The First Strike

Captain Rekker was delighted by the performance of the mecha and how well his crew did on their first mission into combat on this world. His primary target was eliminated, the secondary targets were beaten severely, and the incoming fighters that had showed up far too late to save the city did not do any real damage to the mecha. He couldn't figure out why the previous Galactors failed with ships like this one in their command. "Earth must still have a weapon that has not been found out by us yet."

Lord Nitocrys was also very pleased with the events that took place. He ordered that all the bases be reenforced with more troops and that the production of land and air attack vehicles be produced on a large scale. In light of how fast they walked through the unprepared Gatchaman team, he felt he should use this time to strengthen his forces. "We will get no second chance to build up like this so I dare not waste it now."

Jun, who was wearing one of those stupid hospital gowns that opened in the back and exposed everything, stared down at her bare legs. It was hard to believe that only six week ago they were burnt black, and there was a bone sticking out of her left one. Medical science really had come a long way. They put a titanium pin in her leg, so now she figured she'd set off any metal detector anywhere within ten miles of her.

Jinpei stopped in a lot to check up on her and so did Ryu, the latter still apologizing for landing the Phoenix on top of the Snack J. She told him that insurance will cover the cost of rebuilding it and not to worry; He'd still be welcome there when it was finished. Joe had even sent her a get-well card and she sent one back to him. Of Ken however, she had heard nothing, but she wasn't really upset about it. Their relationship never got passed being good friends, even when she practically threw herself at him at Dr. Nambu's party all those years ago. " I guess I just didn't expect him to just stop all of a sudden. Oh well, he never was a good at confrontation, at least not in this sense. In a way I'm glad, now I can get on with my life and he can continue to be our leader without worrying about pissing me off."

Dr. Nambu was walking down the hall on his way to see Jun when he ran into Ryu and Jinpei. "Hey Doc, heard anything new about the Galactor yet?"

"No Jinpei I haven't."

"Wouldn't you think they'd attack by now?"

"Well Ryu, I think we were right in thinking that they were coming to colonize this planet. I also believe that they were unprepared for the fact that Sosai X failed. So now I think that they are trying to build up a strong force in order to be more of a threat to us."

"But what about that mecha? It must have taken a long time for them to build that."

"No, not necessarily. They may have found an old base that was not destroyed from before and there may have been a mecha still inside it."

Ryu and Jinpei looked dejected. "Oh I never thought of that."

"That's ok Ryu, nobody did until that thing attacked us and nearly killed you guys."

As they got closer to Jun's room, they could hear on the TV what sounded like a stupid, cheesy talk show, the type Jun would never admit to watching on purpose. Yet, as they walked in, there she was laying in bed watching the show. Once she saw them, she immediately grabbed the remote from the nearby table and started to change the channel.

Ryu laughed. " Aha! Caught ya! We heard that crap clear down the hallway."

Jun sighed and gave up. "If you were trapped in this damn bed for six weeks you'd be watching stupid shit too."

She looked over at Jinpei. "Hey, I hear the cafeteria is serving ham today. Why don't you go get some?"

Jinpei, pissed of at the comment, frowned. "That's not funny. Thanks to your " smokin' bod" I hate ham."

She smiled, reached out and smacked him on the head. " Jinpei, shut up."

She turned to face Dr.Nambu who, until then, was laughing at their antics. " So tell me doctor, am I getting a new uniform or will I still have to run around with my legs and most of my bare ass exposed, so that the world can burn it off again?"

The doctor seemed to be embarrassed by the question. "Well Jun, we really don't have time to make you a new uniform. I am sorry. We did do something else a little more extravagant though."

Jun looked incredulous, and the others looked amazed. It never struck her in the past, but it did that day; Dr. Nambu seemed to hold back information just so he would come across more important than he really was. The idea that he was human after all was actually funny, and the thought made her smile to herself.

Ryu was lost and Jinpei wasn't doing much better. "What new things did you come up with doctor?"

"Well Ryu, I'll tell you all when we're altogether. Ok?"

" Ok. Hey, how is Joe and Ken?"

"They seem to be fine. Joe had a race today or he would've been here, and Ken is at his airstrip working on his plane."

Later that same day. Jun was released from the hospital and went directly to the underground base. The others were already there inside Dr. Nambu's office. She saw Ken sitting by Joe on the couch and smiled . "Hi stranger, long time no see."

Ken turned about three shades red. "Sorry I didn't see you while you were in the hospital. I was really busy."

Jun was still smiling. " That's ok, I'm over it." The frozen smile on her face made the room drop at least twenty degrees. "Really Ken, I am "over it"."

Thankfully for Ken Dr. Nambu walked in. "All right you're all here. I have some good news for everyone. Since the last Phoenix was completely beyond repair, we decided it would be a good time to release the new Phoenix.

There was stunned silence for a moment, then Ryu broke it. "Gosh Doc, I didn't think I wrecked it that bad."

"You didn't, the Galactor did. Remember that laser blast that hit it just after you left? Well, it disintegrated the entire rear of the ship. There was nothing to save."

Ryu was very surprised and sat down without saying anything. The doctor continued. "We were going to unveil this eventually, however, the situations have changed and we had to act earlier than planned."

Joe, who as usual looked angry, finally spoke. "What new situations? What are they up to now?"

Dr.Nambu waved his hand at Joe to try to calm him down. "Relax Joe. For once we were able to locate a Galactor base and get a spy in to it. It seems as though this base is building up quite an army. It's manufacturing tanks ,and jet fighters at an alarming rate. This is not the base that attacked our city. We still don't know where that one is located. Our spy was able to give us these co-ordinates before he was killed. He also said that this base's commander was not a captain. He is in fact a general, and this is not good for us. You see, we were used to fighting a more loosely run organization. The fact that a general exists tells us that this new leader is a lot more disciplined than we thought."

Ken got up from the couch and started to pace back and forth in front of the others. "That explains why we had trouble with the last mecha. These people aren't going to make a mistake, we're actually going to have a fight on our hands this time."

Dr. Nambu nodded. "Mmmhm. That seems to be the short of it. Now, getting back to the new ship. You will all have new weapons and vehicles to use in this fight. Even you Ryu. You will have a tank to drive, we cannot afford you to stay and babysit the Phoenix anymore. The ship will have an autopilot that you can command to do just about anything you want while you're away."

The team seemed genuinely happy about their new toys, except Jun. She was not too happy to find that she has to drive another motorcycle. "Oh well, I guess my burnt body looked good to those damned I.S.O. creeps."

Before they were to go, and after they got used to their new vehicles, Dr. Nambu called them all in for one last briefing. "I feel that you should know what and who your enemy is. His name is General Baal, and he is the one in command at this particular base. That much the spy got out to us. He, however, the general sent us this picture of our dead spy." The doctor showed them the picture, which provoked a variety of reactions. Jun gasped and covered her mouth. Ryu looked horrified, as did Jinpei, and Ken seemed to be both surprised and disgusted. Joe couldn't tell what it was until he stared at it closer, and then he too was totally shocked by it. The 8x10 color photo was very clear, so they could see every detail. It was a man who had been whipped several hundred times so that the skin hung in ribbons from his bones. At first, it looked as though he was tied to a post, but upon closer examination the poor wretch was in fact impaled on it. The pole went through his crotch and out his mouth, and his eyes were wide open. He had obviously lived though a great deal of it before he died.

With the room deathly quiet, Dr.Nambu walked over to his desk and sat down. "This general has plainly disregarded the fact that his base has been found. He probably expects some sort of attack, and judging by the way he took care of the spy, he seems to look forward to it. I want you all to be very careful on this mission. This man is not playing games."

Ken was visibly upset and very angry. "Doctor, this general is obviously insane. I doubt that we'll run into any real organized resistance."

"Ken, don't be a fool. Never confuse evil with insanity. According to that dead spy, this General Baal is one of the best generals that the new Galactor have. Yes, his methods are extreme, but they are intended to be. You just proved one reason why he uses them. You automatically assumed he was inferior and could easily be destroyed. You of all people should know never to underestimate an enemy."

"Sorry, doctor. I'm not sure why I said that. I was just so repulsed by that picture that I didn't think straight."

"That's ok Ken, but you'd better get used to such sights. You'll be seeing more of them the closer you get to the base."

Jun turned pale and asked, " You mean there are more bodies like that?"

Dr. Nambu walked over to her and put his hand on her shoulder. "Yes, Jun. He apparently butchered hundreds of the nearby townspeople and had them all impaled around his base. It won't be a pretty sight. You'll have to be strong for this one. We really are up against true evil this time. Don't underestimate it!"

With that, they left the base, each realizing what would happen to them if they were captured. The thought was sobering. There could be no surrender to this new foe.

Lord Nitocrys sat behind his big desk and thought about how things seemed to be going for him. "I am glad that General Baal was ready to move out as fast as he was. His methods should shake up the Earth's best defenders. It may also strengthen their resolve. However, this is war, and I will have this planet even if I personally must kill every last human being on it."

Mephisto was announced at Nitocrys' door by the guard standing outside his quarters. " My lord." The admiral bowed his head respectfully. "General Baal wishes to inform you that his base was breached by a spy. He realizes that this makes no difference to the plans, but he wanted you to know he has dealt with the problem."

The dark one smiled, revealing white, sharp and straight teeth. This, and his burning red eyes, made quite an unsettling picture. "I am sure he did. As well as I am certain that he let the spy's people know he did and how he did it. Our general is acentric to say the least."

Mephisto, still standing, although now with his hands behind his back trying to relax, added, "My lord, he has over ten thousand troops stationed at that base. Along with two thousand tanks with the new high- strength armor and thirty five-hundred fighter jets, all of which are armed with laser- guided and heat- seeking missiles. If you don't mind my asking, what are your intentions?"

"As you are my admiral, you are in charge of all of my ships and my shipbuilding bases. What I intend is to capture a city and it's surrounding resources. Then, if all goes well, start to recruit the local inhabitancy into our army. As you well know, we are a pitifully small group to be hoping for world domination." He let his words sink in before continuing. " If you recall Hontworl and Asham were two countries who formerly supported our old flag, and would probably rally to it again if necessary. We will give them a gift to show them our good intentions.

I will mount an assault on their hostile neighbor and take out a very prominent threat to their existence. I am sure they will appreciate it and realize that their old ally has returned."

The admiral nodded his head in recognition of the good idea. "How will I play into all this?"

Nitocrys looked amused and told him to sit down and have a drink. "Mephisto, this is good wine. Enjoy it while I tell you about your part."Mephisto sat down and got as comfortable as he could in front of his leader without looking disrespectful.

"Now then. I will send in Captain Rekker with his big dragon mecha to soften up the defenses. After his first few passes over the target area, General Baal will follow up with his fighter forces. As all this goes on, his armored battalions will attack in a blitzkrieg fashion, followed then by the infantry, which will mop up any remaining resistance pockets. If the city falls quickly, they will have orders to conquer as much of the country that they can, without stretching their supply lines too thin. The amount of territory that is taken will be entirely up to Baal. He will be on the scene and able to make such a decision quickly. That also includes Captain Rekker. He will have to take orders from the general. I know how the army and navy hate taking orders from each other, so make it clear to Rekker that it is in the best interest he follow Baal's orders. After the initial attack, he will be back under your orders, and at all times he will be in command of the mecha. Baal knows this and will allow Rekker to comply with his orders as he see fit."

After that little speech, Mephisto wondered if there was anything that his lordship didn't plan for.

Finishing his wine, he made to leave the cabin. "Thank you my lord. I'll instruct Captain Rekker on when this will take place and how he should respond."

"Very good admiral, this will all happen in two weeks, barring any unforseen incidents."

General Baal was adjusting his uniform in the mirror in his private quarters. It fit his lean frame well and the dark green, almost black color, made his pale features contrast sharply. Most would call him good looking, even handsome, but for the scar that ran down the right side of his face. It was lighter than the surrounding skin, and ran from his pale blue eye to the top of his jawbone. He had long yellow-white hair that hung between his shoulders, and he always kept part of it covering the right side of his face to hide the scar. As he ran a finger along the scar, he remembered how he had received it.

It was about fifteen years ago. He had been ordered to come to this planet and take out the former leader of the Galactor. He was unsuccessful, as the traitorous leader had been informed of his mission and lay an ambush for him. It was only by his skill with a sword that he did not die that day, but he hadn't escaped without being left a little reminder. Someone else eventually ended up killing the rebel leader, yet still, Baal would never forget that day. The fact that this "Science Ninja Team" was seconded by the son of the former traitor made this new job extra special to him. He tried not to think about it. If it was ordained that he should meet this son of a bitch then so be it, but he refused to dwell on it. "Lieutenant."

As if by magic his staff lieutenant appeared beside him. "Yes sir!"

Baal turned to face him and the staff officer shrank a bit in his intense stare. "Inform Colonel Sten that I want the security around the base doubled. I believe we may have visitors before long."

"Yes sir. Begging the general's pardon, but the colonel wishes to know what you would have him do with the rest of the towns people we captured when we took over the base. You see sir, we've held them for six weeks, and the colonel needs the space for his tank parking."

Baal thought about it and remembered that these were the people who they couldn't impale because they ran out of poles. "Hmmm. I must have forgotten all about them. Yes he would need the space for his tanks, our production has been amazingly fast. Tell him to throw them all into the blast furnace along with all the dead corpses we have "posted" all around the base. I think they've served their purpose. Now they just stink."

"Yes sir."The lieutenant couldn't tell if his general meant that the corpses served their purpose or if the prisoners did. Either way they both did stink. "Sir? Just one more thing."

Getting annoyed, Baal snapped back. "What now?!"

"Sorry sir. Did you want him to kill the prisoners first?"

"No.....no don't waste the ammunition. Just throw them in kicking and screaming."He smiled as though it was all a joke.

"Yes sir." With that the staff officer finally left.

It was a beautiful day. The sun was shining and the temperature was about 70 degrees. Baal walked along the perimeter of his base with his colonel and his staff lieutenant, and four guards just for show. He looked up at the observation tower and at the long set of four runways that ran right by the bases fighter hangers. "Well Colonel Sten, let's go up to the tower and see what kind of things might be flying around today."

Colonel Sten was the type of man who never questioned the strange whims of his commanding officer. He was only too glad to see that Baal seemed to be in a good mood for once. He was also glad that Baal decided to take down all of the dead bodies impaled all around the base. It wasn't that he didn't agree with his methods; He just thought they were beginning to smell bad. "Alright sir, I'll bet they won't expect you to surprise them with a visit. My guess is they'll be running all over hell trying to make everything look good once they see where your going."

Baal laughed and shook his head. "You're probably right colonel. They'll be hiding all the coffee cups and soda cans and anything else they can get their hands on before I arrive."

" I see colonel, that you have the new recruits training out on the drill field today. How many humans did we enlist this week?"

The colonel turned to the staff lieutenant. "Well Grist, how many? You have all the figures I believe."

Lieutenant Grist opened a folder he was carrying under his right arm and studied it quickly while he walked beside his general. "Sir, we've recruited exactly 1521 men last week alone. That makes our total human population about 4000. Sir."

General Baal looked thoughtful and turned to the lieutenant. "Grist, were these new people interviewed well? I don't want a lot of hard heads and prison rejects serving our cause."

" To be honest sir, some were from prisons, but they were all paroled early for good behavior and there were no sodomites among them."

"I see. One or two of those people always seem to get in though, no matter what you do. They're bad for discipline. They make others around them nervous and if it's an officer they would have the whole battalion out to kill them in their sleep."

"I understand sir, we've explained what would happen if we caught one."

"Good. That's all anyone can ask I suppose."

When they finally reached the top of the tower, it was indeed spotless and there were full trash cans everywhere in the room. This pretty much proved to the general and his staff that this cleanliness was just for his benefit and that it was all done in the last minute. Baal just smiled to himself. "As you were." The staff of the control tower returned to doing their jobs, and two men very self-consciously took out the full trash cans.

The general went over to the main radar screen to see if anything abnormal could be seen. He peered at the screen and asked the officer in charge if they are tracking any unusual objects. "Yes sir, there is a rather large flying object headed this way. If it holds its trajectory it will be in range of our defense batteries in about three hours."

"I see." Baal rubbed his chin while he thought about the probability that this was in fact the Science Ninja Team's first attack on his base. He hoped that the picture and the bodies that were still "posted" around the base had the desired effect. "Hopefully this sight will enrage them into doing something stupid. Other than attacking a well armed base with only five people."

"Colonel Sten, have a squadron of fighters armed with our new guided missiles launched to meet them."

"Yes sir, I anticipated something like this and had already armed and fueled a squadron. It will take off immediately."

"Excellent. I knew there was a reason I made you a colonel."

As he watched the fighters take off he wondered how this day would end and if he would get to meet this " Joe" or not. He unknowingly touched his scar as he thought about it.

The new Phoenix was on autopilot and Ken was talking to Ryu about their mission when Jun interrupted them. "I'm picking up a large formation of fighter planes headed this way from our target area."

Ken was surprised by this sudden out burst and seemed at a loss. "What? You mean they already know we're coming?"

Jun glared at him. "Well this is a big ship and they are probably expecting us." She rolled her eyes and turned back to the monitor.

"Ok, ok. How many fighters are there?"

"Fifty."

"Whew!" Quite a welcome wouldn't you say Ken?" Ryu remarked.

"Yes, I would. Jun, call in the Red Specter for assistance and tell Dr. Nambu of our situation."

"Roger."

"Joe, take over I'm going to go out in Eagle 1 to try to lessen the odds."

" All right, I can do that. Watch yer back Ken."

"Ken, Red Specter is on their way. Good luck."

"This is team leader, a craft is exiting the rear of the Phoenix. First wave concentrate on the emerging craft, second wave attack the Phoenix."

"Roger that team leader, first wave initiating attack now."

"Firing missiles."

"Second wave, I've got new radar contacts at 045. They'll be on us in five minutes. It looks like forty fighters."

"Roger that first wave. Finish up with the solo flyer and return to position to repel new force."

Ken was just leaving the Phoenix's bay doors when all of a sudden he was hit by three missiles. Thankfully the new Eagle1 could take more abuse than the last one or it would have been a quick trip. "Joe, I'm out. See how many you can knock down before Red Specter gets here."

"Roger Ken."

The Phoenix was next to get hit. It took several direct hits from very heavy missiles, yet it continued to fly. Joe was doing his best with the guns, but there was just too many of them and they were real good at dodging what he was throwing. He did manage to shoot down five, however, and Ken, though severely outnumbered continued fighting. He took out seven and was paying for it with heavy damage from repeated hits. The Red Specter finally joined in, and it was like a rushing tide of unstoppable red water as they flew right through the formations of attacking Galactor. The enemy was ready for them and they did fight well, knocking out twenty Red Specter and Ken.

Jun was horrified. She watched helplessly as Ken's plane spiraled into the earth. "Ken's down!"Then looking back to the radar she gets another shock as fifty more enemy planes appear on the screen. Red Specter was now calling for more backup. The massive dogfight didn't seem to have an end to it. Joe knocked out another six planes, but the Phoenix was so badly damaged now that she could barely respond to the controls. Ryu was taxed beyond his endurance to hold her steady. It was at that time that a barrage of lead from one of the attack planes burst into the cockpit, hitting Ryu in the chest. The force of the bullets tore him out of his restraining harnesses and sent him sprawling across the floor.

With the big man out, Joe ran over to see if the auto pilot still worked. Jun and Jinpei checked on Ryu. " The autopilot is still in one piece. How's Ryu?"

Jun, still looking down at him said, " He needs a hospital bad."

As they were talking another barrage of lead burst through and killed the autopilot and wounded Jinpei in the leg. "Ouch! Damn it that hurts!"

"It just grazed you Jinpei."

"I know Jun, but it still hurts."

"Jinpei, if your leg isn't bad I want you to go out and get Ken. I'll inform Red Specter of your intentions. They'll be able to cover you now that their backup has arrived. I saw where Ken crashed, go there and come back to the Phoenix. Jun, try to fix the autopilot. Otherwise we'll be flying in a straight line until we run out of fuel."

Looking scared out of their wits they both stared at Joe. "Roger!"

As Jun was working on the console she turned to say something to Joe. When she did, she noticed that he was not anywhere to be seen. "Joe! Damn him! Like this dogfight, there's no end to him either!"

"Sir, there's another craft leaving the Phoenix."

"Take it out. I'll cover you."

"Roger"

Just as Jinpei was leaving the Phoenix his plane was hit by heavy machine gun fire. He looked over just in time to see a Red Specter jet fly past him and destroy the enemy plane, but before he could thank the Red Specter, he was destroyed by the Galactor's wing man. He let his vehicle fall toward earth for a bit so that maybe the enemy would think he was done for. It seemed to work, that and the Red Specter now out numbered the Galactor, so it was less likely that they would care about him anyway.

He found Ken's plane right where Joe said it was. There wasn't much left of it, but the cockpit was intact. Ken was sitting on a rock nearby seemingly unhurt and watching the battle.

He ran over to Jinpei as he touched down. They were glad to see each other and Ken noticed the kid was hurt. "It's nothing. Jun is up there now trying to get the autopilot repaired and Ryu was hit pretty bad."

As they took off back to the Phoenix they could see that the Galactor flew off and all the damage that they did to their ship. "Wow, what a mess. How bad is Ryu? Will he be ok?"

"Jun said he needed to go to the hospital, but he'll be all right."

When they reached the ship, they found out that Joe had disappeared and that Jun had fixed the autopilot. "Damn it Joe! When did he leave?"

Jun was sitting at her station, obviously tired and worn out. "I don't know. It had to be just after Jinpei left to get you."

"Well we can't stay around here. The ship is badly damaged and Ryu needs medical care fast. He'll just have to lie low until we can come back for him."

Slightly pissed off and feeling totally defeated again, they headed back to their base.

"Well that was interesting. It took 100 fighter planes to turn back the Phoenix. I thought they would have used some sort of weapon to get through us. Who would've figured that they'd turn and run so quickly." The colonel proclaimed to General Baal.

"I wouldn't count them out just yet colonel. These were the same people who defeated Sosia X, remember?" He turned to look out the control tower windows. As he watched, the returning fighters were coming in. "You see colonel, out of 100 fighters sent out only 30 returned. They weren't beaten, they were probably only testing our defenses."

"Maintain a good watch tonight colonel, something tells me that we'll be having company later." He put his hat on and left the tower.

Somewhere out in the field and on the other side of the runways, sat a lone figure watching the base with a set of binoculars. He was trying to see where he could do the most damage and still get out without too much trouble. "This base really is nailed down pretty tight. This won't be easy, but then it never is."

He noticed that there were a few buildings laying out of the main base area. "I wonder what those are for." He moved closer to those buildings, staying completely out of sight of the spotlights and guards as they made their rounds. He looked at his watch, it was 11:30 pm, he had plenty of night time left to do his thing, whatever that might be. One of the buildings he was able to distinguish was a foundry and the other was an assembly plant. "So, this is where they're making all of their tanks." He went closer to another building and was disgusted and shocked by what he saw. " They're burning all the bodies in the blast furnace, and judging by the screams, they weren't all dead. I can't believe these people!"

He tried to get the images out of his head. He had to destroy this place and it was too well guarded by the main base, but this area was not as well protected. He went through the assembly plant first and set all his charges where he guessed they would do the most good. Next was the foundry, and that went pretty well, he only killed five guards. The blast furnace was after that, and this is where he thought he would run into trouble, but the people being burned were already all dead now. So he didn't have to try to save anyone like he thought he would. He set the charges in here with care so that they would never be able to use it for this purpose again.

He was on his way out of the base when he thought he saw a high-ranking officer and two guards coming out of one of the main buildings. These main buildings were too far away to be affected by the explosives that were do to go off any minute now. He decided to see who the officer was, maybe he would take him out if he was high enough rank to be responsible for the atrocities he witnessed at the blast furnace. The officer seemed to be walking toward another building, but it was a long walk and there was no one else around. He noticed that the officer carried a sword and that he had very long light colored hair beneath his hat. "Well blondy, your guards first, then you." With that thought he threw two feather shurikens into the necks of both guards, who fell instantly. He then, almost in the same move, went for the officer with another feather. However, the officer was too fast for him and deflected his last feather with his sword.

"So, we meet at last. I take it you're a member of the Science Ninja Team?"

"Yea so?"

"Heh heh, your name wouldn't be Joe would it?"

"Yes it is, what of it ? And who are you?"

"I knew your father. I am General Baal."

Joe's eyes widened with surprise and then he shouted, "You!"

With that the fight started. Joe shot at Baal with the claw end of his gun and it was deflected by his sword. Then the general spun around and swiped at Joe with his weapon. If Joe wasn't fast, he would've been killed right there, instead he was only grazed across his chest. As he fell to the ground in his movement to avoid the sword he threw several more shurikens at the general. Two were again deflected by the general's sword, the others all hit guards that were gathering to watch the fight. When Joe did hit the ground, he twisted on his hip and lifted himself up with his arms to kick Baal in the face. He hit him as the general was about to swing the sword down onto him, knocking him back several feet, but he did not fall. Joe was now up and flying at the off balance general with another kick. This time Baal was ready for him. He grabbed Joe's foot as it came at him and, using his momentum against him, threw him into the wall of the nearest building. Joe spun in mid air so that his feet would make contact with the wall and not his head. Touching the wall, he did a back flip to land on the ground in front of the building. While he was spinning, he threw more feathers at the general, who deflected them again and several more guards were killed. At this the general had had enough, he pointed the sword at Joe, and before Joe could react, the sword glowed and a green flame shot from it hitting him right in the head and knocking him back against the wall. When the flame was done, he was sleeping like a baby. That was when all of the charges he had set went off. It was like one huge fireball as all three out lying buildings went up at once. The general walked over to Joe's sleeping body, "You've been busy, haven't you?"

When Joe regained consciousness, he was inside of a large dark room. His head was killing him, and as he looked around he noticed there seemed to be many mediaeval torture devises surrounding him. As he tried to move, he realized that he was chained to the floor. He tried to stand, and could only bend halfway up, his hands and feet were both linked together by one chain. This chain also ran up to and around his neck. He wasn't going anywhere until someone let him; he even saw that they had taken his wristband as well as his jacket. This really pissed him off and he wondered when his captors would return so he could at least find out what they wanted of him.

His wish was granted almost immediately when he heard a door open and saw light slowly pour into the dimly lit room. A voice he didn't recognize spoke to someone he couldn't see out in the hallway. "You two wait here I'm gonna show our friend in here some good manners." He heard one laugh and another voice said, "Are you sure you should be doing this? If you get caught, you know what could happen."

The original voice replied angrily. "You just mind your own damn business, and tell me if you hear anyone coming. All right?"

"All right. But our asses are in it too if you get into trouble ya know."

"Yea yea, I hear ya screamin'. Now shut up!"

As Joe knelt there, which was the most comfortable position he could find without sitting on the floor, he finally saw the man he'd been hearing walk around the corner. He was a tall and heavily built guy with a knight stick under his right arm. Joe thought, "Oh great, this guy has a chip on his shoulder and he wants to take it out on me while no one is here."

" Ok mister tough ass ninja prick. You think you can just waltz in here and blow up our base and nobody would care, huh? Well you can't and I'm gonna teach ya some humility asshole!"

With that the guard hit Joe over the head with his knight stick knocking him out cold. When he woke up, he noticed that the guard had him hogtied so that his rear end was sticking straight up and his head was on the ground. He also realized that his pants were down to his knees and the guard was standing right behind him with his pants down to his ankles. He tried to move or fall over but the guard had him chained to two nearby torture devises, so he couldn't move side to side or anywhere. " Ha! I wish we had these chains in prison, it would've made things much easier. Well? How do you like it boy? You gonna scream? Huh, boy! Go ahead, scream! I like it, you'll just make it better for me."

Before Joe could scream or do anything, the door burst open and all the lights came on in the room. It was the general and his staff officer. The latter looked quite disgusted with the guard that was standing behind Joe with his pants down. "I don't fucking believe this! Didn't I ask you Grist, if the new prison recruits were screened for this sort of behavior? Damnation! This is the kind of shit I was talking about, now I'm going to have to punish the two guards outside as well. You see? Its not just one guy screwing up, he needed to convince two more to help him so he wouldn't get caught. Damn it!"

"Sir, this won't happen again I promise you! Please don't kill me! Ple.....

His pleas were cut off when, in one motion, Baal drew out his sword and chopped the guard's head off and returned the blade into its scabbard. " Shoot those other two out in the hall." When he said this the two guards, that followed him and his staff officer, opened fire on the two guards who were standing out in front of the door. "There, that's better. You two guards, come here and help the prisoner fix himself. We'll unchain you if you promise not to do anything rash."

"Ok, just let me get my pants up."

The general just laughed and leaned on a torture devise, it looked like the rack to Joe.

"What are all these toys for in here? Are they all for me? I really don't think I deserve all this attention."

Baal shook his head. "No Joe, these are mostly museum pieces, some date back to the early middle ages. I can remember when some of these machines were built. Do you realize that? Do you know how old I am? Do you know that as an old man, it's you that seem to be the feeble one?"

Joe was unchained and was standing in front of General Baal, he pulled his pants up and was about to strike out at him when he was hit again by that green fire from the general's sword.

When he woke up again, he was chained to two pillars in the middle of the room, his right arm and foot to one pillar and his other side to the other pillar. There was a big guard standing behind him with a cat o' nine tails in his hand, the ends of which were barbed. Baal walked around Joe and grabbed the back of his head by his long hair. "You will know much pain today, but don't despair, after I'm finished with you you'll be an immortal also. But not quite like me, I was born this way, you will have to be recreated."

Having said that he let go Joe's hair and turned to the guard with the whip. "One hundred in back and one hundred in front. Call me when you're finished."

Joe screamed out. "You bastard! What do you want from me?"

Baal slowly turned to face him. "Why nothing Joe. Why do you ask?"

The general then left the room to the sound of the "cat" cracking against bare flesh. Joe was strong and he controlled himself well, he never cried out once while the guard was working over his back, but he had a harder time when the guard moved to his front. When the general finally returned, Joe was held up only by the chains on his arms, his strength having been totally used up. "Hmmmm. Looks like you've broken him Rawl, his skin is hanging in tatters off his miserable frame. He lifted Joe's head again by his hair. " I don't think the ladies are going to like what's become of you."

With what little energy Joe had left he whispered hoarsely. "Fuck you!"

Baal let go of his head and walked over to the torturer. "Rawl, get a fire extinguisher and a can of gas, will you? Thanks."

Rawl returned with the items requested. " Here they are sir."

General Baal was leaning against the rack again and when he saw the guard's return he smiled. "You're an efficient man Rawl. Now dump that can on his chest and back for me will you?"

"Yes sir"

The pain of gasoline on open wounds is extraordinary and Joe screamed out. Hearing this, the general nodded. "I knew there was still life in him. Now light him up, I want to see him dance."

As the flames engulfed him, he writhed in the chains. The effect was one of him dancing in hell and it amused the general greatly. "Ok, now put it out. I only wanted to cauterize the bleeding, I wouldn't want you to bleed to death before your friends could see you. Oh look, his hair survived, how did that happen? Get the doctor, w ill you Rawl?"

"Yes sir."

Joe was completely out of it now and in excruciating pain. The doctor let him down from his chains and lay him on his side. "Well sir he's beat up pretty bad but he's strong, He'll make it."

"Good. Give him something to knock him completely out. What we have to do next might kill him otherwise."

When Joe was sedated the general walked over to Rawl. "We have to pack him up and ship him back to his friends. However, he won't fit in any of our boxes this way. So, I want you to brake both his legs and arms and even a few ribs if you have to. Just get him in this five foot by five foot box, then put a ribbon on it. That would be nice. Then when the open it they'll have their very own Joe-in-the-box."

Later on Rawl was done. "Sir, I did end up breaking a few of his ribs, but he did fit in the box, and I nailed it shut. I also took the liberty of drilling air holes in the top."

"How nice of you Rawl, and they say you don't care. I have to ask, what color was the ribbon?"

"We only had a blue and yellow one, so I used it."

"Well that works. Lieutenant, get a pilot to fly over the supposedly hidden base of theirs and drop off Joe. I think this puts an end to it gentlemen."

As they continued on with their day, they heard the jet take off.

************

"I really hate it when Joe takes off like that." Ken was visibly angry and worried at the same time.

Jun was sitting next to Ryu's bed and looked up at Ken. "He'll be all right you'll see. He probably wanted to do some damage to the base before having to leave."

"I know, that's what bothers me. He should've been back by now or at least called in."

Ryu watched him pace around his room. " Joe knows what he's doing. I'm sure he'll be fine."

"Maybe, but those Galactor aren't messing around any more. They ate us for breakfast yesterday."

Ken got a call on his wrist communicator, it was Dr. Nambu. " I have some interesting news about the Galactor base you attacked yesterday. Apparently most of the manufacturing facilities were destroyed. 'You know who' must have been responsible. However, we still haven't heard from him yet. You, Jun and Jinpei report to the base at once, we may have to plan some kind of rescue attempt."

"Roger."

When they got to the base, Dr. Nambu was in the large briefing room staring out the window.

"What was it you wanted us to do for Joe doctor?"

"Well Jun, it seems as though..........."

He was interrupted by a voice on the intercom. "Warning! Low flying aircraft approaching the base."

Alarms were sounding as fire doors were closing automatically. It was then that Jun looked out the window to see one lone Galactor fighter drop something out of the bottom of the aircraft. It was a box of some kind and a parachute opened as it fell. The chute managed to slow it down a little but it still hit the ground pretty hard. They all waited silently for an explosion, but when none came they ran out to see what the Galactor dropped off. They noticed it was wrapped with a ribbon and that there were air holes drilled into the top. Dr. Nambu suspected something terrible and told Jun and Jinpei to wait a few yards away while he and Ken went to see what was inside.

They were completely surprised and disgusted at what they saw. The thing in the box used to be Joe, there wasn't much to recognize of him now though. He was burned and whipped and his arms and legs were all broken, Dr.Nambu figured it was so he could fit in the box. "This general is really sick! Call the paramedics, get them up here now!"

Ken just stared in disbelief as Jun and Jinpei both walked slowly up to the open box. "Oh my God! I can't ......."Jun couldn't finish her thought and she fell to her knees and wept. Jinpei held her and was crying as well. Ken was almost to tears seeing his friend all beaten and burned, "Is there anything we can do for him doctor?"

"I don't know. He's still alive, but just barely. Make room for the medics. Take him to the lab."

As the medics took Joe away they couldn't believe what they had just witnessed. Dr. Nambu turned to them. " I won't lie to you, it won't be easy to heal Joe but we do have the technology to at least try."

The bright side to all that was he managed to destroy half of the entire base by himself before he was captured. But no one said it out loud, they were to struck by the revenge taken out on Joe. This general would have to be beaten somehow, but what would the cost be? They still weren't sure what they were really up against.

************

Baal was out walking in the field just opposite of the blast furnace that was destroyed by their most recent intruder. It was a week since the unexpected attack, another nice day, sunny, warm and with a slight breeze. He always liked to walk around on days like this and think about what had just happened and what will happen. They had already made all of the weapons that they could make with the resources in this area and would've had to dismantle the factories anyway, Joe just saved them from doing it themselves. However, the fact that an intruder was able to penetrate his defenses and take out these large facilities did bother him. He realized also, that any blame for this would fall on his shoulders, even if it was Colonel Sten's responsibility to secure the base. He would have to deal out some sort of punishment for the ease of the intruder's entry, if only to reenforce discipline. Sten would never rise above colonel after this, that was at least certain. Especially since Joe would've gotten clean away had, he not tried to kill him. He thought to himself, "Why did he try to take me out? Did he know who I am ? Did the last spy get a photo of him out before he was caught? Not that this matters anymore, but I wonder what he was thinking. Maybe my tactics with the dead bodies incited him into a rage. That must've been it, I think I'll really start to anger them all in this next all out assault on the neighbor of Asham tomorrow."

The morning for Baal started early, about 3:00 a.m.. He began the assault on the country north of him. The people there were not expecting an attack at all and the general knew that it would take several days to for their defenses to be organized. He had hoped that the country might fall before then. By 6:00 a.m. the city that he was to conquer first had fallen to his forces. The dragon mecha that Captain Rekker was in charge of was practically unstoppable; even the Red Specter squadrons sent out by the I.S.O. people couldn't put a dent in it. It was unfortunate for the Science Ninja Team that they were unable to do anything but watch it all on T.V., what with Joe, Ryu and Jinpei all out of action for a while.