Terminus Part I: The Journey There (Draft)

Chapter 21: Sabotage By Half

 As James and crew searched the island for their missing crew mates, Bolster and Amperes made it out of the pathways that lay between the underground chamber and the surface.

"It feels like we were in that tunnel for a really long time," said Bolster, to which Amperes requested that he be told something he was unaware of.

"Well, I mean, how many chapters has it been?"

Amperes looked stunned. He then came to his senses, long enough to lambast Bolster. "Are you insane? You can't just talk about the true nature of the universe!"

"Right, how careless of me. But to be fair, it has been a long time since I observed those rules."

"About three thousand local years. Little more than a month for someone like us. Still, a month with nothing to do feels like three thousand years."

"So, when do we find that bastard Phenos and arrest him?"

"Are you crazy? There is no way we can arrest that guy... he's too much for us!"

"We can't return to our homeworld in disgrace, Amperes. If we don't complete our mission, he will continue his mission."

"And why can't we just let him have one planet?"

Bolster was now shocked. His expression turned to that of disappointment, however, as he said, "You should know exactly why. If he took an uninhabited planet, there would be nothing wrong with it."

"You're right, I'm sorry. The safety of others, et cetera."

Meanwhile, on board one of the two fleet ships, Cameron and Milangelo were being held in containment chambers. Their memories had been copied and were now being copied to the entirety of the alien fighting force. As such, they were not being monitored, as the system was focused completely on copying the data. With no-one watching or keeping them unconscious, they awoke to find themselves being contained.

While Milangelo stood in his chamber, thinking about a way out, Cameron was desperately trying to escape. He had been held captive too many times to let himself be held captive once again. He used his most powerful two-strength techniques, but with no success. Milangelo continued to think, there must be some way to get out of here that requires minimal effort and maximum gain. He looked around his chamber, studying every inch of it as carefully as he could, and found nothing.

Hm, what would James do in this situation? Think outside the box? Outside the containment chamber, as it were? Milangelo noticed a large button on the wall opposite them marked "lower containment perimeter". He had an idea, and using the Three-Strength technique 'Vibrant Colours of the Salt' on the ground, he could cause a vibration that would cause the button to press itself. However, the only effect it seemed to have was to bounce him around in his containment chamber.

On the mothership, Phenos was twiddling his thumbs because Two-Seven had stopped relaying video feeds in order to copy faster. He decided he would go down to the fleet ship where the hostages were being held himself, in order to make sure that nothing untoward was happening.

When he arrived, he found both of them trying to escape, and failing completely. He turned on a microphone that was connected to speakers within the containment chambers. He laughed maniacally at their futile attempts to escape.

"You're not going to escape these pods," he told them. "They were made to withstand everything.

"Anyway, it's good to see that you're so eager to leave, when I'm done with you, you will be returned to your home planet. After all, what do I have to fear when your planet will be mine soon anyway?"