Beyond The Edge of Darkness
   By: Tim "Chaing-Ku" Morisson

Part One

  It faded, and Slade opened his own eyes, to a slowly growing darkness. "Oh, no." He said as his vision faded to blackness.

  "Computer, activate autopilot." He said.

  "Autopilot active, input destination." Came the mechanical reply.

 "Take me to the shipyards, computer. Maximum speed." Slade ordered.

  Six hours later, the shuttle's engines suddenly cut off. Slade, who had been dozing was jerked awake by the sudden cessation of motion, and looked around. He was still blind, but he felt the shifting and sideways motion that told him the shuttle was in a tractor beam. He coughed, then continued coughing, hard and harder, bringing up a wetness that left him feeling shaky and weak. He heard the shuttle door open, and looked around, still blind. "Who's there?" He asked.

  "A friend, Lazarus." Came a voice from the darkness that surrounded him. The voice sounded familiar, feminine, and yet very mechanical. It cowed and disturbed him. He shrunk back, then began to cough again. This time, he felt strong hands holding him until the fit passed.

  "Lazarus, what have you done to yourself?" The voice gently chided. Slade tried to reply, but was too weak. As he faded from awareness, he heard the voice say "We'll take care of you, Lazarus, and you'll get your revenge."

********

  "What's wrong with her, Doctor?" Walsh growled.

  "I have absolutely no idea, Commander." The doctor replied. They looked down at Darkstar's prone body, covered by a thin sheet, which provided decency, but through which the fading glow from her skin still radiated.

  "I examined the records of the supertroopers, to better understand her abilities - but this turn of events is not according to her genetic pattern. And her DNA has been altered. On a macroscopic level, her DNA has been rewritten in some manner that did not damage her, but has enabled her to somehow contain photonic energy. As you can see, the excess energy is radiating from her body in visible light. We also did a spectroscopic scan, the radiation is on all levels, from deep radio right up to high x-ray. There's no danger, though. The levels are miniscule. But they are there."

  Walsh lifted Darkstar's arm, and turned it over so the wrist was visible, the familiar lines of the blood vessels, tendons and bones were there, he ran his thumb over her wrist, feeling the bone, muscle, and tendon underneath, and looked at the doctor again.

  "All right, Doctor. What do you think happened? Give me anything, a wild guess would be better than any information that I currently have."

"According to the details on the Supertrooper DNA, Commander, she has somehow had the protein links totally blasted open. Darkstar now has access to the entire Supertrooper Genome. Not just the portion she would normally access."

  "So she can use any or all of the supertrooper abilities?"

  "It would appear so. Her ability to radiate energy is equivalent to Starchild's. The levitation ability appears to be on the same level as Radox." The Doctor said, referring to his datapad.

  At that moment, an aide walked in the door. "Commander, the Board of Leaders has gathered, and are waiting for your report, sir."

  Walsh nodded, and looked at the doctor. "Let me know the moment her condition changes; either way, doctor." He turned and walked out the door, the aide scurrying along behind him.

********

  As Walsh got to the main junction corridor that led to the World Leader's Chamber, Owen N'Gata joined him, the hoverbed lightly hissing as he smoothly glided alongside his old friend.

  "You don't have to be here, Owen. This is my fight." Walsh said.

  "Any decision you make is one I would have made, had I still been able to do so, Joseph. What is Darkstar's condition?" The disembodied brain asked through the mechanical voice synthesizer.

  "She's unconscious, and all the medical scans say she's suffered massive DNA alteration. Owen, she has access to the entire Genome."

  "Everything? That is of great concern. We never designed any of the individual troopers to have access to more than a small portion of the entire genome."

  Walsh shrugged and they came to the huge doors that separated them from the main chamber. "I don't know, Owen - When she appeared, she asked for my help - what's happened to her?"

*******

  The doors swung open, and the roar of the Council of world Leaders washed over the two men. Commander Walsh stepped into the chamber, taking a pad from an aide as he walked to the central podium. Doctor N'Gata gliding to a stop beside him.

  "Gentlemen and ladies, honored allies, may I have your attention, please." He said into the growing silence.

  He waited for total silence, then began. "Firstly, let me say that I am relived that all of you could join us here, at the mountain, on such short notice."

  "As if we had a choice." One councilman said to his colleague quietly.

  "As you know, a large contingent of your fellow councilmen and women is on a fact-finding tour of the inner colonies and is not expected back for some weeks. To that end, being that there are currently insufficient council people available for a consensus vote, I had been given the right to make military decisions in regards to the defense of the League without prior consultation. I exercised that right five hours ago."

  A murmur broke out among the assembly, and Walsh waited for it to die down before continuing.

  "Eleven hours ago, BETA received word of a fleet having been launched from the remains of the Crown Empire towards Earth. Five hours ago, that fleet arrived and commenced an attack on Earth, and BETA specifically. We have prevailed and destroyed the fleet, but we have suffered heavy losses. BETA Space Station, one of the original constructions of the League, has been totally destroyed, but, I must add, with minimal loss of life."

  Whatever else he had to say was drowned out by the roaring crowd as the discussions leapt around the chamber, many races arguing over the events and reconciling them with what each had personally witnessed.

  Senator Wheiner stood up, signaling for speech. The chamber quieted as Walsh groaned inwardly. Of all the people who should have been off-world, Wheiner topped the list, but he had stubbornly refused, even if it meant he couldn't oogle Senator Foxx. Leaning forward, the senator pushed the microphone button.

  "Commander - what right do you have to make this sort of decision without consulting this august body? You had six hours before the attack to consult the League council - to advise us of what was happening above our heads, and you kept quiet? What if the enemy fleet had been successful? What then?"

  Walsh glared at Wheiner. "You, and this entire council would be very much dead, Senator - if that fleet had succeeded in it's attack. As to my rights, Senator Wheiner - they are the same rights with which you can argue with me in this chamber; the League Charter, set down by this body sixteen years ago when you formed BETA and gave it the right to make military decisions without consultation when the League or any member world was directly threatened."

  Silence reigned in the chamber for a few moments, and Wheiner sat back down, a bit paler as the news really sank in as to how close they had all come to death. "Uhh, thank you, Commander. Your actions were prudent. The League thanks you." The Andorian Ambassador, Hasbro, said after a while. Walsh nodded, and left the room, trailed by N'Gata and the aides.

********

  Meanwhile, in the quiet darkness of the medical bay, Aurora `Darkstar' Jennisen slept, oblivious to her surroundings, her body slowly recharging via the ambient light energy from the dim illumination; her mind active in REM sleep as it continued to process and diversify the information her senses had received during the time she was awake. She slept, and dreamt.

  ... "Wake up, Aurora. Come on, it's time to wake up."

  Six year old Aurora opened her eyes and looked into the kind face of one of the nurses that had taken care of them while the supertroopers were growing up. She felt stiff all along one side, and looking down, noticed a series of bandages that criss-crossed her left side, from her armpit right down to her kneecap.

  She remembered the accident then. That stupid boy, Stingray, with his light-blasts had been showing off again, just because he could burn things by looking at them didn't mean he could boss everybody else around. Brainchild agreed, and he thought up a plan which Aurora had agreed to. When Ray had come around the corner, Aurora had used her blossoming powers to blind him. Then Riker had pummeled the blinded trooper, teaching him a lesson he wouldn't soon forget. But, just as they were leaving, the blindness had worn off, and a hurt and angry Stingray had glared at the first available target, Darkstar. She was thrown through a plaster wall by the blast, and her entire left side had been on fire.

  Aurora groaned in her slumber, and the scene shifted...

  Ten year old Aurora on survival training in the jungle setting around Wolf Den, along with eight year old Gooseman and eleven year old Killbane. Gooseman was new, strange, he looked and acted different to all the other troopers, and the bosses seemed to watch out for him, to pull him out before he really got hurt, while letting the others get hurt more, if necessary. Everyone called him the baby, and Riker liked to call him runt. Aurora liked him, he was nice to her- nice in a friendly sort of way, rather than so he could have her do things with her powers to help him. He just wanted to be friends - even if that wasn't really allowed.

  They were up against gamma team; Brainchild, Chimera, and Johnny Red. Johnny Red was liked by everybody, because he could fly, and he liked to take his friends up with him, so everybody tried to be his friend. Chimera didn't seem to care about anybody else, she could blind people, or turn herself invisible, but her blindness wasn't like Aurora's Aurora could burn out a person's optic nerves, while Chimera could only cause a momentary disruption. And Darkstar could also create a zone of darkness - only six meters around now; but she'd been told that once she matured that could grow as much as ten times!

  Brainchild was smart, really smart. He knew it, and bossed everybody else around. Darkstar listened to him, and he listened to her - they understood what it meant to be bullied, both had been when they were younger, and had forged an alliance against the other troopers to protect one another if they were able. Aurora liked him, but she didn't trust him.

  They crept through the dense undergrowth, moving almost silently, intent on their target, the red flag. Gamma team was to stop them any way short of actually hitting them, and they weren't allowed to actually hit the other team. Riker stopped suddenly, and looked around. Aurora heard it then, a dry crackling sound that grew closer with frightening swiftness. `Fire.' Gooseman had said, and they had bolted out of the undergrowth into a clearing filled with swirling smoke and the red-orange flickering light of a forest fire.

  Riker had sworn, some words he'd leaned from one of the medical techs, and looked around for something to protect them. Gooseman looked at Aurora, then ran towards the fire. `Wait!' She'd cried, then began to run after him, but the heat drove her back. He plunged into the fire, screaming. Killbane watched without trying to help. `Stupid runt." He'd said, then pulled some brush aside to reveal a pit-trap. `Get in.' He'd growled. Still in shock, Aurora climbed down into the trap, Killbane followed, and they waited, watching the flames roar over them, but safe under the ground. Hours later, the Wolf Den retrieval teams had flown over, spraying fire suppressant, and they had signaled with their wristcoms. Climbing out of the pit trap, they were surprised to see Gooseman, his clothing in tatters, but unburnt.

  She'd later learnt that his powers meant he could generate armor against almost any sort of damage, like Riker, but his powers were more developed at a younger age than Riker's.

  Another shift of time and experience

  Fourteen-year old Aurora sitting on the edge of one of the bunks, with some of the others, watching Chimera and Killbane have sex. They'd finished one of the few classes on biology which dealt with sexual reproduction, and Chimera had expressed an interest in trying it. Of all of them, only Riker was game to try, against all the warnings and threats from the bosses. They seemed to be enjoying themselves, and Aurora was getting interested, as were some of the other girls.

  Just at the end, when Riker was having his orgasm, the dorm door was flung open, and the bosses stormed in, with medical techs and some security. In the flurry, Riker and Chimera vanished with the bosses, and the others were left standing, with Commander Walsh and Doctor N'Gata.

  `Children, you must understand that although you are sexually active, it is not permitted for you to have sexual relations at this point in your training.' Dr. N'Gata had told them, while Walsh stood by him, patting his stick against the palm of his hand to punctuate the doctor's statements.

  They had all felt that stick; either directly, against back, buttocks, or legs, or by it's influence and ability to throw an energy beam which could sting far longer than a quick snap across bare flesh.

  `But why, Doctor?" Aurora had asked, and then saw stars as Walsh slapped her across the cheek with the stick, sending a wave of pain through her and bringing tears to her eyes.

  `You are NOT to get involved with one another, is that understood? There is no why, your place is to train, and obey. Not to get involved with each other. You have been raised and paid for by the governments of this planet to defend it, not to have sex with each other. There is no room in your lives for love, only war. Don't forget it.' Walsh had said, then he and N'Gata had left, leaving the troopers to think over what had been said.

  Another scene shift...

  ..."What's happening to us!" Someone cried. Aurora felt a surge of energy trough her as her darkness field flared and flowed out, uncontrolled. She fought within herself, bringing her power back under control, until she was knocked aside by Gravestone as he stumbled about, head ablaze with some form of energy.

  A few of the troopers stumbled towards the main door, Where Doctor N'Gata struggled to close them in! Aurora tried to stop him, while Gravestone growled about treason and betrayal. Then something amazing happened. Briainchild pulled an electrical cable loose, and pushed the live end into Gravestone. He cried with pain, but his body became supercharged, and he grabbed N'Gata, throwing him against a wall with a sickly crunch, and he then smashed down the door. The troopers ran out, still changing, Aurora ran with them.

  scene shift ...

  Aurora looked up at Stingray, his face contorted with rage, still feeling the sting on her cheek and her side from where he'd hit her.

  `Enough, Ray!' She'd cried. `I've had enough!'

  `The hell you have, you're mine, Darkstar, don't you forget it!' He'd growled, raising his hand to hit her again.

  Aurora triggered her powers, blinding him even as she twisted and kicked him in the stomach, throwing him into a chair, which broke under the impact.

  Getting to her feet, she grabbed a carisak, and was out the door before Stingray's vision cleared. The last thing she heard was his broken sobbing as he realized what he'd done, but it was too late, she was free.

********

  "Coming up on Texton, Goose." Alma advised them as the ship flew through the red-streaked void of hyperspace. Shane looked up from the control panel and watched the display, noting the coordinates.

  Leaning forward, he pushed the flashing tab, and the ship shuddered as it's hyperdrive engines reversed, bringing it back into normal space A flash swept away from the drive exhaust as the hyperdrive radiated the excess plasma in a rapidly fading light ring.

  "Niko, we'll be landing on Texton in ten minutes." Shane said into the intercom as he took control from Alma and began to pilot the ship towards the slowly approaching planet.

  Five minutes later, as Goose began to final approach to the Texton Moon Spaceport, Niko walked back into the control cabin, sat down, and clipped her belt. Her hair was still damp from the shower she'd had, and she was still blinking sleep out of her eyes.

  "Sleep well, babe?" Goose asked.

  Niko nodded, then glanced out the port and gasped. Goose looked, then swung the controls, and the ship swerved out of the path of the huge tumbling hulk.

  Passing the slowly rotating debris, they came into a drifting graveyard of ships, metal fragments, and shattered bodies.

  "I wondered why we hadn't received a signal from the base, now I know." Goose aid, slowing the ship down as they approached the burnt-out remains of the lunar base. "Alma, full scan, any life signs?" Niko asked, flipping switches to bring the cruiser's full sensing equipment online.

  "Scanning." Alma replied, and they watched the images slowly build up as the ship came to a stop, six hundred meters from the shattered remains of the orbital station.

  "No life signs detected on the orbital colony. Scanning lunar bases now." Alma reported, confirming what they were seeing on the screens.

  "What the hell happened here?" Goose wondered.

  Niko looked at the readings. "This place has been torn apart by some sort of tractor beam, there's no ionization or melting, like with a laser beam. Something came through and ripped everything apart."

  Alma spoke into the silence. "Life forms have been detected on the Lunar base. Energy emissions, but intermittent. The base has been critically damaged, and it's life support has failed."

  Goose fired the engines and began to maneuver the ship through the thickening debris. "Raise shields, Alma, full forward."

  "Shields up, Goose." The ship's computer replied as the view became slightly hazy, as if seen through a very light sheen of water. Small flashes became visible as the shields began to deflect objects in the path of the descending starship.

  "Niko, get the medical bay ready, we're probably going to have casualties." Goose said, swinging the ship to avoid a large tumbling mass of metal.

  "Right, Goose." She replied, getting up and making her way aft.

  Goose piloted the ship down, watching the screen intently as he dodged the larger bits, and used the shields to deflect the smaller ones.

  A cloud of dust swirled around the ship as it settled onto it's landing pads. Goose shut down the engines as he extended the docking tube to the damaged airlock of the lunar base.

  He was met at the entrance by Niko, weighed down with a heavy medkit. Goose took it from her, they looked at each other, then Niko nodded and they walked down the tube towards the shattered remains of what was once a thriving scientific research facility.

******

  Slade opened his eyes, and could see again. But, there was a difference, the images were sharper, more defined, even brighter than he remembered. He looked down at himself, and couldn't suppress an involuntary gasp. His entire lower body was robotic, along with both arms, and a large section of his torso. He looked at the hand, and marveled at the quality of the construction. The detail was amazing - right down to being able to feel touch with the fingertips. Slade smiled, and looked around. "Where am I?" A voice replied from another section of the room, from behind a partition. "You're safe, Slade, and healed."

  Slade looked around frantically. "I know that voice, but it can't be ... you're dead!"

  A figure stepped from behind the partition, long flowing white robe, glowing red crystal in the center of an imposing chest, and a hooded face which displayed a shimmering, transparent image.

  "Death is such a transient thing, Slade. My body died, but my spirit can never die!"

******** 

  Aurora came awake suddenly, feeling both alert and cautious. She sat up and looked around. Some kind of medical ward, private room obviously. On the door, the BETA logo. She was still at BETA, not the Longshot Facility. That was good. She searched and then access what she wanted. Extending her power, she sensed the room, and beyond the door. Two figures, and a floating metallic object. They were just about to enter. Aurora stood up, and pulled on the slipsuit lying on a chair. She turned as the door opened.

  "You could give a girl enough time to get decent." Were her first words to  Commander Walsh and the floating metallic thing.

  "We apologies Darkstar." The floating metal thing said. The voice sounded like N'Gata, but he was long-dead. "What are you?" She asked.

  "I am all that remains of Owen N'Gata. After the Wolf Den incident, my brain was preserved in this device. It has enabled me to continue to function and guide the League through many crises. Are we about to enter a new one?"

  "Why did you place a genetic inhibitor in all the Supertroopers?" She demanded.

  "In what way do you call the protein links a genetic inhibitor?" Owen asked.

  "Don't play around with words, brain!" She growled, a glow beginning to form around her.

  "They are dying out there! I survived because I managed to get to a place which let me save myself. But Stingray, Jackhammer, Chimera ... they are all going to die! Why did you do it?"

  Walsh looked at N'Gata, but it was the disembodied Doctor who spoke. "It was necessary to ensure your loyalty to the League, Darkstar. We needed a way to ensure you would need us once you were on a mission, away from Wolf Den. So we engineered you in such a way that your bodies needed a special synthetic enzyme that was only available from us at Wolf Den. Your bodies can manufacture some of it, but not sufficient to keep you from growing weaker over a period of time."

  "What is it?"

  "I am not going to release that information, Darkstar. The Renegade Supertroopers must be contained. They are far more dangerous than you can imagine."

  She took a step towards the floating brain, but Walsh stepped in between them.

  "Darkstar, stop."

  "You do want us dead, don't you?" She accused.

  Walsh shook his head. "No, not at all. I want you alive and functional. As we have always wanted. What happened four years ago was an unfortunate accident. Once which can never be reversed, but which can be forgotten, if you are willing to come halfway home."

  "Why? what for? What can you offer us?"

  "Freedom."

______________________________________________________

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