Life Is What Happens When You're Making Other Plans

Joe was recovering well from his experimental surgery; He was stiff and a little sore. The doctor told him that he would be a lot stronger than he used to be and that he should be careful of what force he exerts on things that he used to, such as opening a beer bottle. When he twisted the top off the first two, he snapped the glass necks right off of them, covering himself and everything around him in beer. "Damn it! I'm never going to be able to drink beer again!"

As he sat there pouting and holding on to the last broken bottle he had in his trailer, he realized what power he now possessed and why the doctors warned him about using it. "Man, if I were to haul off and punch Ken the way I usually do, I'd probably knock his head clean off." The thought made him smile. "Ken could use a new head anyway."

He was bored and went out into the desert for a drive. It was nighttime and the air was refreshingly cool compared to the heat of the previous day. He was trying to test out his new found abilities and gifts that the scientists had given him. If he thought about it he could even see in the dark without the benefit of a light. He certainly had a lot of new things to get familiar with before he could be back to work with the team. As he drove into the night, he thought about the recent attack on the peaceful neighbor of Asham. "It figures that the Galactor would attack now that there would be only token resistance to their forces. That General Baal doesn't waste any time."

Joe thought back to when he was being tortured and remembered what the general had told him. "I think I know why he beat me the way he did, he knew that in order to save my life the I.S.O. would have to turn me into a cyborg and in doing so I would get a sort of immortality. I think that in all of his years he has never had a worthy adversary, no one has ever been able to give him any kind of challenge. Well I'm not going to disappoint him. In fact I'll make him regret ever letting me live!"

Feeling better about figuring all that out, he turned the car back to his trailer and thought about trying another beer. If he had any left, that is.

Dr. Nambu was looking out his office window at the new I.S.O. headquarters. He was feeling angry about the recent defeat of a once peaceful country to the Galactor. Now Hontworl and Asham would join up with their old ally and the fight would become even more difficult. There was some good news however, Ryu and Jinpei were doing fine and Joe was getting better at handling his new abilities. He still couldn't believe it was just two months ago that Joe was found in that box that was dropped from the air. "Thank God for the scientific advancement that we gained from the last Galactor invasion, or Joe would've been dead."

Jun was putting the finishing touches of polish on her new bar and thinking of how much better the Snack J is since she was able to convince the insurance company that it was always this big. They added another twenty feet to the bar and the stage is about ten feet wider now. The place won't seem so over crowded now, and the band would have the room they needed to put their sound system where they wanted to. "I guess it was a good thing that Ryu destroyed the place after all, it really needed to be remodeled in a bad way."

Ken walked in and sat with Ryu and Jinpei at their new "normal" table. "Hey Ryu, I love what you've done to the place."

Ryu looked up from his drink and wryly spoke. "Ha ha. Cheese dick."

To which Ken laughed and Jinpei shot Coke through his nose trying not to.

Ryu then broke the happy mood and asked, "Have you heard anything about Galactor?"

Ken shook his head. "No, I know that they've taken the country that they wanted and that their old allies have rallied to their side again. But so far there have been no orders for us to do anything. Dr. Nambu is probably waiting for Joe to get used to his new body parts or something."

"Yea, your probably right. I wonder if they gave him any neat "powers" with his new body?"

"Probably not Jinpei. This isn't a comic book, they were just happy to be able to put him back together again."

Jun then interrupted, "We should start calling him Humpty-Dumpty."

Ken was trying hard not to laugh but his two other companions were hysterical. "You know that's not funny now, I wouldn't say it to his face."

Ryu finally calmed down a little. "True, the bionic man might rip our heads off."

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

Lord Nitocrys was sitting in his study in front of a large fire in his fireplace. He was reading a newspaper, the front cover of which showed full color pictures of General Baal's latest conquered city. There were scenes of people impaled on pikes and nailed to building walls as well as people being burned alive and what could only be the skin shells of human beings hanging from power lines like so much laundry. Such were the horrors of today's paper. "Sometimes I think Baal has too much time on his hands."

After the initial success of their first few missions Nitocrys decided to move his residence to his old castle in northern Scotland. It was quieter there and he could think without the constant goings on of a large base or ship. This castle was not a base, it was his home, it had been for several hundred years when he came to Earth from time to time. "The Galactor was such an easy group to subdue, they will follow anyone who has power. Kind of like the French, although the French have a way of changing their allegiance when the going gets tough. I really do not believe that in the long run I will ever control the Earth. Humans are not so easy to conquer, they always just keep fighting no matter what. Well at least this is something to do for a while."

General Baal was trying to figure out if he wanted to allow the ex-government of the newly acquired country to continue ruling as a puppet or if he would install a new one. He really wasn't sure that he liked the idea of the original monarch ruling, puppet or not. The general also knew that if he killed the old monarch he would be creating a martyr and that would only fuel the populace into more of a fervor. It was bad enough as it was, trying to control a large defeated country, he didn't need any more problems. "I think I know what I must do."

Baal called for colonel Sten. "Colonel, I feel that we need to get rid of the old regime. However, it must not be a direct killing, it must look for all purposes as an accident. I don't want to create any martyrs or heros for the people."

"Yes sir. What do you want me to do?"

"Well, for starters, move them into their former house, the people may see it as a return to some normalcy. After a few days invite the opposition over for "talks", those fools will think that they fought us to the bargaining table. Those people have almost nothing left to fight for or with, so I'm sure they'll come. When all are seated at the table release a knock out gas into the room. Finally, burn the place down, making sure that the fire starts in the kitchen, and colonel, put a few useless officers and men in there with them so as not to look like we didn't have any losses. That should end that little bit of resistance as well as getting rid of our excess baggage."

"Yes sir. It will be done right away."

"This is important colonel. Don't fail me or you'll be one of the "useless officers" in there with them."

Remembering his screw up at the old base with his bad security, and under the intense scrutiny of Baal's pale blue eyes, Colonel Sten broke into a sweat. "I understand sir, I won't fail you this time."

He didn't like to threaten his officers, but you were only aloud one good foul up and then Lord Nitocrys would be asking what went wrong. When that happened being knocked out and burned alive could sound almost inviting. After talking to Sten, he went outside to walk around and see what was left of the capital city that he took over. It was quite in the city and as he passed by the Capitol building with the hundreds of people impaled along the street and the skins of them hanging from the power lines, he thought, "What a nice sunny day, it's amazing how peaceful a city could be."

He was the only one out walking on the street.

Dr. Nambu was in his office reading his paper, he too saw the headlines and the graphic and gory color pictures of what Baal was doing to the defeated nation. He couldn't believe that a man could do something like that to his fellow man. "I don't think this guy is human at all. I'm starting to believe what Joe had told me about him when he met with the general. I thought it was just the rambling of a tortured man, but now I'm not so sure. If this General Baal is as old as Joe implied then he is most certainly not human, I hate not knowing what we're up against. Well at least we might do something for those poor people he conquered, according to our new information he will be trying to kill all those who stand in his way in one fiery shot."

Joe was walking into Nambu's office just as the doctor put down his paper. "Hi, well, what's up doc?"

The condescending look on Dr. Nambu's face told Joe that his cute little joke fell flat on it's back. "So I see you're doing better, I'm sorry that they couldn't fix your sense of humor though."

"Aw nobody's perfect." Joe smiled as he sat down in a chair on the opposite side of the desk.

"That maybe true Joe, but your as close as we're going to get. How are you adjusting to your new talents and strength?"

"Oh, I finally figured out how to open a beer bottle without breaking off the neck, mind you now, it wasn't easy."

Dr. Nambu rolled his eyes and put his head in his hands. "We all appreciate the tough sacrifices you've had to make, no one more so than myself. Now, if you can manage it, I'd like to tell you why I asked you to come here alone."

"I can manage it, now what's going on out there in Galactorland."

"As you already know, your friend General Baal has taken over an entire nation by force. The people of this nation were peaceful and are not going to allow a militaristic government to keep them prisoners for long. The spies that came out of there before the take-over was complete said that the old monarch was considered by the country as sort of a saint, and as long as he exists the people will fight, and make occupying their land a living hell for the invaders.

"I see, so you want me to rescue the king?"

"If it's possible, however, I'm sure that they are already going to find a way to kill him without making him a martyr. Now, if you can't save him or if he doesn't want to be saved, you must be sure to make it obvious to the world that he was assassinated and not killed by accident. In other words, he must be made into a martyr for the people to rally behind."

This stunned Joe briefly, "Why wouldn't he want to be saved?"

Dr. Nambu was expecting this question. "Because Joe, he won't want to leave his homeland and he knows how much stronger his people will be if he becomes their martyr."

"Wow, he really is a saint."

"Yes, and Baal is the devil incarnate. Be careful out there."

With that Joe left the meeting and went right to his plane that was waiting for him at the airport. He understood without being told that this was a mission that was supposed to be secretive and that was why the others were not involved. The less people going in, the less noticed. He also knew that Dr. Nambu was giving him a chance to use his new abilities without accidently alienating or hurting the others. "It looks as though I might meet you again general. I sure hope nothing happens to you, until I get there."

The flight went well, he landed on time and was surprised that the airport was in as good condition as it was, when you consider that it was bombed only three weeks ago. General Baal was no slouch that was for certain, he ran a tight outfit. "I wonder where my contact is? He was supposed to meet me here."

Just then a tall, well groomed man with dark short hair and a moustache, bumped into him. "Joe Asakura?"

Joe was taken aback and said, "Who wants to know?"

"I do. Dr. Nambu said you were a smart ass."

Smiling a little Joe loosened up. " Ok, ok. You must be the one I'm supposed to meet, who else would know Nambu said that."

The man showed him into a car and they went to a small bombed out building. Joe noticed that on their way to the building there were guards walking patrols on the street and that large military vehicles of all kinds were driving around everywhere. He also noticed the poor people that were impaled and their skin hanging on the power lines. "How can someone do this?"

The man turned towards him and shook his head. "He's not human, I know, I used to be a faithful soldier of his, but my continued service to him would've cost me my sole. So I contacted your Dr. Nambu and told him what was going on, and he sent you. You may not remember me, but I remember you."

Joe was suddenly shocked at the memory that flooded into his head. Of course he remembered this man, he was Colonel Sten. "YOU!" I thought I recognized you! What made you turn on your general? You know what would happen to you if you were ever found out?"

The colonel smiled, touched by this young man's kindness in light of what had happened to him only a few months before. "I know perfectly well what will become of me, that is why I will save my last bullet for myself."

Joe was still stunned by what was going on when they arrived at the bombed out building. They went inside and down into the basement where he met with several others who also knew what would happen to them if they were found out.

Colonel Sten introduced Joe to the people in the basement and then discussed what was planned for the king. As he listened to the colonel tell all that he knew about the planned assassination, Joe began to see how much this king meant to these people. There was about fifty people down here in the basement and everyone of them were prepared to die rather than submit to the Galactor.

The colonel finished with his briefing and directed his attention to Joe. "Tomorrow you will meet the king Joe, and I think you'll see why we've got to make sure that he doesn't just disappear."

"Yes, I was told about his status with the people of this country and I understand why his death must be an obvious assassination and not an accident."

"When you meet him, you will also know why he won't want to be rescued."

The next day Joe woke up in a cot that was provided for him by the people that were in the basement. He couldn't remember seeing any of their faces, "They probably kept it dark like that on purpose."

The colonel walked into his small room after hearing Joe talk to himself, and assumed that he was finally awake. "You must have been pretty tired, you slept for nearly five hours."

Joe thought, "Five hours? The others on the team would've slept a hell of a lot longer."

Out loud he said, "Yea, you know how it is, jet lag and all."

"Today you meet with the king. I have to get back to my post and make preparations for the supposed meeting with the "opposition". Remember to try and get the general of the opposition out without causing any alarm, I'll delay the release of the gas until then."

"What will you do after that?"

"Don't worry, I'll think of something."

Joe was driven to a large government building, there he was escorted in through the back door as a delivery man. They even gave him a large box to carry up to the king, it was light and he figured it probably didn't have anything in it. He was then lead to a pair of large double doors, and waited for the guards to announce his presence to the king. The doors opened and he went inside. He was first greeted by an older man who he took to be the king's consort. Then he met the king, he was an elderly man of about seventy or so but he moved and spoke as though he were much younger. "So young man, you are the one who will make sure nothing is missed by the world tonight."

Joe found it hard to believe that this man could speak so casually about his own death. It was as though he knew it would be all right, and death didn't have any secrets from him. The king continued, "Do you know why this must be the case?"

"Yes, but could you not rally your people from some other country? Do you really have to die?"

"If you lost your house and your land you would fight, but you would also start to look elsewhere for another place to live. If, however, you were told that your parents were taken and would be treated well, then you suddenly found out that they were killed because of whom you were, you would fight and never give up. That is why my death is so important, it will turn the complacent into fighting men and turn the fighting men into fanatics. General Baal knows this, and that is why he must kill me quietly and take out as many of his opponents as he can in one blow."

He still couldn't fathom the ability to talk of one's own death with such ease. Although Joe had to agree with the king that it does make sense. He talked with the king for a little longer and he was able to feel better about the whole thing the more he was in the old man's presence. The king really did make you feel like everything would be ok in the here after, he had a certain inner glow about him as well as a personal magnetism that could attract a nation. Joe felt that he would do anything for this man, even die for him, and he only just met him. The meeting was over and he went back to the bombed out building to wait until that night.

General Baal was out walking around his headquarters, as he usually does on nice sunny days, when he noticed a truck leaving the rear of the Capitol building. He thought it was a bit late for deliveries, but a king can do strange things if he wants to. "I hope Sten has everything under control tonight. It would make things very difficult to maintain in this land if it went badly."

It was getting dark when the limousines started to pull up to the front of the Capitol building and unload their diplomats. Joe was driving the one with the general in it that he was supposed to save later on. He couldn't say anything yet to him because of the chance that he would blow the plans that were already put in motion. He was to drop off the general and pull around back. This he did without incident. When he got to the back of the building he was met by colonel Sten in full uniform. "Ok, you wait here for a half an hour, then start your way inside. The meeting is in the same room as you met the king, now you know the other reason you had to meet him. I'll be inside and up there before you so just be careful and take out as many guards as you can. The rest of the force will be following you in about ten minutes after you start inside."

"Alright, you watch yourself as well." They shook hands and the colonel walked around to the front of the building and went inside with General Baal.

The king, and the rest of the opposition, as well as General Baal was all seated at a long table. The servants came out and gave everyone there a drink and asked what they wanted to eat for dinner. After this was done, Baal stood up and gave a toast to the king and everyone around raised a glass and he sat down. It was then that lieutenant Grist walked in and went up to Baal and told him that he had an urgent message for him in his office down the hall. Colonel Sten, who was in the next room watching everything on a security camera, realized that this was the signal to unleash the gas on the guests. He drew out an automatic pistol with a silencer on it, and shot the two guards who were to release the gas. He then turned the lights off and on in his room to signal that it started to those outside waiting. Joe had already started, his half an hour having been up.

As Joe went in, he saw two guards talking to each other and snuck up behind them and smashed their heads together. "I always wanted to do that. I just didn't think it would be so messy."

He ran down the hallway to the stairway at the end and threw several shurikens at several guards on his way. He never once missed and the feathers were deeply embedded in the guard's bodies. He finally reached the stairway and was climbing it when he heard two people coming down them. He ducked into a shadow and when the two officers were close enough he jumped out and punched one right in his head as hard as he could. Scattering the officer's head all over the wall across from him. In almost the same motion, he spun around and kicked the other officer in the chest and sending him against the wall so hard that the wall actually cracked. Just as this happened he was passed by about forty soldiers, these he took to be the same people that he had met in the basement of that bombed out building. While they were rushing by some looked pretty surprised at how effective Joe had been to all of the guards on the ground floor. They were going up stairs to rescue the general of the opposition to Baal and to try to save the king, if he let them.

He followed them all up the steps and into another hallway where shooting broke out from the guards that were at the top of the stairs. All at once about thirty guards ran out of the meeting room and into the hallway to stop the rescue attempt. A good fight thus ensued. The rebel forces, finally being able to get into the room, found the general that they were looking for was trying to defend the king from attack. The king told him that he should go with the rebels and not to worry about his safety. The general reluctantly went with the rebels and they fought their way out and into a waiting group of cars, which immediately dispersed into the city.

The king, meanwhile, was being protected by his bodyguards who were instantly put to sleep by the late delivery of the gas. Colonel Sten, having delayed as long as he could, had no choice but to use the gas on them now. The floor that they were all fighting on was now pretty quiet as the sound of flames started to get louder. The gas spread across the entire floor as Joe watched, unaffected by the nerve gas, Colonel Sten try to enter the room where the king was now knocked out. Joe ran over to him, helping him up. "You must get away quickly before the gas has its effect on you."

The colonel just looked up at Joe and smiled. "It is over for me now I must, however, do one more thing before I die."

Then he raised up his pistol and shot the king in the head before Joe could do anything to stop it. "Now they can't say that he died by accident."

The colonel turned the gun on himself and his life was over. He died in Joe's arms as the gas and fire spread throughout the building.

Joe's sad thoughts were interrupted by someone else standing nearby. Even in all this fire, smoke and gas, he could sense that the person was Baal. "I never would've believed it unless I saw it for myself. Sten was a traitor."

The voice wasn't angry, in fact it was quite calm. "You know, I wanted a worthy adversary, but did you have to show up today?"

Joe was a little surprised at Baal's presence here in the hallway. " I guess what they say about you is true. You're not human, are you?"

With that Baal laughed quietly, almost to himself, "No Joe, I"m what you'd call a bit more than human."

Not to be lulled into a false conversation with Baal, Joe grabbed Sten's gun and fired the seven remaining shots into Baal's chest, knocking him back against the wall. " Heh, heh, I suppose you had to try that, right? You really didn't think I was that easy to kill did you?"

"One can always hope."

Baal laughed and drew out his sword. "Time for another beating Joe, only this time I think you can take it."

"You're damn right!" Joe grabbed the sword of the fallen king, which in the smoke, still had a white glow about it, and attacked Baal.

Their swords crashed together with all the strength that they both possessed, showering them with sparks. Joe, realizing that he hit Baal as hard, or harder than he hit the officers in the hallway, noticed that Baal hit back just as hard. They fought for about fifteen minutes, which is a long time to fight inside of a burning building. Then as they were separated after a particularly strong hit, the floor above them crashed down in between them. Joe was unhurt by this and so was the general, who stood across the fire and saluted Joe with his sword. "Until next time."

Joe watched as the general disappeared into the flames. "I had a feeling he was going to say that."

He looked around for an exit and found that the only way out was through a window. "Typical. I always have to make a dramatic exit."

Having said that he jumped out the window and landed on his feet on the street about twenty feet below. With the king's sword still in his hand, and glass and flames following him out, he did make quite a dramatic exit.

Joe somehow made it back to that bombed out building that started him off in all this. When he got there, he was greeted by the people that he had helped and by the general who was freed from certain death. The general explained that he was in fact the son of the late king and that he would be eternally grateful to Joe for having made his father a hero and for saving his life. Joe, then drew out the sword of the general's father and gave it to him. The general was again surprised and honored that Joe would've thought to get his father's sword in all the confusion and fighting.

He didn't mention that he was using it at the time or that it just happened to come out of the building only because he had forgotten that he was still holding it.

The next day Joe was leaving for home, as he walked to the gate that his plane was leaving on he noticed someone watching him from about twenty feet away. It was Baal. He was standing by the gate of Joe's plane waiting for him. "Hi Joe. You clean up well."

"What do you want?"

"Well to be perfectly honest with you, I wanted to make sure you didn't miss your flight."

"How nice and considerate of you."

"You really got us this time, but don't worry, we'll be back. I wouldn't want you to miss me or anything."

"Oh don't worry, next time I won't miss you at all, in fact I'll be sure to hit you every time."

They both smiled condescendingly at each other and Joe went aboard his flight back to his other world. Only now he has a really good story to piss off Ken with, sure he went out by himself, but this once he was allowed to. "Oh yea, Ken's going to be very pissed off." He smiled to himself as the plane took off.

The End.......for now.