Tranquility

Interlopers Part 2

"You're sure you sensed them?" Oliver asked with blunt sarcasm in his voice.

"I did." Erik growled. The three stood on the landing platform of the facility. Wind tore at the three like a wolf ripping fresh meat. Only the magnetically-charged boots of their spacesuits held them firmly to the deck. The interlopers covered their faces with their forearms as they stood in the short overhang of the door they had come from. In a storm this intense, there's no way the Blood Rangers will be able to touch down safely - let alone get us out of here in one piece. Oliver tried to think of other ways to get off of Jupiter, but their options were few. The small shuttle that had taken them to the facility was adhered with docking clamps near the entrance way the three were standing in.

"Where are the Blood Rangers? They were supposed to be here an hour ago to pick us up!" Kanna shouted inside her helmet. Even through her sealed helmet speakers, it was difficult to understand one another through the tempest.

"That's what we get for trusting mercenaries," Oliver said mildly.

"If they don't get here soon, we'll have to take the shuttle we came in," Erik broke in.

"We can't! Astrocore has a tracking device our ship! That's why we had to hold-up in this rust bucket in the first place!" Kanna insisted. "We need to contact the merc's. We should send out a distress signal."

"Sending out a distress signal will bring Astrocore right down on top of us. Jupiter is a big planet, but they will be looking for anything out of the ordinary." Erik said evenly.

"Your Sensei is right Kanna, for all we know, the Blood Rangers could have switched sides and tipped off Astrocore as to where we are hiding." Oliver said. "Escaping in the shuttle may be our only way out of here... even if we are being tracked."

"Well screw it then. I'll go start the engines," Kanna said with ice in her voice. Erik shook his head. Oliver reached out a hand to touch her arm but she shoved him aside and made her way to their small shuttle.

"Oh crap!" Kanna cursed once she had walked in front of the their vessel.

"What is it?" Erik asked. The two men walked over to where Kanna was standing. The entire front end of the shuttle had been vaporized. Glowing metal pulsed as electricity crackled from spitting wires and broken machinery.

"The shuttle's life support systems are completely destroyed." Erik lamented.

"If we take the shuttle, we'll have to have our spacesuits on the whole time," Oliver added. "If only we had the Dragon Wing to get us out of here."
There was a loud crack as the deck beneath the three shuddered. A dark figure stood at the end of the landing platform. Oliver instinctively took a step back. The red and orange storm clouds covered the humanlike figure so that it was a black silhouette. Its tall and skeletal frame stood rigid like a scarecrow from some horrible nightmare. Despite the power and the fury from the gale force winds, it did not move or shift from its position. It stood there, watching the three interlopers. The dark figure raised its right arm. Sharp silver claws caught the light from the facility and shone with unadulterated deadliness.

"Kanna... start the engines," Erik commanded.

"No, we can take this thing!"

"Go. Now!" He barked. The younger Sentinel opened the hatch to the vessel and crawled inside. Her face was unreadable underneath the polarized reflection of her helmet.

"Dusk..." Oliver whispered. Erik turned his head to Oliver, keeping his eyes trained on the skeleton-like thing watching them. The dark creature took a step forward, it's silver talons extended.

"So, this the thing Astrocore sent to stop us?" Erik questioned.

"Astrocore's new toy - a cyborg," Oliver said with disgust. "It's not here to stop us... It's here to kill us."

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