Aeryn walked into command in her flight suit. She carried a shoe box-sized black object. She placed it on the first console in front of Chrichton and D’argo. They both looked at it curiously. Zhaan and Chiana entered.

“This was sending the leviathan signal?” asked D’argo. “Yes, it is a message buoy,” said Aeryn. She pressed a red button and a holographic picture of Tailex appeared. The mer sight of him made Chiana shutter. Then it spoke.

“Well, it looks like you made it to Galan, where ripples become waves, in more than one sense of the word” “We will meet at a place called Berling point”. The transmission ended.

“Why exactly do they call this planet where ripples become waves?” asked Crichton. “It was founded by a Delvian explorer, Galan means fury” said Zhaan. “A Delvian philosophy states” “A state of fury is were the ripples that are life’s troubles become waves,” she added. “Also, ion ripples come off a nearby nebula and become fierce ion storms just as they arrive here”. Crichton stared at the blue and green planet ahead of them on the screen. “Let’s mosey on down to Berling Point”, said Crichton putting on his Peace Keeper Captain’s coat.

Crichton, Aeryn, D’argo, and Chiana all stood atop the great, red sea cliff. The waves pounded rhythmically against the stone base. The sunset spread bright orange/red light onto the rocks. The sun seemed to take up half the sky to the west, over the water. Crichton wished he was here with Aeryn alone, under different circumstances. It was a very romantic scene.

She had matched his gaze at the water. Suddenly, their eyes met. She looked at him with a smile. “What?” she asked. “It’s beautiful isn’t it?” he asked the group. “Indeed it is!” came a familiar voice from behind them.

They all turned to see Lt. Braca and 10 Peace Keepers in light combat gear. Crichton drew his twin MAC-11’s from his jacket. “Your exactly where he said you would be”, said Braca. “You’re coming with us back to Nerot” said Braca. “Your going to half to kill me before I drop these guns!” yelled Crichton with a stern stare. Braca and a few others had stasis guns, the others had rifles, and others wielded clear, plastic shields.

A vanguard of 5 shield men began advancing up the will. The shields protected almost their entire bodies. Some carried stasis guns, the others tazers. Crichton opened fired, followed by the others. The rapid firing guns impacted the shields, only leaving small dents and blast marks. The marines only slightly jolted with each hit. They stopped firing. “Give up Crichton!” screamed Braca. “I guess I have no choice” said Crichton frustrated. A roaring sound came from behind the cliff.

Suddenly, the transport pod came up. “Or maybe I do!” exclaimed Crichton. Chiana jumped in first under cover fire. The others quickly followed. Crichton was the last and emptied the guns into the shield men. He gave the Peace Keepers the “Suck It” sign with his guns and jumped in. The transport came under pulse fire as it flew away. It quickly flew out of range. Braca looked up at it. “Frell!” he screamed.

The crew sat around the dinner table in the mess hall. D’argo looked furious. They were no closer to getting his son back. Now they discovered that the Peace Keepers had a new base in the U.T.s. Everyone was sure that the “he” Braca mentioned was Tailex.

“I say we go in about midnight, find Jothee and Tailex, and then get the hell out,” said Crichton. “I agree,” said Chiana. “Me too” said D’argo with an angry look at his food. “And I thought Crichton was the only insane one onboard” said Aeryn. “Top of the line security, anti-transport batteries, and 200 guards” said Aeryn.

“I am going no matter what,” said D’argo. “Me too, that Tailex bastard will pay the price!” said Chiana. “Me too” said Crichton. Aeryn, seeing Crichton was doing it begrudgingly said. “Me too”.

Crichton looked at himself in the mirror as he clasped his Peace Keeper commando’s uniform together. It was exactly like Laraque’s. He had chosen this because it was used for covert operations. This time he would not be pretending to be a PK, his face was famous by now. They had to use stealth for this mission. He put his MAC-11’s in his belt holsters and put Winnona in his hip holster.

The plan was ambitious. They would land about 1000 yards away from Fort Nerot. Then, Zhaan and Rygel would stay behind in the pod while the rest approached by raft. Crichton and Aeryn would take an abandoned sewer tunnel to the basement. Then they had to work their way up through the core room and across the heavily guarded courtyard. They would lower ropes over the west sea wall for the others and then proceed to the comendant's office. Rygel had purchased the layout of the fort from an officer of the Bacia Enforcers; the owners of the fort until the Peace Keepers took over 2 months ago.

Aeryn walked in wearing a solid black uniform. She had a rifle slung on her shoulder. “Time to go” she said. Crichton looked in the mirror. “Damn, a bandana off from winning the Solid Snake look-alike contest”. He said with a smile. Aeryn just shook her head and walked with him.

The sound of waves pounding against the coast echoed through the steel tunnel. Crichton and Aeryn lit the way with flashlights attached to their pistols. “It smells like dren in here!” she exclaimed. “It’s a sewer, what do you expect?” he asked. They reached a rusted old door. Crichton tried to open it, but it was stuck. “Fire!” she said. The door collapsed under a hail of red pulse fire. The loud thud of the door hitting the floor rattled the walls of the newly opened area.

They entered the dark, metal room. It was about 100 yards wide and long. Pipes and conduits traveled all along the walls and ceiling. One side was taken up by a massive desalinization module. A blue, pulsing power core was in the center of the room. Everything was completely automated and no lights were present.

They proceeded up a flight of metal stairs that opened up to a large catwalk. It was almost like a steel deck. A huge set of double doors was at the back of the catwalk. Crichton walked over to try and open them, but they barley moved. He could see a chain locked onto the handles. Aeryn used her light to illuminate a large air vent to the left of the door. She could see a storage room through the vent.

“Can you fit through this?” asked Aeryn pointing at the vent. “I think so”, he replied. She lifted the grating and crawled in. Just as Crichton was about to, he heard the chains coming off the door. He quickly replaced the vent cover and ran for the railing. He slid under it, hanging by his fingers.

2 Peace Keepers entered with flash lights on their rifles. The both scanned the room. “Tech said she heard a noise”, said one. The other walked forward, nearly stepping on Crichton’s fingers. They scanned the darkness for about 1 minute. Crichton’s arms were about to give out. One of them stopped and fired.

A rat like creature screamed and died. They both laughed. “Just a vowl” said the shooter. “Not very smart, those monsters that the Commodore’s guest brought probably eat them”, said the other. “I was under the impression that they eat people”, said the other as they exited. Crichton pulled himself up and rested on the floor for a minute. He looked at Aeryn, who was still in the shaft. “Thanks for the help”, he said sarcastically as he shook his arms. “I had your back”, she replied.

They entered the small food storage room. It was dank and dark. They quickly exited into the white, well lit hallway. They stopped at the door that read “courtyard”. They carefully opened it and moved into the cold night air.

At least 15 flashlights could be seen from the door way. Several more guards patrolled the highly lit areas. “This is gonna suck”, said Crichton. They quickly moved along the wall of the guard house. They both hugged the wall as a soldier stood on the grating above them. As he pointed his flashlight elsewhere they quickly moved on into an open space.

Crichton stopped as his tow came within half a centimeter of a pressure alarm plate. He fell forward and rolled, escaping danger. Aeryn led the way to a winding stair case inclosed intirely in a chain link mess. She slowly opened the door and they carefully ascended.

They both looked up to the third story. A guard stood by the door that accessed the sea wall. Aeryn aimed between the steps and fired a silent dark strait into his neck, taking him down. They both tried to open the door, but a palm reader and key pad were beside it. They heard a safety go off behind them.

A Sebacean in a blue uniform stood behind them with a cheap looking gray gun. He had short black hair. He definitely wasn’t a Peace Keeper. “Are you here to strike a blow against the Peace Keepers?” he asked. “Yeah, we have a friend we need to rescue, hear he’s in the commandant’s office”, said Crichton. “Then you’ll need me, you need palm indent and codes to get any further”, he said. He opened the door with his hand and a few button presses. “Why are you helping us?” asked Crichton. “Name’s Farris, I am a member of the Bacia Enforcers, we hate these bastards”, said Farris leading the way.

They stepped onto the sea wall, which was about 20 yards wide. Aeryn fired a dart into the sniper on the wall. They quickly closed on him and tied him up. Crichton attached two ropes and dropped them over. He could barley see the boat. He flashed his flashlight twice. As the 2 were ascending, Crichton and Aeryn turned to Farris.

“Any new arrivals?” asked Crichton. “Yeah, 2” Farris replied. “One’s pale, got bad teeth, wears leather?” asked Crichton. “Yeah”, he replied. “Did the other have black hair, black eyes, and pointed ears?” “Yeah, he also came with a Luxan boy and a group of monsters”, said Farris. Aeryn helped the others up. They were both panting. “This way” said Farris.

“There will be two guards at the office door”, said Farris. “I have an idea, give me your gun”, said Crichton. They came to a door at the base of a tower. It was next to an even larger tower. The first was only 2 stories tall. Farris opened the door and led the way up the stairs. When the reached the top, Crichton threw him down and pointed his twin MAC-11’s at the guards. “Drop em,” said Crichton motioning toward a small door to the right. The first was locked, so they put them in the second room. Aeryn put a dart in each of their arms and tied up Farris for him to have a cover story.

Crichton and the others went outside the large door. Crichton threw open the door and charged in, targeting his guns. Aeryn and D’argo followed. Inside, Scorpious, Braca, and an old, bald, Sebacean all raised their hands. Aeryn quickly took their weapons.

“Well, well, looks like I don’t have to track you down after all,” said Scorpious. “Who the frell are they?” asked the old man. “Commodore Ashton, meet Commander John Crichton” said Scorpious. “Shut up, where’s Tailex and Jothee!” screamed D’argo.

Just after he yelled the book case behind the commodore opened. Tailex and Jothee stepped out. “Son!” exclaimed D’argo. The boy just gave him a blank stare. “So good of you to stop by”, said Tailex, pointing his overturned arm at his various opponents. “Son, come with us!” said D’argo with a smile. “But I don’t want to go, I want to stay with uncle Tailex” said the boy with a blank stare. “This is the same father that sold you into slavery” said Tailex with a smile to D’argo. Jothee stood by Tailex, who put his left arm around him. “As you can see, he is quite happy here”, said Tailex. “Oh, and I think you will be surrendering now,” said Tailex.

“My ass, you’re a little out gunned hass”, said Crichton. Chiana walked in and leveled her gun at his head. “Your dead Tailex!” she exclaimed with a violent fire in here eyes. “I don’t think so”, he replied. 2 hidden doors opened to the right and left of them. 2 Hunters came from each and 3 came from the door that Tailex had. They slowly closed on the criminals. “Surrender Crichton, or your friends will be torn to pieces”, said Tailex.

The door from behind opened and Jenovian walked in. “Sir, my report is…” she trailed off as she saw the stand off. Suddenly, Aeryn grabbed her from behind and put her gun to her head. “Call them off Tailex or she’s dead!” screamed Aeryn. “Go ahead, see what I care” said Tailex. “Call them off!” ordered Ashton. Tailex made a wave of his hand and the Hunters gave them a little room. “We are leaving”, said Aeryn as they backed out the door. Tailex led the Peace Keepers and Hunters in pursuit. The walked backwards down the stairs and to the ropes leading down on the sea wall. The other door came open and 10 troopers came out, 4 with shields.

The fugitives eyed their situation. “Your trapped Crichton!” said Scorpious. “Chiana, D’argo, your first” said Aeryn looking at the menagerie of foes. Chiana pointed her gun at Tailex, she hesitate. “Another time Chi” said Crichton. She began to descend begrudgingly.

Tailex walked up to the trio, away from the others. Jenovian hit Aeryn with the back of her head and jumped behind a shield man. “Frell!” exclaimed Aeryn as Hunters came up, to just behind Tailex. Tailex came in closer, arm raised.

“Come to Fort Zeakden with me Crichton, it is your destiny” said Tailex coming closer. “”I have waited for you along time.” “The key to Third Energy, the assassin of time…” he paused. “The Chrono Trigger!” he exclaimed getting closer. Crichton looked up puzzled. “Not any closer”, said Aeryn.

Tailex looked at Aeryn with a smile. Suddenly, a small knife shot from the top of his wrist weapon. It wasn’t the main weapon, but a small butterfly knife. It stabbed into the right side of Aeryn’s stomach. She winced and fell off the sea wall backwards. She screamed all the way until she splashed into the water 3 stories below.

“If you really care for her, as much as she cares about you, join me now and save her life” said Tailex walking up to Crichton holding a small vial of green liquid. Crichton back pedaled and nearly fell. He forgot about his guns. “Join me!” Tailex exclaimed. Just as he got with in arms reach, Crichton jumped. “No!” exclaimed Tailex.

Crichton fell 3 stories and splashed into the water feet first. D’argo quickly pulled him into the boat. Aeryn sat there too, looking good for someone who just took a knife in the stomach and fell 3 stories. Crichton began to loose consciousness as they approached the transport pod hovering just above the water.

Just before he blacked out, he remembered Tailex’s words. “The key to Third Energy, Assassin of Time, The Chrono Trigger!”

*Remember, this is based loosely on Chrono Cross