Incident

By Deona Lindholm

Chapter 1: Reunion

Author's Note 1: The story, Angel Amulet, is pulled, but only temporarily. You see, I'm renovating the existing chapters, then will add new material. I hope this story will tide everyone over until then! Also, Dea's appearance is more modeled from a character named Katarina in a game called Suikoden IV, so Mary Sue hunters, look elsewhere!

Author's Note 2: Incident takes place some time before Angel Amulet.

The entire thing began with a strange communication that the The Pride had received. Unlike the other messages (which were old), this one was actually live.

"…come in! If you can hear me, come in, Jayce!"

At the time that this message came in, the ship was en route to planet Aunitia, where a friend of Jayce's, Dea, had some news in regards to the Root, as well as a favor to ask. But when he heard the voice over the live communication, Jayce's heart stopped for a second.

"Father…? Is that you?"

The voice turned from desperate to relieved. "So it is you! Dea was right!"

Almost involuntarily, tears had filled the young man's eyes. "Where are you?" he asked, his voice trembling. After the incident on the Circus Planet, he had hardly dared to hope that any new trace could be found. After all, the transporter malfunction had whisked the older man away, parts unknown, in an instant.

"I'm on Aunitia. Hurry over and we'll talk."

Those very words had stayed in everyone's minds as the barge went at a faster speed, arriving on the planet, landing a short distance from the capital city, Darane. They continued to echo in Jayce's mind as he sped down several streets, not bothering to look about him this time.

Aunitia was extremely similar to Jayce's home planet in every way, including the technology. Even the plants were identical, which had surprised everyone at first until Dea had explained that Aunitia was a colony, one that had survived when the homeworld was destroyed by the Monster Minds. When Gillian and Herc had asked her why the planet was untouched so far, the woman would do nothing but shake her head. Worldkin or not, she was not about to tell and risk the secret being let out.

As they hurried down the streets, Jayce thought back to the very first time they had visited Aunitia and had met the woman…

They had found a special recording attached to a drifting satellite. It had been rigged so that if the one that touched the object was a Monster Mind, it would self-destruct. If any regular human, there would be a message to locate Jayce and hand it over.

When Jayce touched it after bringing the object aboard, a holographic version of Audric stood on the deck.

"Jayce…I don't have much time, so listen closely," he said, "There is someone I want you and the others to meet. The person is a highly skilled scientist, especially for her age, and her name is Dea. Next to me, her knowledge on Monster Minds as well as the Root is the best, and quite vast. You can find her on the planet Aunitia, the capital city of Darane, Aunitia Center."

The Lightning League had immediately set course for the planet. Once in orbit, Flora stated that she could already tell one thing: If she set foot on the surface, her powers would be completely blocked, but otherwise, she would be all right.

When they arrived in Darane, the group had taken a few wrong turns, thanks to some deliberately incorrect information by two of the city folk. As such, they had arrived in a section that was filled with greenhouses…greenhouses that were right next door to a medium-sized building that was extremely similar in design to Jayce's home planet.

Flora had walked up to one of the greenhouses when they all heard shouting behind them.

"Freeze! Hands up!" a very rough, masculine voice shouted, and they all heard the sound of energy weapons being primed.

All of them quickly complied, although Herc gave Jayce a now-what-did-we-do look, which the younger man had ignored.

One of the men, wearing a brown body uniform with a green insert in the midsection, peered at Jayce for a long moment before he snapped, "Get the chief! Don't move, or you're toast!"

"I'm already here, Biron," a female voice spoke from behind, perpetually level and usually quiet tone marred with steel.

She stepped forward as the guards moved, showing a young woman that was in her early twenties, and about his height. She had sun blonde hair that was neatly put up in a type of towering bun. Around her heard was a circlet, with a garnet drop hanging in the middle of her forehead. She had a pert little nose, a round face that was smooth, a little rosebud mouth and not-too-wide bright, hazel eyes that almost always seemed to twinkle in amusement…although right now, they were severe. Her frame was a bit petite, yet hid strength that others would not expect, and she wore a similar outfit to the man she called Biron, a body uniform, although hers was carnation pink, with a lighter shade for an insert. She wore matching leg-length boots…and at the moment, she was carrying an energy pistol that she aimed right at the League.

"Chief," Biron said to her, "We caught these trespassers just now."

"More like spies," another one of the brown-uniform wears said, his voice nasally, "They're with the enemy for sure!"

"Whoa, wait a minute!" Herc snapped and started to step forward.

That was discouraged by a shot from the woman's pistol, aimed at the ground not even a half-inch from him.

"I wouldn't budge an inch if I were you," she said, steel in her tone strengthening, "Unless you're suicidal. Who sent you? Dr. Zorg? Sawboss?"

Jayce remained where he was and asked, "Are you Dea?"

Her eyes narrowed and she asked, "Who are you, first?"

He said calmly, "My name is Jayce. We received a message from my father Audric, attached to a satellite. He said to come here and meet with a scientist named Dea."

Her eyes widened and she asked quietly, "Uncle Audric sent you?"

The reaction from Jayce was one of pure shock as he said, "Uncle Audric? You're related to my father?"

She smiled a little and lowered her weapon, then motioned for the others to do the same.

"Stand down," she ordered, the steel leaving her voice, "These are not the enemy."

"How can you be so—" Biron snapped.

"I said to stand down, Biron, now!"

He sighed angrily and put his weapon away, as did the others.

The woman turned back and bowed elegantly before she said, "I'm Dea, Chief Instructor of Aunitia Center. Let's go inside where we can talk."

It had turned out that the Lightning League had wound up in a classified area of the facility. They had been escorted, politely, to the main part of the facility. After an explanation, Dea had left the planet and joined the Lightning League, fighting the Monster Minds right alongside of Jayce and the others. Six months later, she had been called back to Aunitia, when the Executive Director had died in an accident…and she had been named as his replacement. With a heavy heart, she returned to her home planet and took on the new role, promising that she would dedicate the entire Center to help in the fight against the Monster Minds.

Within hours, Jayce, Gillian and the others had arrived at a set of buildings that reminded Flora and the young man of the school that the latter had attended, although both of them knew that the purpose was completely different. This, the Aunitia Center, specialized in medical and technological research. At times, the Executive Director of the Center would hint at a secret section, yet never speak out loud. The only person that even seemed to have an inkling as to what it was or if it existed was Flora, and, well, she wasn't talking either.

The group only slowed down the moment they reached the receptionist's desk. As most of them paused to catch their breaths, Flora asked, "Excuse me, but is the Executive Director in?"

The receptionist looked down and saw the child-like being. She knew that Flora was not really a human. She was a plant that was created to look like a ten-year-old human girl. Her creators had been Gillian and Audric himself.

The woman smiled and said, "She is, but she's seeing someone right now. I know she'll want to see you right away, so go on ahead. I know the one she's talking to right now wouldn't mind either."

As Flora spoke to the receptionist, the Root around Jayce's neck, which had been faintly vibrating, suddenly increased in strength. At first, he felt a strong hope, which faded when he remembered that Dea had an item of Audric's in her possession: Namely, a circlet that she always wore.

"Thanks," Jayce had said and hurried through the many corridors until he heard a whisper and then a familiar voice, a female one.

"I knew it," the voice said, giggled, then spoke, "I know that running anywhere. Come on in, Jayce."

As soon as Jayce opened the door, he smiled abashedly and walked in, closing it behind him carefully. He then turned at the perspective speaker.

The Executive Director, Dea, was almost exactly as Jayce remembered. It had been almost a year since he last saw the young woman. Her outfit, instead of the two-tone pink uniform, was a pure white one that was extremely similar to Jayce's. The difference, though, was that there was a identification tag that displayed her picture, name and position.

"My, that was fast, even for you. I didn't know you were that anxious to see me, Jayce," she teased him.

"Well, ah…yes, I am, but there's another reason," he replied, managing to hide the blush after a long moment. No matter what, Dea had always managed to embarrass him. "It's father…I just heard from him…really heard! He's here on Aunitia, but didn't say where—"

"I know."

He blinked, which caused her to laugh.

"I know exactly where he is…don't I…uncle?" she continued, her voice raising a bit in amusement and turned to her private office, which was to the left.

The door to the office opened and a very familiar figure walked through it, face matching Dea's in amusement.

"I would say you know where."

"Father!" Jayce exclaimed, his eyes welling again. He couldn't help his reaction. He ran to the man, hoping that he could reach him, for once, before something, anything, could happen to ruin this…like a freak teleporter zap.

Thankfully, nothing of the such happened as Audric took him into a fierce embrace, which was returned. Dea smiled and silently walked out of her office into the corridor. It had been a long time coming, this reunion. They deserved some time alone.

In the office, Jayce had tried to speak, but (to his later chagrin), the only thing that came out were relieved sobs.

Audric chuckled, smiled and held him tighter, quite understanding why his own son was reacting like this. After all, the last time they had seen each other was on the Circus Planet, when he had been teleported away before he could even embrace the son that he saw.

After a few moments, Jayce's cries subsided enough that he asked, "How…? The last time I saw you…"

"Yes, I know. Fate truly smiled on me that time, though I didn't realize it at first. That beam brought me here, to Aunitia," he replied wryly. "I wound up in the secret sector, of all things. Dea came down right away and was able to convince everyone to keep quiet about my very presence, then brought me up to speed on everything, including you."

As he wiped his eyes, the younger man replied, "I really owe her this time."

Audric chuckled and didn't reply to the statement, although before anything else could be said, the two of them heard voices coming from outside the door.

"Heey lady, why are ya not lettin' anybody in?"

"Is Jayce in there?" a girl's voice asked.

"Yes he is, and you're going to stay out here for a little bit. Someone else is in there too, and they need some time to themselves first, Flora. It's been long overdue," they heard Dea reply.

"That means—"

"Yes, Oon, that's exactly what it means."

Jayce chuckled and said, "Dea's being sweet…but I'm not the only one that's missed you."

"Just the one that's missed me the most, eh son?"

There was merely a quiet nod and a soft "Exactly," before the door opened and the entire group spilled into the office, with Dea closing the door behind her.

"Master Audric!" Oon exclaimed and ran over, grabbing Audric's left leg, while Flora grabbed the right.

0000000000

Far away, in what had been the remains of Audric's laboratory, Sawboss was planning his next target when two beings arrived in his chamber: Terror Tank and a humanoid.

"Dr. Zorg...what is it?" he asked in his cold manner.

The Gun Grinner went first, to the doctor's disgust, "We've tracked the transporter beam that misfired at the Circus Planet and have confirmed it's destination point."

"Oh? So where did he land?"

Zorg managed to answer, "Audric is on planet Aunitia."

Sawboss grimaced. "Hmm, Aunitia...the one planet we've had to avoid..."

"Yes, because of the barrier around the planet. I have a solution you might like."

"Tell me, then!"

Sawboss had to keep from losing his temper as both the Gun Grinner and Zord explained the solution, almost overlapping each other. After a few minutes, though, he couldn't help but share in the enthusiasm.

This may actually work for once!

"And how long between our arrival and implementation?"

"When we arrive, we'll have passed the first window. We'll be ready by the second. The receptacle on Aunitia's moon from our last attempt is still operational."

"Excellent! In the name of the Black Light, I go!"

Gun Grinner dug into the mixture of ground and floor, while the doctor had to hold onto something as the base lurched before disappearing.