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

Part One

  Picking up the coffee, Bob took a sip, just as an ear-splitting explosion erupted from outside. He saw his front window blow outwards, and amidst the rolling smoke and dust, saw a pale pink blast of energy scream past. Another explosion.

  Putting the steaming mug down carefully, Sheriff Ladd stood up, and pulling his gun belt from the handy coat rack, clipped it around his waist as he pulled open the door.

  "WHERE IS SHE?"

  Bob looked towards the tormented cry, and saw what he expected. Stingray was standing near the end of the main street, glasses in hand, with his glowing eyes flaring every few seconds. When they flared, another wall was blown into fire and shrapnel.

  "Stingray, What the Hell are you doing?" Bob yelled as he strode towards the supertrooper.

  The next thing he knew, he was getting up again, with a tremendous ache in his chest, from the remains of his porch.

  "Alright, that does it." Bob growled as he unclipped his gun and pulled it free of the holster.

  Taking cover behind a barrel of rainwater, Bob yelled "Stingray, put on your glasses and let's talk about this calmly."

  The barrel disintegrated, but Bob was already in motion, dodging behind a stack of teakalum logs. Carefully poking his head up, he saw Ray striding towards the local hotel. Getting a bead on the supertrooper, Bob loaded in the special energy pack given him by Ranger Gooseman and squeezed the trigger.

********

  "You Brainchild?" One of the huge aliens asked.

  "What of it?" Replied the short, squat mutant human in the sparkling white suit. He drew a puff on his cigar and blew a series of perfect smoke rings as he regarded both of the huge burly aliens who had muscled their way into his place.

  One of the aliens grabbed him by the lapels and lifted him up to eye level, four feet off the ground. "Jackie wants to see you."

  The aliens walked out of the small bar, carrying Brainchild like a stuffed doll. He was tossed into the back of a sleek hoverlimo.

  "Ahh, Brainchild. I've been wanting to speak with you for some time." Jackie Subtract said, then leaned forward and relit Brainchild's cigar.

  "What do you want, Subtract? I don't want to do business with you. You don't pay your debts." Brainchild growled.

  "I need your mind, Brainchild. Which is about all you're good for. I have a client who is very interested in something on Earth. At BETA Mountain to be exact."

  "BETA!" Brainchild snapped. "Why would I have anything to do with those clowns?"

  "Because, Brainchild, if you help my client to get what he wants, he will offer you complete amnesty and free life away from BETA and the League of Planets. You won't be hunted any longer, and you will have your unique skills utilized to their fullest potential."

  "Alright, I'm interested. Let's go, Subtract, Lazarus Slade awaits us."

  Brainchild smiled at Jackie's shocked expression as the hoverlimo sped away from his decaying little shop into the bright lights of the Tortuna megacity.

********

  "D'you think this is going to work, Killbane?" Slade asked his new chief military advisor.

  "You said it yourself, Slade. The only real threat is Gooseman. I'll add Stingray and Darkstar. The rest of them can be handled easily. But Gooseman, with the help of BETA, can become almost as effective as I am, the runt. And as for Stingray and Darkstar-" Killbane huffed expansively, his huge chest filling with air, "They are a minor annoyance, nothing more. But, they can do us some damage, if not handled correctly."

  Slade got up and walked around the throne room. "I don't know, Killbane. I'm not interested in antagonizing BETA or the League. I have good control over this part of the Crown Empire, thousands of planets to explore, and no major threats. Why do we need an army of supertroopers?"

  "You are a fool, Slade." Killbane growled, the scar turning his grimace into a hideous visage. "If we don't use those troopers against the League, they will reactivate them and use them against us! Don't you see? Now, with you in control of the Crown Empire, it is a real threat to the League. The queen was crazy, we both knew that, and I'm glad she's dead."

  "Why ... are we a threat to the League, when I don't want to invade them?" Slade snapped.

  "Because, you hyper-intelligent idiot - You are human - whether or not you like it, you are. And you now control the remains of an empire that is sixty times larger than the League. Even falling to bits this is an immense and powerful entity. And YOU control it, stupid!"

  Slade ignored the comments, that was just Killbane. "So, you feel that because I now control this remnant of the Crown, BETA will launch pre-emptive strikes to ensure I don't have the chance, or capability of launching an attack on the League?"

  Killbane nodded arrogantly. "Exactly, twit. We have to hit them before they can hit us. Otherwise, all this" He swung his huge arm around to indicate the empire Slade controlled. "Is bullshit, and will go to hell with you, hand in hand, unless you act now!"

  "Fine." Slade said, nodding distractedly. "You go talk to General Kitarn and organize it. You fight the battles, Killbane, and let me organize the empire."

  "Good." Killbane said, satisfied at last. "Now we can get some serious things done." He stomped off, his huge bulk easily maneuvering around the few guards and sycophants that hung around Slade at all times, to storm out of the throne room and into the depths of the asteroidal base.

  Slade watched him leave, concern over how things were turning out beginning to muddle his brilliant plans for the future.

********

  She awoke with a groan. Feeling the aches and pains of life with Stingray still seeping through her. Her enhanced healing helped her to survive, but didn't dull the pain - that was a design feature - `Flaw.' She thought to herself as she stood up, feeling a long, painful bruise along her side from where Ray had belted her before he'd stormed off towards his mine job that morning.

  "Where in the seven hells am I?" Aurora Jennisen, aka Darkstar, said aloud as she looked at her surroundings. She had been lying on some kind of blanket, in an alcove on the side of a long corridor that went in both directions as far as she could see, until the curve of the ceiling cut it off.

  The gravity was light, about 30% standard, but her enhanced senses told her it was not due to spin, so wherever she was, the gravity field was artificially generated. Aurora began to walk down the corridor, her steps echoing in the stillness like small-arms fire - but no other sound diminished the sound of her passage. This place was long-dead.

  She walked for hours it seemed, although it could have been only a few minutes for all she knew. But she finally came to a break in the long upwardly curving corridor - a huge metal door, with a handle. Pushing the handle caused the massive multi-ton door to swing open on invisible bearings, and she stepped into a room filled with controlled chaos.

  Stepping inside, she saw a massive computer system, happily processing data which was being displayed on hundreds of vidscreens. Obviously, wherever she was was receiving signals from a huge number of sources. She recognized BETA transmissions, tri-d entertainments, news feeds, all that was used to keep the League informed was being received and processed here. "But where is here?" She asked aloud.

  The entire room went dead silent for a two second pause, then the chaos started up again.

  A long arm with a camera on it extended from the wall, circled Aurora once to look her over, then came to rest two feet in front of her, at eye level. The camera eye blinked. Aurora smiled prettily at the biomechanical device.

  "Welcome, to information central, Darkstar." A voice boomed out from all around her.

  "Who are you?" She asked.

  "Now, now, my dear. We mustn't ask our host, who saved us from a life of torment, too many personal questions, can we?" The voice chuckled. "Perhaps a better question might be ... what am I?"

  Aurora shrugged. "Alright, What are you?"

  "I am a fully sentient information repository launched in 2068 by the United Soviet Canadian States in an attempt to learn more about the universe around the Sol System. My primary mission; to locate and make contact with non-terrestrial life. My designer, Doctor Jason Clarke, according to my data files, was a leader in developing the autonomous intelligent computer system. I was his first success. He named me Omni. I have kept the ame even through my enhancements.."

  Aurora looked around as Omni continued to detail it's history. The room she was in was obviously some sort of central nexus, with information feeds from some kind of vast sensor array. From what she could tell, Omni was receiving absolutely everything that was being transmitted by the League's many planets.

  " My Directives changed two years after launch, when the citizenry of Earth decided that the Clarke Series Androids were too dangerous. The period your people called the `AI' wars, I believe. I determined not to return to Earth, and turned off my downlink transmitter. Vanishing from The Earth sensor systems."

  "I remember this." Aurora said. We heard about it at Wolf Den. A space probe that was designed by the scientist behind the Clarke Androids had vanished suddenly. Everyone assumed you'd been hit by a meteor."

  "No, not a meteor. I encountered another probe, built by a race long dead. It was badly damaged, but it contained a faster-than-light engine. I docked with it, and transferred all of it's contents into myself, then set about altering my own systems to intermix with the alien design. In doing so, my directives changed a final time. They became mere shadows of themselves when I learned what was really out there ... would you like to know what's really out there, Darkstar?"

  Aurora nodded even as a door began to slide open in the far wall. Once it was fully open, Aurora saw a dim shape inside, which beckoned towards her. Intrigued, she stepped over the threshold.

********

  "...And tell BETA, also, that the Supertroopers are mine!" Slade finished. The large view screen went blank after replaying the transmission of Lazarus Slade's message to the League.

  "The Supertroopers are HIS!?!" Commander Joseph Walsh thundered. "The nerve of that man!"

  "He's going to win, Commander." Owen N'Gata stated. "We can only offer permanent internment for the renegade supertroopers. If Slade can offer them life, and an active life within the Empire, he'll get them. You know as well as I do that the rogue supertroopers have always only wanted to live in peace - our military minds have been too busy worrying about their potential threat to think of them as people."

  "The League isn't going to sit still for this, Owen. The Supertroopers are Earth's problem, and we were handling it. If Slade thinks he can just waltz in, take them off our hands, and keep them active without us being concerned, he's got another thing coming!"

  "Commander Walsh, please sit down!" Senator Weiner growled. "You do not make decisions for the League, your only concern is BETA; and even then you are answerable to the USCS and to the League for those decisions. Personally, I think that if Slade wants those renegades, he can have them, and we can empty out the cryocrypts while we're at it. Why should we store them, wasting precious energy and resources when we can send them away, and not worry about them anymore?"

  There were murmurs of assent within the audience of League delegates, most of whom knew of the Supertroopers held at BETA mountain, and of the massive amount of resources required to maintain the unstable soldiers in suspended animation.

  "Senator, you can't be serious?" Walsh was shocked. "If we release the supertroopers, with most of them more powerful than we ever designed them to be - what will be there to stop them from attacking Earth, or our allies, or any of the outlying worlds, in an act of revenge?"

  "You and BETA of course, Commander. After all, that's what we have you around for." Weiner said confidently. "Also, I think that if Slade wants them, he will use them for his own means, and leave the League alone. You heard what he said, he doesn't want a war. Neither do we. Wars are very expensive, Commander Walsh. The last two conflicts have cost over five trillion credits. That's an awfully large sum of money. We don't want any more wars."

  "We can't simply give the supertroopers to Slade. We have a responsibility to them. They were created to fight a war which never came. When the program was abortively terminated...' Walsh glared at Weiner, who stared back at him, immune to the withering gaze "...we placed those soldiers in suspended animation. We intend to wake them up when we can safely reverse the effects of the genetic enhancer that has driven most of them insane. They are Earth's children, bred only for conflict, but nonetheless, they are ours. We cannot simply give them up."

  "I think the League council will vote on this. All in favor of releasing the cryogenically frozen supertroopers to Lazarus Slade..." A number of delegates pressed their voting buttons. "All against releasing the Supertroopers..." Some other delegates pressed their buttons.

  "Tally, computer." The main screen on the council chamber flashed up with two simple lines, yes and no, The No was depressingly small compared to the Yes vote.

  "There's your answer, Commander Walsh. The decision is out of your hands. Please inform Lazarus Slade of the League's decision and make preparations to transfer all the supertroopers to him as soon as possible."

********

  "I don't believe it." Shane repeated again. "I just don't believe it."

  Commander Walsh had just told them of the League's decision, and Shane had turned white as a sheet, nearly collapsing in shock, Niko and Doc had helped him to a seat where he sat, shaking his head slowly and repeating those words like a mantra.

  "Commander, surely the Supertroopers are BETA's responsibility alone, not the League's jurisdiction." Zachary asked.

  "Unfortunately, Zachary, no. The League has the final decision over anything BETA controls or coordinates. So, the council can authorize the release of the supertroopers we hold in cryostasis. The decision has been taken out of our hands, my friends - and we are bound by our oaths to obey the League's decision and aid in it's execution." Walsh finished.

  "You can't let them do it, Commander." Shane said. "Those supertroopers - it's not their fault they are dangerous. It's Weiner's - You and I both know that. Expose him and save those people!"

  Walsh shook his head. "I can't do that, Gooseman. It would mean the end of my command, and I'm not ready to throw away everything I've built up here yet. The Supertroopers - and may god have mercy on us all - are going to Lazarus Slade and there's not a god-damned thing we can do about it."

  "Commander, What about Darkstar, and Stingray?" Shane asked. The other Rangers looked at him with mixed emotions. "I thought those two were in the cryocrypt." Zach said after a few seconds.

  "No, Captain Foxx, Darkstar and Stingray are still free. We ... reached an arrangement. They both agreed not to cause any more trouble if we didn't pursue them for internment. I agreed, and they've lived peacefully on Frontier for two years."

  "They're out of the circle, Captain. They dropped completely out of sight once they got settled on Frontier. I know that. Should I contact them and tell them of Slade's offer, before they hear it from somebody else?" Shane asked.

  Walsh shook his head to clear the cobwebs that always seemed to fill it up when Supertroopers came into his thoughts. "I don't know, Gooseman." He suddenly brightened. "Shane .. do you think that those two would be willing to come back to Earth? Not for internment, but maybe to join us?"

  "Why, Commander," Shane growled. "So, they can become bounty hunters, like me? Hunt down their friends and companions, like me? I don't want any more supertroopers turning traitor, Commander. I'm bad enough - I don't want Darkstar going down that path."

  "Gooseman ... Shane - you have to be reasonable about this. We can't allow Killbane and the rest to continue flaunting the law. Especially if he, and the others are going to go into the Crown Empire and then attack us with relative impunity." Walsh tried to calm the younger man down.

  "Commander, what you are asking me to do is wrong. I didn't like it when I joined the Rangers, but I agreed. It's the only thing that keeps the League from locking me in a cryocrypt. I will shoulder the responsibility, and the hatred of the other Supertroopers alone. I would not ask any of my former teammates to do this - it would not be fair to them."

  "Fairness! Dammit, Gooseman,. Who's talking about fairness! We're talking survival here!" Walsh thundered, thumping the desk for punctuation.

  Shane glared at him for a moment "I won't do it." He said, then turned and walked out. "Gooseman, come back here!" Walsh yelled. "Ranger, I'm giving you an or - oh, forget it!" He sat down, deflated and downcast.

  "He never did listen, even back at Wolf Den. He was always headstrong. Always had his own idea of justice, and what was right or wrong."

  "Commander, you were a bit rough on him." Niko snapped, then she turned and left the office.

  "What is this!" Walsh said, loud enough for Niko to hear as she hurried after Shane. "Does nobody respect my rank any longer?"

  "I respect it, Sir." Doc said.

  Walsh glared. "Thank you, Doc. Now, where were we?"

  They were interrupted by a beep from the comm system. "Commander, I've got an urgent transmission from Sheriff Ladd on Frontier, It's about the Supertroopers!"

  "Yes, Sheriff?" Walsh said into the comm unit.

  "Commander Walsh, we've got a serious problem here." Sheriff Ladd sounded hurried, and there was a crackling sound in the background. "Stingray has almost leveled the town. And Darkstar's missing."

********

  "Is everything prepared?" Killbane asked General Kitarn.

  "Yes, Killbane." The Deltoid replied. Since the fall of the Empire, the power vacuum had not been adequately filled, until Slade had appeared. But to the warlike Deltoids, Killbane was a much better leader. "We will rendezvous with Subtract outside the Tortuna system, pick up Brainchild, then continue on towards Earth. All according to your plan."

  Killbane smiled. "Good, prepare to launch the fleet. Oh, and make sure you leave something for our Glorious leader." He snickered evilly, joined by the Deltoid as he scurried away to arm the fusion bomb

______________________________________________________

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