In a rectangle formation, lasers cut through the reinforced steel doors as a loud thud engulfed dust. Androids marched on in a single file, green plasma ripped holes through steel, opening fire at Finder. She jumped out of the way to avoid the blast as it nicked her right shoulder. Her eyes spoke of dread. Finder clenched down her teeth, clutching on her wound as she fired back. Finder took out half the androids with head and torso shots. She pressed a button on her black belt and activated a red forcefield while firing at the androids. She jumped for cover under the steel table as she turned and fired more rounds at the androids. Ducking down for cover, she counted her breaths. The lasers started rummaging through the concrete wall. Androids continued their march forward, firing their weapons and covering all exits.
Finder's eyes glared at the androids. "Come and get some." She ran to the other corner, dodging incoming assaults with a forward flip.
Finder pressed forward, her dark cloak wiping in the air as she adjusted the level of her weapon, pressing hard on a small dial above the triggers. The weapons hummed in synergy. She took her guns out and increased her firing range, taking out a dozen more androids. Finder sighed, glancing up at the ship as they took off through the hanger bay. She screamed at the top of her lungs, turning back to the androids, firing her weapons. Olympus exploded and Millennia and Hard Drive were traveling through space. All they saw was a purple dust cloud.
* * *
"How long until we open a portal to another Earth?" Millenia asked, feeling the weight of his choices.
"The device will be ready in a few minutes. All we need is the crystal," Hard Drive replied.
Millennia's reached deep within his blue leather cloak, retrieving the red Crystal of Kondo, glowing from a black pouch, placed at the center of the device. The red Crystal of Kondo, one of the cosmic crystals from Earth 36, grants the kind of powers that allows one the ability to travel between parallel worlds with ease when its power is channeled at a specific frequency. Millennia placed into the hub of the device that stimulated the sound. The red crystal glowed, powering the transponders in the core relays. A screen materialized in front of them that showed 75 percent, indicating to them how much time until the next temporal jump.
"I failed them, Janos... I failed this world." Millennia, pounded his fist on the bar rail making a dent.
"It is not your fault, Millennia, they knew the risk and knew what they signed up for. Our friends died proudly defending this world."
Millennia shook his head. "That is the thing. They died and it's all my fault."
Hard Drive turned and reached Millennia's shoulder. "All that matters now is that we have a chance to make this right."
A round circle in the middle lit up at the main control board. "The device is ready," Hard Drive said, pushing buttons on the control box.
Millennia regained his composure. "Set coordinates to Earth 1."
In a matter of seconds, a temporal distortion of red energy pulled their ship across several worlds until they reached Earth 1. Millennia took the time to look at the blue-rich planet. Hard Drive remained stoic as his eyes widened. The sun revealed its radiance on the corner of the horizon.
"We have a chance to save this world and others," Millennia said.
A piece of the right wing of the ship came off as a downward turbulence caused them to fall. The sound of the alert system blared in the background. Hard Drive got up and tried to override the emergency brakes by linking himself to the main system core. An electrical wire from the wall connected to his exposed chest ring. A surge of power entered inside him as he gained data access at lightning speed. Fire and smoke circled the engines and the ship headed toward Earth at a high speed. Millennia ran to the controls to help steer the ship upward. He grunted, pulling the controls up as hard as he could.
"Brace for impact," Millennia said, pulling the guidance controls up to his chest.
Hard Drive closed his eyes as he raised the shields to protect them from impact, heading straight into the water.
* * *
Hours had passed. Millennia had awakened from the ship crash, and his left arm and left leg were dislocated. There were two heavy steel rectangle beams of the ship that laid on top of him. He tried to summon his strength but was met with resistance. It took an effort to lift against the heavy objects off his body with his right hand. He rolled to the side to avoid it from falling back on him. Breathing hard, he reached for the nearest poll to pull himself up. For a moment, his muscles quelled.
The ship was damaged from the inside. But the outer layer of the ship was intact. Oxygen levels were stable. He searched around the ship for Hard Drive. Millennia called out to him, "Hard Drive, are you there?"
He went further down the steps, passing broken floor and wall panels. As he continued the walk, there were loose wires, dangling above that gave off sparks of light. Debris was covering every square inch of the floor, making it difficult for Millennia to maneuver downward from the wreckage. He reached the bottom of the deck. It was the sickbay area surrounded by more dangling red and blue wires. Some sliding doors bent on each side. Millennia turned to one room and that was where he found Hard Drive, sitting on the bed repairing himself.
Millennia formed a slight smile. "Hard Drive, you are alive. You scared the hell out of me."
Hard Drive turned his head backward toward Millennia. "Yes, I am alive as you would say. I see you are in need of repairs yourself according to my scans."
"That won't be necessary, my injuries will heal in a day," Millennia said lightheartedly to change the mood.
"Janos, can you tell me what is the month, day, and year on this planet?"
Hard Drive scanned the database of all the technology on Earth 1 for factual data. "It is Wednesday, May 15, 2019."
"Just as I suspected. We are right on schedule." Millennia crossed his arms.
"What is our mission here on this earth, Millennia?" Hard Drive asked.
"The mission is to form a new group of heroes. That is our mission. But first, I need to find a human in this world," Millennia said.
"Who is this human that we need to look for?" Hard Drive inquired.
"The human's name is James Orion Reese. We need to find him fast and the other potentials. The fate of other worlds depends on it. And I'm not going to let anything happen to this Earth like all the others."
"I will see what I can do to find this James Orion Reese," Hard Drive said, blinking his eyes as he shifted his sight at the main database.
Millennia folded his arms. "What of the crystals of this earth?"
Hard Drive nodded, checking the scanner monitor on his wrist. "I'm picking up two quantum energy signatures on my scanners here in this area."
"We need to get them before Saladin does." Millennia turned his attention to the window. "If he manages to get all the crystals, every Earth from the multiverse, including Earth 1 will be no more."
"Then we better move, "Hard Drive said.
"I will be going on the top surface. Are the trajectory beams fully functional?" Millenia asked.
"According to my readings, they are not fully operational. It will take about an hour for repairs. I will work on the system repairs for the ship. However, the hover pods are still operational and will allow you to go up onto the surface."
Millennia turned toward Hard Drive, reaching for his shoulder."Okay, I'll keep in contact."
"Be well, Millennia," Hard Drive said, repairing his mechanical hand circuitry with an electric screwdriver.
"You know me, Janos, I am a survivor." Millennia gave him a warm smile.
As Millennia left Hard Drive, a holographic picture of a beautiful young woman appeared from his wristwatch. He looked at it for a moment, going over her facial expression in his mind. Then deactivated the image while heading toward the deck where the hover pods were kept.
The glass plate from the hover pod opened. With his wristwatch, he clicked on a silver button, stepping inside the cockpit. The glass plate came back down sealing the pod. He buckled his belt and activated the piloting system controls, flicking the brown buttons in a single row. Multi-colored lights came on the control panel. Millennia's eyes were engaged, checking the guidance controls. No margin of error could be made when using the hover pod. He knew how important it was to understand the mechanics and operations to steer clear of danger.
As the hanger bay opened, the pod was submerged in water. It was propelled out through the propulsion magnetic generators from the bottom railing of the ship, giving it momentum at 30 mph. The ship hanger's bay door closed behind him. Millennia floated up to the surface, passing fish and other sea creatures. The one thought that circulated in his mind was finding the young woman in the photo and James.
As he reached the top surface of the Hudson Harbor, a boat was spotted. It didn't take long for him to admire the world and its surroundings. He used his wristwatch to scan for other crystals, hoping to pick up on any signal. Millennia turned with the scanner, picking up on one strong signal nearby the city with a blinking blue dot.
"It is time to begin my search." Millennia blue boots swished on gray concrete.