Time Bomb

Chapter 03

by Richard Ryley

"I guess this means we won't be back in time for lunch..." Doc quipped.

"What's Ryker Kilbane doin' hanging around with the Black Hole Gang?" Gooseman growled in response.

The Galaxy Rangers were ducked down behind a stack of barrels, staring across at the hangar, and the Ranger Interceptor tucked away inside it. From this distance, it was clear that it was not really a BETA spacecraft, but simply modified, and painted to look like one. At a distance, however, or as seen by Earth's sensor net, it would probably seem to be the real thing.

Two of the Black Hole Gang's thugs were sitting around it, one of them the large fellow in the red mask, the other the little dog-like guy. Both were carrying laser rifles. Goose checked the clips on his blasters.

"We've caught 'em by suprise!" Zozo said excitedly. "Shall I take the little one?"

"I'd like to get to that ship and see what the 'Doctor' can find out," Doc added.

"That's fine with me," Goose said. "Leaves more for the rest of us."

"I've got a better idea." Buzzwang says. "I can get onboard the ship as well as Doc, and that would leave him free to fight."

Before either of them could move, however, the door in the alley behind them suddenly swung open, and a tall, lanky alien with green hair stepped out. "GALAXY RANGERS!" He yelled, drawing his blaster.

"Whoawhoawhoawhoawhoa!" Zozo called out, dancing around as the blaster fire stuck the concrete in from of his feet. Goose pulled out his own blasters, driving the alien back towards the door, but the Black Hole Gang had been alerted. Laser fire began to lance out at them from the hangar.

"We are caught in a crossfire, my Gooseman," said Doc.

"Yeah... NOW it's startin' to get interestin'..."

There was a blaze of light from Gooseman's badge, the familiar melodic hum of his implant powering up, and Goose's body began to glow with light. Not a moment too soon, either, as the alien outlaw drew a bead on him and opened fire. Goose ran right through the barrage of laser fire, his glow intensifying, as he charged at his foe.

As the glow died down, Gooseman's body had transformed into crystal. The laser beams bounced off of him, uselessly, as he reached the alien and grabbed his gun, throwing it aside. The two then locked hands, a crystal man and a green haired alien, each struggling to throw the other down.

Zozo, meanwhile, charged in the other direction, as the dog man was coming at them from the cover of the hangar. Doc laid down a pattern of cover fire as Zozo ran out into the street to face their attacker.

The dog-man swung his rifle, but Zozo leaped over the arc. As the little Kiwi came back down, he grabbed the rifle, wrenching it out of the dog man's grasp. It landed on the pavement, and Zozo leaped over to grab it.

"Ha! NOW I got you!" Zozo glanced down at the rifle. "How does this thing work..."

The rifle went off, spraying the dog-man with laser fire. He began to dance around as Zozo had, grunting, "Yah yah yah yah yah!"

"Help!" Zozo yelled, trying to find the control to turn off the automatic fire. The dog-man was running around in circles, now. "How do I STOP this thing!" He threw the rifle down on the ground, and began jumping up and down on it, breaking it into pieces.

"You broke my rifle!" The dog-man yelled, charging at him. "Yaaaaaahhhhh!"

Zozo took off running back towards the alley, but as he reached the wall, he suddenly kicked off of it, leaping upward and back over his opponent's head. At the same moment, Buzzwang shoved a handtruck into the alien's path. The dog-man tripped over the dolly, and slammed headfirst into the wall, knocking himself out.

Zozo slapped his hands together, dusting them off. "No problem."

Doc cried out as the man in the red mask opened fire again, and the laser blast cut into his shoulder. He dropped back behind the barrel, pulling out his own pistol, as Zozo and Buzz joined him. "No problem," Doc echoed, wincing as he put a hand to his shoulder.

"This situation does not look good," Buzzwang commented. "The third gang member was using his radio a few moments ago. We must assume that reinforcements are on the way."

Two hovercraft roared around the corner up the street. One slid to a stop in front of them, while the other stopped closer to the hangar, blocking their path to the Interceptor. The alleyway became filled with laser blasts.

"Thanks, Buzzwang," Doc snapped.

He glanced back at Goose, still struggling with the green haired alien. "My Gooseman, we are in SERIOUS trouble here..."

He was interupted as another hovercar roared into view. It accelerated, heading straight for one of the cars, and struck it forcefully, shoving it into the wall of another hangar. The Black Hole Gang members struggled to regain control of the careening vehicle, several of them flying out and landing prone in the street.

Daisy O'Mega stood up in the seat of her hovercar. "Get in!" She stared at the dumbstruck Rangers for a moment. "Come on, boys! Don't just stand there with yer jaws flappin' in the wind!"

"The cavalry has arrived!" Doc yelled, leaping out into the street and into the back seat of the hovercraft. Buzzwang quickly joined him, but Zozo glanced back at Gooseman, still pummeling the green haired alien.

"Can we trust her?" He asked.

"No..." Daisy answered, her Irish brogue getting thicker in her exasperation, "An' I don't trust you Rangers, either. But I'd rather pull yer arses outta this mess than leave ya to Macross. NOW GET IN!!!!!"

"I believe we should accept Miss O'Mega's offer," Buzzwang said, in his mechanical voice. "I believe the Black Hole Gang have recovered from their initial shock."

Daisy dropped down in her seat as the gang opened fire, filling the street with a blaze of colored light. Doc whipped around in his seat, returning fire with his own blaster, and Daisy quickly followed suit. "Get in, boys," she warned, "or I'm leavin' ya here..."

Zozo quickly jumped into the back seat, Goose taking only a few more moments to slug his opponent across the chin. He then ran out of the alley, his body flashing with light as returned to his normal form. "GO!" He yelled, as he scrambled into the passenger seat, next to Daisy.

"Hang on!" Daisy countered. She gunned the engine, and the hovercar made a full one eighty degree spin, almost throwing Zozo out into the street. She slammed into the gang's hovercar again as she passed it, sending it spinning out of control, as she shot back the way she came.

Patch, Macross's second, yelled for his men to sit down, as he gunned the engine of his hovercraft. Before he could move, however, another hovercraft, piloted by the man in the mask, shot out of the hangar in front of him. Patch followed, and the last hovercraft brought up the rear, several of the gang members still trying to climb into it as it passed.

Daisy looked back at their pursuers. A hail of laser fire began to shoot past them, and she floored it. "I knew I shouldn't have come back for you guys..."

"Pardon me, Miss O'Mega," Buzzwang began, "but where exactly are we going?"

"Well, I thought I'd take the Scenic route through Prairie, then we'd go out to dinner, then Shane and I will go and dance the New Texas two-step at the club..."

"WHAT DO YOU THINK I'M DOING HERE...! I'm tryin' ta ditch these low grade morons so we can get back to the Starport and go after Macross!!!"

"It's good to see you on our side, for once," Goose told her, as he turned back in his seat, leveling his blasters at the car behind them.

"I'm on nobody's side but me own, Shane Gooseman," she said, then cut him a sly glance. "Although I could be persuaded..." She returned her attention to the road, cutting around a corner and into the traffic of Prairie's city streets.

Time Bomb - Chapter 03

From Betamountain.org

Time Bomb

Chapter 03

by Richard Ryley