Six beams of light shot from the temple straight through the sky. If anyone looked up, they could have seen them streaking across the sky. They streaked through the earth’s atmosphere and crashed into the surface with a small cloud of dust. Being on the moon wasn’t like being it looked in the movies and pictures.
As they took their first steps they hopped slightly here and there. Owen jumped slightly and laughed spinning around until he came back down. Jack leaped forward and slid forward gently kicking up dust as well. Grinning he looked back at the rest of them. Kathryn and Seth jumped toward the two of them.
“How’s space Jack?” Seth asked.
“It’s better than I imagined,” he whooped and jumped high letting the weightlessness take over him. He soared dozens of feet without trying. He could do that on Earth but this was in space.
Sarah looked at him for a second before looking over at Marco. She walked to stand beside him and gasped lightly. They stared at their home planet, at Earth, and Sarah shook her head. “Wow. That’s.”
“Beautiful?” Marco offered.
“Yeah. I thought I was getting used to all the changes in our lives. And it was really getting to me,” she said softly. She looked toward Earth again. “I was forgetting to enjoy the simple things.” She looked toward Marco and Jack as he bounded forward. “And the simple people.”
Marco started to say something but Seth shouted first, “We’ve got company team!”
Everyone turned to him and started stepping backwards. Covering the moon was a legion of armored, what they could only call, soldiers. Their uniforms weren’t exactly the same but they were similar. Green interlocking pieces almost like scales with helmets like the jaws of a creatures and red visors. Some of them had multiple arms, some tails, some tall, some short.
Across the visor of their helmets was the same symbol, an eye with a pair of curving horns. Easily there were hundreds of them if not more. Beyond them was a large black ship that seemed to be made of the same material as their armor. Like a giant lizard or dragon.
“Talk about the welcome wagon,” Jack said. “Think this is all for us?”
“I don’t see anyone else on their way to the moon,” Kathryn said folding her arms.
“Hey we can take them, right?” Owen asked.
“We have to. Or else this is going to be real awkward for everyone back home,” Seth scowled. “Hope you’re ready kid.”
Sarah grit her teeth together and took a step forward, “What’s the plan Marco?”
Marco’s hand flashed with red light as he brought his gun forward. “Work together. Fight together. Our goal is to get to the ship. Blast a hole in it, find the leader of this bunch and kick them out of our solar system.” The others brought their weapons out and nodded in quick agreement. “Let’s go to work everyone!”
They charged into the crowd and crashed with an explosion of light. Seth, Jack, and Owen led the charge their fists, shields and scythe carving the way. Behind them came Sarah and Kathryn dolling out lightning and energy the entire way. Finally, Marco held up the rear, bullets flying and picking off any in their way.
The enemy soldiers weren’t that coordinated. Most of them were attacking with claws or fist. Very few of them were using weapons but they definitely had the numbers advantage. If it weren’t for Marco they would have been dragged down and overwhelmed. But like Ley had said a long time ago they were stronger together and right now they felt invincible.
They dug through the sea of soldiers but they were coming to a standstill. They weren’t making any progress meanwhile they were quickly getting surrounded and losing ground. “We need to clear a path!” Marco shouted. “Jack! Owen! Can you handle it?”
“I got it!” Owen cried out passing next to Jack.
“Grab hold!” Jack shouted as his guardian held out its scythe. Owen grabbed it and the guardian spun around throwing him forward. Jack jumped as well landing on the scythe before being launched after the pink knight.
Owen came down fists first and sent an explosion of pink energy scattering soldiers entirely. Then came the green waves of Jack and his guardian’s scythe swinging back and forth. Meanwhile Marco and Kathryn both came forward with their weapons. Kathryn shoved her staff into the ground while Marco fired bullets and together they erected a ramp.
The four of them ran up it quickly and then vaulted forward diving into the path that Owen and Jack were clearing. When they came down they created a wave of energy blowing the soldiers away and revealing a path to the ship. But the soldiers were coming after them. This close to the ship, it was definitely bigger than they thought. Like a fortress.
“This thing can fly?” Jack mumbled to himself and glanced over his shoulder at the team. “We’re breaking in right?”
“No shit,” Seth said slinging the buckler back against his arm raising his fist. “You ready kid?”
Owen nodded and they slammed his fist against the shield. Owen’s glowed pink and Seth’s glowed purple. They lurched forward and swung together blowing a hole open in the hull. They braced for something to go wrong, for air to blow them back and against the ground. But there was silence. They all exchanged glances then jumped inside. Once everyone was inside Marco spun his gun around and fired a series of blue bullets filling the hole with energy.
Backing away from it he rushed toward everyone else. He finally had a chance to really look at everything else around them. Tall walls, gaudy decoration along the walls, and soft lights along the floor.
“Well. Can’t say I like the decor,” Kathryn said walking forward not lowering her staff.
“It is pretty edgy,” Sarah agreed.
“Do people really like this stuff?” Owen asked making a face.
“Oh for sure,” Sarah laughed. “I can only imagine what kind of twelve year old alien thing we’re going to run into.”
Marco spun his barrel around seeing where his ammunition looked and nodded, “Whatever it is, let’s go find out.”
The Harlequin Library 