S2, 04 A Weapon's Creation (FB) (June 14, 2015)

Corresponding text underneath each picture.

**18th May 2095**

**LOCATION: Fuyoria-Five Zeno (F-5 Zeno) – Secret Research Facility orbiting Fuyoria.**

Scientist #1: “Pressure update?”

Scientist #2: “Stable at 80%.”

Scientist #3: “Electrons and nanomites have taken hold. Aaaaaand…….. we have successful bonding.”

Scientist #1: “Good. All monitors are stable and waiting, Sir.”

The scientists were crowded into the small laboratory, all focussing on the experiment currently taking place.

Before them in some sort of sealed capsule, a weapon was being created.

Duke: “Excellent.” Acknowledged the lead scientist, who stood behind a railing, keeping watch over the proceedings. “Continue with the Ossillium injection.”

Scientist #1: “Ossillium injections beginning.” Confirmed the deputy chief scientist.

One of the scientists tapped several buttons on his control screen and then began fading up a lever. At the same time, the silvery-blue coloured liquid Ossillium began snaking through several tubes and into the container via air-locked holes on each side. The liquid proceeded down the tubes and into the weapon within.

Scientist #1: “Ossillium at 60%.” Came the update after a couple of minutes and the man named Duke nodded.

Another couple of minutes past.

Scientist #1: “Ossillium at 84%.”

Once again, Duke nodded.

Scientist #4: “Wait, we have a glitch.”

Duke’s face grew serious and both he and the deputy strode over to the man who had spoken.

Scientist #4: “The Ossillium-bone bonding is jerking, pressure is spiking and the tissue pigmentation is…”

Duke: “Fire the electrons.”

All scientists: “What?!”

Scientist #4: “Pressure is approaching crush levels!”

Duke: “Do it!”

Scientist #1: “But Sir, the Ossillium bonding isn’t complete yet! If you fire the electrons now, we don’t kno…”

Duke shoved the concerned man aside, marched up to the appropriate control panel and inserted the command.

Power surged into the container and the weapon via two giant electrical conduits plugged into the back. Duke continued raising the power levels and sparks began to be seen flashing through the transparent canopy.

Scientist #1: “I don’t like this…” he muttered. “Sentry, are you standing by?” he asked to the room at large.

Sentry: “Affirmative.” Came the robotic-voiced replied from the speaker system.

Scientist #2: “Power levels are spiking! The Ossillium content has surged to over 100%, the electrons are at twice normal speed!”

Scientist #1: “Sir, proceed and the weapon will be destroyed!”

Duke: “No it won’t.” he replied sternly and pushed the lever up to full.

Scientist #1: “*NO*!!!”

The container lit up with energy and the scientists all began to run away. A high-pitched noise began to come from the experiment and several of the tubes burst and sprayed liquids of varying kinds everywhere. Warning sirens began to sound.

The deputy scientist was struck across the face by a flailing tube and was knocked unconscious.

Duke: “Come on…” he growled as the high-pitched whine grew.

And then suddenly with a powerful shock wave that sent everything nearby, including Duke, flying backwards, the container exploded in a plume of grey smoke.

Duke coughed and maneuvered himself up into a sitting position, leaning back against the wall. He had a cut on his forehead and blood trickled through the dust that covered his face into his eye. He wiped it away and stared on in shock at what he saw before him, and slowly a grin appeared on his face.

Standing amid the debris, clad only in the thin, white, surgical gown she had been placed in before the operation, stood a woman. A beautiful, blue-skinned woman with fierce brown eyes and shoulder-length black hair.

She stood, wide-eyed and soaking wet and slowly surveyed her surroundings, clearly confused. She looked down at herself and examined her body. Bringing her hands up in front of her face, she inspected them and for an unknown reason, emotion swept over her.

She let out a terrible wail and all of the glass in the room, including the lights, exploded.

**25th May 2095: Present Day**

Now what? I wondered as I pulled out my beeping comlink.

I was sat in the middle of a grassy plain, near to the Viper, relaxing in the afternoon sun. Tracks was off hunting our, I mean my, dinner and I had spent the past few hours collecting some local fungi to accompany it. We’d been here for the past few weeks. Not really having had anything better to do, on our first day here, I’d used my datapad to look up the local plant life to find out what was edible and what was not. But it wasn’t exactly a bad place to be stuck. It was beautiful and it was nice to simply relax.

I activated the device and Mr. Grey appeared. This was the first time he’d contacted me since the whole ‘missing ship’ thing.

Mr. Grey: “I have a situation that I need you to take care of.”

I decided that I wasn’t going to ask him if he’d found the missing ship or not or whether or not he was still angry at me for it. I just thought it would be best not to bring it up.

Tank: “What’s up?”

Mr. Grey: “A weapon of great importance and value has gone missing and I need you to track it down.”

Tank: “That’s it?” Recovering stolen goods didn’t seem like the usual sort of thing that Mr. Grey got me to do.

Mr. Grey: “Well, considering the last item I asked you to keep safe has just been spotted amid the Collective’s fleet, I don’t really think you’re up to tasks such as those any more.”

Ah… so that’s where the ship went. Somebody on board must have survived the fighting and piloted it to its destination anyway.

Mr. Grey: “This weapon is more powerful than you can imagine. It was created with brand new technology and uses Ossillium to...”

Tank: “Wait; Ossillium?” I’d never heard of it before.

Mr. Grey: “Ossillium is a substance that has recently been discovered on Rerador. This weapon has been created for the sole purpose of taking down the Collective. Ossillium has been found to negate, or at the very least, weaken, their powers. This substance could be a game change in the war. When The Brain organised this weapons creation, he knew how powerful it could potentially be and what it could mean for the war effort.” He explained.

Tank: “So The Brain helped to create this weapon?”

Mr. Grey: “Correct. He funded and co-designed it.”

Tank: “With who?”

Mr. Grey: “With the scientists at the F-Five Zeno research facility, orbiting Fuyoria. Specifically a doctor named Duke.”

Tank: “I’ve never heard of it.”

Mr. Grey: “It’s very secretive. Not many people have.”

Tank: “Okay, so where is this weapon now?”

Mr. Grey: “We do not know for certain but we do know that a shuttle was stolen during the escape from the facility and that it headed down to Fuyoria.”

Tank: “Do you know who took it?”

Mr. Grey didn’t reply for a few seconds which confused me and when he did, his answer was short.

Mr. Grey: “No. Now, I must go. Tank... be careful.”

He ended the link and I sat there frowning at the empty space where the hologram had been for a few moments more. Did Mr. Grey just show concern for my safety? Odd. This weapon must really be powerful.

A few hours later and after I’d eaten my dinner, Tracks and I climbed aboard the Viper and headed off into space.

It took us nearly 24 hours, but just under a day after we had set off, Fuyoria appeared as a pinprick in space ahead of us. A short time later, the planet now looming large before us, I spotted something floating out in space to our right.

Tank: “Look.” I pointed it out to Tracks who leant forwards to peer in the direction my finger indicated.

Floating in orbit was a decent sized complex.

Tank: “That must be F-Five Zeno.” I commented aloud.

We entered the atmosphere and I noted that, as a planet, it didn’t seem all that different from Soateria, except Fuyoria lacked the mountains and methane rivers, and instead of dry forests, Fuyoria was covered in rainforests, with trees that soared into the air, almost as high as the atmosphere. I’d read that in some areas, the local tribes, who were all very primitive, lived in houses suspended up the tree trunks and had wooden walkways connecting them together to form entire villages in the trees.

I hadn’t been given very much to go on to find whoever had stolen the weapon, however, I knew that the locals were very primitive and so the shuttle which had been stolen and used as the get-away vehicle would stand out like a sore thumb when we spotted it.

The issue now was exactly that though – spotting it! Trying to weave around the enormous trees was bad enough, but having to keep an eye on the scanners and sensors to try and spot a missing ship just made everything more difficult.

I got Tracks to keep an eye on the sensors for me so that I could concentrate on not crashing into the trees that kept suddenly appearing out of the mist in front of us.

It took a while, but eventually Tracks grunted and ground out that he’d picked something up. The sensors indicated that not far from our location, static on the planet floor, was a mass of non-natural materials, about the right size for a shuttle.

I took us down to the feet of the enormous trees and we touched down.

As we got ourselves ready and climbed out of our ship, I couldn’t help but put my head right back and stare in wonderment up at the towering wooden spires that loomed over us, blocking out a lot of the sunlight.

Tank: “Come on.” I told my robotic buddy. “And keep your sensors scanning for life forms. I don’t want to bump into any of the angry locals while keeping an eye out for whoever it is who stole this weapon.”

We set off in the direction of what we were assuming was the shuttle, but the journey wasn’t easy going. The enormous trees had equally enormous roots which made the ground incredibly unstable and hard to walk on and in places, the roots stuck up out of the ground in tangled masses, meaning we had to climb over them.

It took us a few hours but when we reached the site of the ‘shuttle’, I stopped us just before it came into view.

Tank: “It should be just behind this next tree.” I informed Tracks. “Do not engage until I give the mark, okay?” He nodded. I knew that if Mr. Grey was worried about me, whoever had stolen that shuttle, whoever had taken the weapon, must be dangerous, so I wasn’t going to take any chances.

I drew my pistols and then motioned with my hand and together, we started creeping forwards around the side of the tree.

The shuttle slowly came into view, but for now, the area looked deserted. We kept moving around the trunk until there was clear ground between us and the stolen ship.

We paused.

Tank: “The weapon must be inside.” I whispered.

Voice: “Wrong.”

I jumped at the sudden voice from behind us and we both span around.

A strange, blue-skinned woman, dressed only in a ragged, white surgical gown, lashed out at us with incredible skill and disarmed both of us in a second. She leapt high into the air, spinning as she did so and extended her leg. The kick sent Tracks tumbling away and as she fell back down to earth, so thrust out her hand and I was knocked flying.

I hit the ground hard and the wind rushed from my lungs.

As I lay there spluttering and gasping for air, the woman re-appeared in my vision, standing over me, one of my own pistols in her hand. She examined the gun in her hand for a few seconds, almost like an inquisitive baby and in those few seconds, which I assumed were to be my last, I guessed that she was one of the vicious locals and had never seen a gun before.

However, those thoughts passed by in a flash, as she quickly got the idea of the pistol and I found myself staring down the barrel of my own gun...

**BONUS PICTURES:**

The set for the laboratory.

An alternative photo of Duke watching the proceedings.

An alternative photo of Jax emerging, with different lighting.

The landing site set.

Another of the sets used.

An alternative photo of Jax with Tank's gun.

The set for the meeting.

N.B. This is the first part in a cross-over with Alex Christofferson. Sadly, Alex's part is a lost episode.

**A summary of the Lost Episode:**

After a brief fight, Tank and Jax realise they're not enemies. In the end, Jax leaves to find her purpose in the galaxy.

As my series is going to be jumping around though time, I will include a date on each episode and add it to the timeline at the end of each episode so that you can follow it.

TIMELINE