Sure Rumbo, you can use the story.

OKay, here's the next chapter (I'm late, I know). Enjoy!



CHAPTER 7: Vengeance of the Blue

'Who in the twin moons of Diamondus are you?' Kazooie watched in awe as the strange ship blew a wedge in the turtle formations. The ship seemed strange and unlike anything he had ever seen or heard of.

The intercom crackled back a message. 'We're friends. I'm assuming your friend wants to be picked up, as opposed to floating around in space. We'll bring your ships in with our tractor beams.'

Kazooie allowed the ship to bring them onboard. The craft took off into hyperspacce in a blur of speed.



'Will somebody explain what is going on? defalcon pulled himself out of his shattered canopy and landed with a thud on the hard metal floor.

'I don't know. I just ogt out of my ship. There seems to be no one around.' Kaz was resting on the wing of his ship. His hands edged towards his blaster.

'Greetings, I am Efaltine. I am the commander of this ship.' A neon green rabbit entered through the blast doors and approached defalcon.

'Looks like a rabbit...but he's to big for that...' defalcon muttered under his breath. The strange being answered back.

'Am I a rabbit? No. I am a hare. This ship is called the Ralvient. In my native tongue it means 'ship of wonder'. I am one of the few left of my species. We...' The hare's voice faltered. He stared at the ground shifting his feet.

'You..? You what?' Kaz slid off the bow of his fighter and took a step towards the hare.

'I am sorry, but I am uncomfortable speaking of what happened. As I was saying...We are called The Blue. We live in another galaxy, one extremely far away. In fact, it would probably take the fastest ship a 1000 year hyperspace trip to get there.'

'1000 years?' Kaz exploded 'You don't look 1000 years old!'

'Yes, well. The Ralvient comes equipped with a hyperspace drive, but we also have developed a technology called warp-tunneling. It is much to complex to explain. However, it shortened this trip to one of a few years. We came here to stop Devan Shell. He emerged on the fringes of our solar system. His troops descended upon our planet. We were caught unprepared and didn't stand a chance. Those few who managed to escape now serve onboard this ship, but in a nutshell Devan massacred our race. Once he had ransacked our planet of resources, he activated some sort of portal. The portal disrupted space-time and we were unable to attempt a trip until the energy storm had died down.' Elfatine clasped his hands behind his back, watching the rabbit and bird intently.

defalcon looked up. 'On the comm system, you said my name. How do you know who I am?'

'We've been listening in on your comms since we arrived in system. Warp-tunneling, while a great way to travel long distances, is difficult to plot accurate courses with. Any more questions?' Elfatine alnced at the two. 'None? Well then, I'll take you to your new quarters so you can change into something more comfortable and then an escort will take you to the bridge.' The hare, rabbit and bird slowly headed off into the corridors of the ship, not knowing what was yet to come.



'I'm Ducky. Ducky V. GreyRabbit.' A thin looking rabbit with a headset on dragged Spaz into the tank and sealed the hatch.

'Wow. Nice wheels. I'm pretty sure the Royal Guard doesn't have this sort of stuff. I mean, wow.' Spaz glanced around the roomy, hi-tech tank. There were monitors displaying infa-red, nightvision, radar, sensors, pulse-transmissions and other things Spaz didn't understand.

Duck nodded, then glanced at a console. She twisted a dozen various knobs before replying. 'I know. Turtle technology. I commandeered it from some unwary terrapins. Unfortunately, It takes two people to drive effectively, and half the buttons are written in turtle-script. I can make it move around at a low speed and I can direct the turret with that console there. Can't fire though: had you been hostile, I would have had no option but to retreat.'

'Can't fire it? Why, no bullets?' Spaz climbed into the second seat next to the turret controls.

'No, it's a rail-gun. It doesn't use bullets. I haven't found the right button.' Ducky focused on the main monitor, beads of sweat pouring down her forehead.

'Ah. Well, you'd at least figure they'd have a joystick.' Spaz glanced at his controls. there were an assorted array of buttons and dials, but no joystick.

'That one there is to move the turret. That one...well, I haven't tried it.' Ducky indicated a large, shiny red button underneath a glass saftey-panel.

'Oooooohhhhh! Shiney! A button!' Spaz opened the panel and pushed his finger down. There was a large jolt of energy as the rail-gun collapsed a nearby building.

'Whoops.'

'Ah. I thought that was the fire button.'

'Heh. Well, I guess we can steer the tank now.'

'I hope so. Here comes a hover-barge!'



'Two, four, six, eight! That's our leader, ain't he great? Stand up tall and stand up pround, shout his name out really loud!' Devan Shell strode through the corridors of his ship, a pep-rally following him along the passageways.

'Ah, my good Lord Devan. How can I be of assis-'

The turtle officer was yanked by the collar into the air by Devan's juggernaut fists.

'I have little patience right now. I just recieved a report saying two Jackrabbit fighters managed to escape a full complement of fighters. But that can wait.'He pressed his blaster into the face of the turtle. 'Have the runes been prepared?'

'Yes, oh glorious one. Admiral Bilsy reports they are in correct alignment. We may begin right away.' Devan dropped the turtle to the floor and strode to the door.

'Begin Phase One of operation 9466. Prepare the Runes. Now nothing can stop us from dominance over the universe!'



'Oh man. We're in deep, aren't we.' Rumbo's voice was a low, grave tone. He watched the cloaked rabbit carefully. His movements, his voice seemed all too familiar. Rumbo knew he rabbit, but who was it?

'Yes Rumbo, extremely. Normally, there are only 2 safe ways to travel time. one is to use a warp-generator. The second way would be to use the Time-Stone, which, even so, isn't quite safe. The runes however, are unstable. Incomplete. Devan's repeated use of them is slowly erroding the flow of time. Reality is being distorted. In fact Rumbo, not only did this forest appear here, but this isn't my house either. My house was more...well, of a house. Not a shack. Then, poof. My cottage is gone and I'm sitting in a shed.' The cloaked rabbit moved his arms around him, gesturing to the tin walls of the building.

'I wouldn't have believed it at first, but things aren't very good right now. I'd say that-' Rumbo was cut off in mid-sentence.

'Rumbo?' The rabbit blinked. One minute Rumbo was there, talking, and the next minute he was gone. 'RUMBO?!'



BAM! A shot from the rail-gun of the tank rattled the forward armour of the barge. But the rail-gun wasn't equipped to deal with a hover-barge, despite it's devastating arnament. Spaz and Ducky hammered the barge with a cascade of fusion missiles. The shields on the craft shook, but held strong.

'Ducky, problem. We're out of missiles! What are we supposed to do? Shoot them with the rail-gun? It won't penetrate!' Spaz was frantic. he hammered every button on the weapons panel, aside the clearly marked 'SELF DESTRUCT' button. The main gun on the tank shifted into a larger, more devastating Dracon cannon.

Ducky stared at the viewscreens then laughed. 'Hahaha! A Dracon beam! Come on punks, come get it!'

'Hehe. Shall I?' Spaz's finger was poised over the fire button. Ducky gave him a nod and, laughing, he blew into the hover-barge.

TSEEEEWWWW! The beam fired and met the shields of the barge. The shields crackled over with energy, flickered then died. With the slight distortion from the shields gone, Ducky could see into the bridge of the turtle craft. With a wild grin, Spaz twisted the controls and the Dracon gun rattled into line with the hover-barge's bridge.

'Oh s...' The turtle in command mouthed a profanity. Spaz hit the button.

'Die, shell-scum!' The barge exploded in a roar of flames. Spaz and Ducky began to cheer, but then the tank shuddered fiercely.

'We're hit!' Ducky glanced at the viewscreen. Another two barges headed straight for them.

'Oh man, thing's can't get any worse!' Spaz gulped and then swore as the power died.

'Spaz, I think we have a problem.'