2Chapter 4: Critical Decision
After leaving Aunitia, Herc immediately set course for the planet specified in Sawboss' random demand: Kitta III. The mercenary was angry enough over the situation that he even employed three not-so-legal routes that would cut down the time needed to get there. Instead of it being four days, the Barge would arrive by the following afternoon.
For once, nobody objected to this, not even Jayce or Gillian.
En route, the wizard sent an urgent message to the supercomputer Logos, asking for all data on the planet. Fortunately, Gillian got his reply within an hour. Unfortunately, the amount of information he received kept him in his quarters for the rest of the trip.
After an hour of Oon pacing around on the bridge and getting in the mercenary's way, Flora offered to take the Eternal Squire somewhere else.
"Thanks a lot, Little Orchid," was Herc's reply, right along with ruffling the plant-child's red hair. She giggled and took Oon over to her quarters, where they quietly talked about what was going on and what might happen. Her pet Zoggies, who normally would jump all over him at first sight, sense the tense air throughout the ship and stayed by the little girl's side, squeaking quietly.
Jayce stayed in his quarters, working some strategies in his mind. Some he worked on, others he discarded...and two of them admittedly frightened him to even think about.
Those two strategies would involve a sacrifice.
No...if I can avoid it, I'm not going to sacrifice anyone. Dea is a good friend...Father...he's too dear to me, but losing the Roots...that's no option. But if I have no choice, then I...
"Hey, kid?" he heard over the comm system, close to what would be night time on a planet.
"What is it?"
"I haven't known your old man, the real one, all that long, but I don't think he'd want you to exhaust yourself to death over a strategy to get us all out of this mess."
He chuckled quietly. "You're getting to know me too well."
"Heck, we're all getting to know each other way too well for my tastes. That old wizard's probably checking everywhere for info about where we're going, so save the strategy for when we hear from him, ok?"
"All right."
"And get some rest!"
"I'll try."
"...Good."
Jayce sighed after the comm shut off and lay down on the bed in his quarters. Around his neck, both halves of the Root shimmered as they pulsed in time with each other.
Father...Dea...hold on a little longer...
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It wasn't until late morning, bordering on afternoon, when a communication signal went off on the bridge, awakening a snoring Herc.
The mercenary blinked and shook his head, then flipped one of the switches.
"...come in. Herc, wake up and answer!"
"Yeah, I hear ya, Gillian. What's up?"
"I've finished reviewing the information about Kitta III. Can you get the others on the bridge right away? I'll explain everything there."
"Yeah, sure, but...you don't sound too happy."
"I'm not."
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Within ten minutes, everyone was on the bridge. Herc stayed in his seat, but swiveled it around so that he could watch and listen in on Gillian's briefing. Brock hovered in place beside Flora, while Jayce and Oon were in their normal places. In the center of the bridge, right beside Herc, stood Gillian, his eyes red from lack of sleep and his face grave.
"Okay, we're all here," Herc said, "Now what did you find out about the planet?"
Gillian cleared his throat and began, "Nothing good, I'm afraid. Kitta III is habitable, but just barely. The ground is rather hard, but due to the large number of hills and jagged surfaces, we won't be able to land the Barge."
"Aw, that's just great," the mercenary muttered.
"The planet's moon, however, has a teleportation device that will allow us to travel from there in the defensive vehicles to the planet itself, depending on the coordinates given to it."
"Is it breathable on the moon?" Jayce asked.
"As much as Aunitia is, my boy."
Herc nodded, then said, "I'll land her on the moon...but I hope you've got enough info for a plan now, kid."
Jayce's eyes were distant as he remained silent.
The mercenary shut off the auto-pilot and took over the controls. As he did, he muttered under his breath, "Even the hotshot's quiet...now I'm worried-"
There was a beep from the communications panel. Herc grumbled and said in a louder tone, "We've got an incoming transmission...three guesses as to who it's from, and the first two sure don't count."
Jayce replied, "Let's hear it."
Just as Herc had guessed, the gravelly, evil voice of Sawboss came over the speakers.
"Hmph, you actually came alone for once, you little gnats. Good. Do you have the two parts of the Root?"
"Yeah, we've got 'em."
"I didn't ask you, mercenary! Or did the son of Audric lose a tongue?"
The young man replied, "I'm right here, and I have them."
"Good. Now, there's a teleportation machine on the moon. The coordin-"
"Hold it right there, Sawboss. We're not going anywhere just yet," Jayce interrupted.
"Yeah! How do we know you haven't bumped those two hostages off yet?" Herc added.
"You dare call me a liar?"
"You'd better believe it!"
Jayce cut in with a tone of steel, "Like you said, I have both halves of the Root with me. Get Dea and Father on the line or I'll join the Root together myself, right here and now."
Herc's jaw dropped when he heard the ultimatum, and Gillian's eyes went wide.
Can he even do that...?
The wizard started to say something to Jayce, only for the young man to shake his head and make a shushing motion with a hand.
"You're not serious!"
"Am I? Do you really want to risk it?"
There was dead silence on both ends of the transmission for a full minute.
What's gotten into Jayce? Flora thought.
An extremely risky gamble, lad, Gillian thought, One that could easily cause this mission to fail or succeed.
The next sound over the speakers was a much more familiar and welcome voice.
"Jayce!"
The young man let out a breath of relief and asked, "Father, are you and Dea all right?"
"Yes, I'm fine," Audric answered.
"I'm itchy and not a happy camper, but I'm okay," came from Dea.
"Hold on, you two, we're coming," Herc said to them.
"Jayce, I want you to listen to me. Do what you know is right, and carry out what you must. You understand me?"
The young man closed his eyes for a moment and shivered. When he opened them, he answered, "Yes, I understand."
There was silence for a few seconds before Sawboss demanded, "Satisfied now, boy?"
"Yes," was the simple reply.
"Good. Now, the moon has a teleportation unit. The coordinates are already set. When you reach the planet, go east for 3 miles in your vehicles. That's where you'll find all of us. We'll be waiting, son of Audric!"
With that, the transmission ended.
Herc let out a breath of relief and said, "Hoo boy...I thought he was gonna incinerate all of us when you did that."
"Hey, Jayce, can you really join the Roots all by yourself?" Flora asked.
The brown-haired man shook his head and replied, "No. Maybe if I knew how to use the Ring to do it, but I doubt it."
Her green eyes went wide and she asked in disbelief, "Y-you mean you just-"
"Hey, that was an example of a good bluff, kiddo."
"Good, but very risky," Gillian agreed.
"I hope I never have to do something like that again. Now, land on that moon, Herc."
"You got it, kid."
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On Kitta's moon, the Pride silently lowered until it landed on the surface. After a moment, one of the larger doors opened to allow 5 of the vehicles to exit the vessel. Once the last one was clear, the doors closed again.
Inside Armed Force, Jayce asked, "All right...now where's that teleporter?"
"It's on the sensors," Herc answered, "it's about 2 miles north of us."
"I see. All right, let's go save Father and Dea! Lightning Strikes!"
As all of the vehicles advanced forward, the mercenary asked, "Hey, kid...?"
"Yes?"
"I switched to a private line. You do have a plan once we get there, don't you?"
There was no reply.
"Hey, Jayce, you're really getting me worried with being silent like that. Don't tell me you're goin' in without a plan!"
After another moment, Jayce reluctantly, "Yeah, I do...but I can't afford to tell the others. I...don't want to worry them."
"Worry them about what?"
After a few seconds, Jayce replied in a quiet tone, "There's a very good chance that at least one of us won't come out of this alive."
There was silence on both ends for a couple of minutes until Herc answered, "Hey, Jayce...I've lived for a lot longer than you have. I've seen my share of jams that didn't look good at first, and I've seen ones that were worse than they looked."
"How about ones where the only way out may be for someone to sacrifice his life...?"
There was a pause and a hiss before the mercenary answered, "Those, too. But ya know what, kid?"
"What?"
"At least right now, this doesn't look like one of those times. What do you think your old man would do if you—if that happened?"
Again, there was nothing but silence.
"I guess what I'm sayin', hotshot, is: Don't you dare do something like that unless there is absolutely no other option. You hear me?"
"...I'll do that."
"You promise?"
"Yes, Herc, I promise."
"Good."
On the general radio, Gillian asked, "Herc, is something wrong? You look rather grim."
"It's—it's nothing," Herc replied, "Just a man-to-man talk."
"I see. The teleporter is within sight now, and from the size, it's big enough for all the vehicles to fit on."
"That'll make things easier on us," Jayce said.
"Except for one thing," Herc growled, "We've got some of those Monkey Minds right in front!"
Indeed, there were five of the Monster Minds in front of the teleporter, one for each of the troops in existence. They were in an arrowhead formation, with the Saw Trooper at the point.
Jayce checked his readings then said, "Let's see what they do. Attack only if they fire the first shot."
Four of the five Monster Minds prepared their weapons, causing the members of the Lightning League to do the same.
"Hold your fire!" a gravelly voice commanded, cutting into the tense predicament.
"Who is this?" Jayce asked.
"We are Sawboss' five troop leaders," the voice answered. At the same time, the Saw Trooper's eyes glowed in time to the words. "We are here to operate the teleporter that leads to our glorious leader and the hostages. Now, power down your weapons!"
There was a moment when both sides refused to move. Then, the other troop leaders stood down and a moment later, so did the Lightning League's weapons.
"Good. Now, get on the teleportation pad, in the vehicles. When you arrive, follow Sawboss' directions from earlier. If you veer off course, he will eliminate the girl, then Audric."
Jayce nodded to the others.
"Jayce, what are you going to do?" Flora asked.
"Everyone...please, just trust me on this," the young man replied, then led the five vehicles onto the transportation pad.
"Okay, so when are we gonna arrive, you plant-heads?" Herc, who was the last to board the pad, asked.
There was no reply.
"Hey, I'm talking to you, you no-good...tin..." he trailed off as he looked around him.
The five troop leaders had vanished, and their surroundings looked very different. Instead of the softer, fertile lands of the moon, the ground was extremely jagged with uneven or smooth points anywhere, just as Gillian had warned. The sky above them swirled colors of blue and dark black in various patterns, and a small pool of nearby water was a dark, red color, bubbling at different intervals.
"Oh great...now I see what you meant by this being barely habitable, Pops. The old girl would've been shredded here."
"Let's focus on the trip ahead of us," Gillian advised, then said nothing more.
To Herc, those 3 miles were the slowest, longest amount of time that he ever knew. He would look to his right, where Armed Force traveled along. More than once, he tried to get Jayce to talk to him, get him to say anything. Each time, though, the young man refused to answer the hails on the radio. Once, the mercenary tried to get his attention visually by intentionally using Spike Trike to bump into him. The only reaction that Herc got was for Jayce to look at him for a moment and shake his head. At that same moment, the older man had seen a steely, dangerous expression, with a haunted, sorrowful emotion beneath them.
I've never seen him like this before, Herc thought, good thing the others didn't hear that conversation earlier...it'd scare them silly. Heck, it's starting to scare me. Kid...you'd better not break that promise you made. Don't do it unless there really is no other choice.
Flora was silent as well in Drill Sergeant, her mind whirling from the events of the past two days. They had found Audric, only to lose him and Dea the following day. Now, Jayce was unnaturally silent and moody. She traveled on the other side of Jayce and saw Herc bumping into him on purpose. She glared at the mercenary, but the expression faded when she saw the younger man shake his head.
Just what's happened to him...? I wish I could read his mind, but...there's no magic or plants here, and I can't sense anything. Jayce...what are you going to do?
Finally, the long silence was broken when Jayce's voice came across all of the vehicles' radio channels, "There they are! Follow me!"
Herc looked up and saw, a short distance away, a mass of Monster Minds, as well as what looked like a space laboratory, covered in vines and darkness.
That's gotta be Buzz Saw's base, Herc thought.
A moment later, when they had almost reached the edge of the Monster Mind encampment, all of the Lightning League vehicles were surrounded by flashes of black light.
Inside Drill Sergeant, Flora quickly put a hand over her mouth and groaned, while Gillian felt as though the air around him was being constricted.
"Child? What's wrong?" Gillian asked.
"Ugh...I feel sick," she managed to reply, "I can't sense or feel anything around me anymore..."
The wizard began to reply when the vehicle jerked harshly, coming to an almost immediate stop.
"What in blazes? Spike Trike's stopped," Herc told the others and slapped the control console.
"We've all stopped," Jayce replied from Armed Force.
"Of course you have, boy!"
Herc looked all around him at the sound of the familiar voice.
"Sawboss!"
"Don't even try to restart your vehicles. When you entered the encampment, the black light waves surrounded them and shortened them out!"
"That's what you think," Gillian retorted and closed his eyes for a moment to focus, then waved a hand towards Armed Force.
Nothing happened.
"Your magic won't work either, old man," Sawboss continued, "When you entered this encampment, your powers were sealed off."
"What's with Spinach Nose's feeling sick?" Herc asked.
"I'd say they have a more aggressive version of Aunitia's field in place," Gillian replied grimly.
"Now...exit your vehicles at once!"
Herc pushed the hatch opened and quickly climbed out of it, wanting to see just what kind of a trap Sawboss had dragged them into.
Jayce got out as well and looked around quickly. After a moment, he saw what he was looking for.
"Father! Dea!"
At the edge of a large, bubbling red lake stood Audric and Dea. Both looked a bit disheveled and the young woman had some bruises on her chin and wrists, but looked to be all right. Encircling them were eight of the Monster Minds: Two Saw Troopers, two Gun Grinners, two Terror Tanks and two K-O Cruisers. All of them had their weapons trained on the pair.
"As you see, they're very much alive...for now. If you don't cooperate, I'll do this to them..."
A strong wind began to blow, seemingly to come from out of nowhere.
"Gillian! What's going on?" Flora called out.
The wizard was silent for a moment, then saw a black line appearing just beside the encirclement of Monster Minds and the two people.
"That is...does he even know what he is doing with that?" Gillian asked, aghast.
"What's goin' on, Pops?" Herc demanded.
As Gillian spoke, the black line seemed to rip and rend the ground and air, twisting in a spiral that grew larger.
"That, Herc, is a portal, and not any normal kind. This is one that either goes to another world or into a space between dimensions and time, called the Vortex."
"Wait a minute...not the Vortex?" Jayce asked.
"Yes, that one. Almost no-one has ever entered that place and told the tale."
"Any way to close that thing?" Herc asked.
"With a portal of this magnitude? The only way is for someone to step inside it."
Jayce quickly looked around him, looking for anything that would give the Lightning League even a little advantage.
"Jayce...Monster Minds are closing in," Flora managed to say as she looked around as well.
"Very astute, little girl and old wizard. For once, I have the upper hand! No matter what the son of Audric chooses, I will gain both halves of the Root this day. The era of the animals is over, and my goal of a universe for all plants is upon us!"
Oon let out an angry noise and lowered his lance, pointing it at the encriclement. He moved forward as though to charge, but let out a yell and fell. When he stood up again, the Eternal Squire tried to move and glanced down.
A pair of vines had grabbed his ankles and squeezed tightly.
"That's it, Buzz saw," Herc growled and reached for his blaster, "Time for a stir-fry!"
Before he could lift the weapon, some of the other Gun Grinners moved in and surrounded him, Gillian, Oon and Flora.
Jayce, who was a short distance away from the others, looked between the spot where his father and friends were and where several of the Monster Minds surrounded them.
Beside the two hostages, the portal continued to widen, and soon was a large, oval of swirling black, with a mist at the edges.
"Well, boy?" He heard Saw Boss demand in that roaring, imperious voice of his, "Make your choice! Both parts of the Root or Audric and the girl!"
In Jayce's mind, Herc's warning replayed: Don't you dare do something like that unless there is absolutely no other option. Promise?
No matter what he could think up, there seemed to be only one solution to this disaster. Jayce sighed and then looked at first his father, then at the prim, blonde-haired woman wearing a garnet tiara that was very close in style to his own.
Dea...I'm sorry.
The young woman peered at him, looking right into his blue eyes, and seemed to know exactly what he was thinking. Her only physical indication was to give a simple nod.
Do as you wish,he heard in his mind.
Jayce touched his ring, raising it to his heart.
"Right of Light, Magic Might," he whispered, then thought, Please, do what you must to save Father, Dea and the others. Please, get them as fast and far away from this planet as possible, and safely! He paused his thoughts and added, Serve my father as faithfully as you have me. Please, grant my last wish!
It glittered for a second as suddenly, Audric, Dea and the others became transparent.
At the same time, the Monster Minds tried to advance upon not only Herc, Gillian, Oon and Flora but also Audric and Dea. The mutant plants bounced off within inches of them, seemingly surrounded by an invisible field.
"What! What is going on?" Sawboss roared.
The ring and one of the Root amulets vanished from Jayce's person and suddenly appeared on Audric's.
"Wha…Jayce?! What are you doing?!" the older man called in alarm.
I put my fate into the hands of time.
"It's the only way now…father, it's my turn."
His eyes widened in shock. "Jayce! No!"
We'll see each other again...I believe it.
"Look for me. Come find me," he replied quietly, then moved towards the anomaly.
"No, Jayce! You can't!" Flora shouted.
"M-M-master! You'll be k-k-killed in there!"
He smiled softly and looked directly at Audric. He mouthed, "I love you, Father."
The older man had seen the silent message and nodded, eyes filled with grief.
Jayce spoke one last thing, "You'll find me. Promise." His back now was to the rift. He closed his eyes, crossed his arms in front of his chest…and then leaned backwards, falling into the Vortex.
As he fell in, a beam of light shot from the ring into the portal.
An anguished cry tore from Flora just as the others in the Lightning League blinked out of existence.
The next thing they new, all of them, including Dea, were on the Pride. The ship, surrounded by an aura of white light, was departing rather quickly from Kitta III and its moon.
"Oh no...Jayce..." Flora whispered in a quiet, shocked voice.
Herc simply stared at the vanishing planet with hard eyes while the others had different reactions. Flora was weeping, Oon was not doing much better. Dea was trying to comfort the half-plant girl while fighting back her own pain. Gillian was talking quietly to first Oon, and then moved towards his old friend. Audric, though…tears spilled down his face exactly in the same way that Jayce had wept in the Dreamworld, having thought that his father was murdered.
"Audric...I'm so sorry," Gillian said, using the back of one hand to scrub at his face while placing the other on his friend's right shoulder. "If I had been more observant..."
"U-uncle Audric," Dea murmured, putting a hand on the man's arm and looking at him sympathetically. "First Jayce went looking for you, now you'll have to do the hunting. I hope to—I hope he's still alive and not between the…"
"Jayce…" he murmured. "I'll find you…if you survive, I'll find you."
Audric closed his eyes, the image of his own son mouthing something to him before saying his final words and falling backwards. He raised a hand to the Root around his neck. The Ring of Light glittered on his finger, as it had before when Jayce wore it.
"We better set a course to Aunitia," Herc finally said, "We've got a Director to return."
Dea's head snapped around with a fiery glare. The mercenary shook his head, knowing what she would say.
"Nuh-uh, angel-cakes. You'll do us more good back home than you would traveling with the rest of us again."
"But-!"
"Dea," Audric spoke, his voice rough and quiet, "If we find anything, anything at all, I'll tell you right away."
She gave an angry sigh and reluctantly nodded.
"All right."
The remaining members of the Lightning League remained silent as the light surrounding the ship from Jayce's last wish guided the Pride of the Skies away from Kitta III.