hide it if you can't, and if neither of those is an option... shit, I don't even know. Just do what you can, I guess." Each of the Guardians began to track a separate piece, and one by one they peeled off to try collecting the alien technology before it could fall into the wrong hands, whether that be someone with shady intentions, or just some poor schmuck who didn't know any better. Either way, it was the Guardians' self-imposed duty to ensure the safety of not only the country, but the entire planet. And despite their usual cavalier attitude, it was a duty they all took very seriously.


  Though it was a valiant effort, there were too many pieces of the vessel to be recovered; indeed, there were too many pieces for the Guardians to even track properly. One such piece - a component from the alien craft's wormhole generation technology - tumbled toward terra firma unfettered and untracked. In a rather unremarkable neighborhood, a rather unremarkable young man by the name of Christian Kanady was hard at work, tinkering with the innards of a new experimental multi-platform retro gaming console he had designed and constructed. The floor-to-ceiling collection of video games that took up one entire wall spoke of the young man's passion, as did the plethora of gaming related posters that covered the remaining three walls of his room in his parents' basement. The portly, bearded young Twenty-something was woefully unaware of his impending fate.

  Several blocks to the East of Christian's home was located a small power plant that supplied electricity to the nearby neighborhood. Several blocks up and Northwest was located a piece of alien technology designed to warp the fabric of space and time. The space between the two was rapidly diminishing, unbeknownst to everyone in the area. It was a day that would later be known as a tragedy, when a massive explosion at the power plant killed almost all 800 employees, and injured hundreds of other people in the surrounding area. One of these injured parties was young Christian Kanady, who had been thrown across his room when a power surge had come roaring through his multi-platform console; his parents had found him laying unconscious when they came to check on him, and took him to the hospital when he didn't wake up. No one could explain the young man's coma, but the doctors assured the Kanadys they were doing everything they could.~


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A most unfortunate end to the Guardians' first contact with an alien species. Though what information might they glean from the recovered alien technology? Some clue to the vessel's origin, or perhaps its intended mission? What ramifications might we see from several pieces of alien technology going un-recovered by the Guardians? For the answers to these questions - and more! - be sure to check out "To Boldly Go..." by Bonnie Blue , coming soon to a Roleplay Board near you!

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RISING DARAN
Episode One: We Are Not Alone
Series conceived by the Polar Phantasm
Series directed by Jay Omega
Episode written by Jay Omega


[(c) United Championship Infinite 2016. All rights reserved.]
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