Earthbound 202X: The Chosen Eight
Part 27:  Escape

"How much time do we have before the aliens arrive?" asked Apple Man.
Kato thought about it. "When I discovered the enemy forces mobilizing, I returned here as swiftly as possible. If I were to estimate, I would say that we have approximately thirty minutes to escape before their arrival."
"Then here's the plan," said Jeff. "We have to get out of here before the aliens come, which means we have to clear out within a half hour." He looked at all of them. "The first priority is to make sure that all of us escape safely. Beyond that, we should try to salvage what we can of the machines here; we may need them later."
Guy nodded. "What machines are we able to take, Jeff?" he asked.
"Above all, we cannot lose the Phase Distorter III," Jeff stated. "Even though it means that the Zexonyte impurities will expand, we have no choice; we'll have to use it again, to get it away from here."
"What else?" asked Kyla.
Apple Man looked at her. "Well, we can't take the Instant Revitalizing Device," he said. "It's too big. So is the Sky Runner." He turned to Jeff. "I'll gather up the small machines I've made over the years."
"Okay," said Jeff. "I'm going to use our half hour to run a scan and look for other Sanctuary locations, and I'll put the results on a handheld device. This may be our only chance to use the lab's scanning equipment, so we can't waste it."
"I'll help you," said Kyla. "If we work together, we can probably finish the scan faster."
Guy looked at them. "What shall I do?" he asked.
Jeff thought for a moment. "You should pick up all of the weapons you can find lying around here, Guy," he said. "As well as any parts you think you might be able to use. You're good with weapons, so you might be able to build something."
Guy nodded. "I understand." He walked off to collect parts.
Kato checked his sword, making sure it could be easily drawn forth. "I will go outside and check on the enemy, in case they arrive early," he said. "I will return within twenty minutes." Without waiting for a response, he left the lab, walking out into the snow.
Jeff looked at Deckard and Karen, the only ones who had not been assigned a task. "Deckard and Karen, go upstairs and help Sasha bring Zain down," he said.
"Sure thing," agreed Deckard. He and Karen went upstairs.
With that, Jeff turned to Kyla. "Let's get this scan done," he said. Kyla nodded, and they walked over to the main computer.

In the upstairs room, Sasha knelt on the floor, looking at Zain's prone form next to her.
She had taken his goggles off, placing them nearby. His eyes were closed, and he did nothing but lay there. It was difficult to tell whether or not he was even breathing. And that strange pseal, the lowercase epsilon, still glared at her from his forehead...
Over the past week, Sasha had grown closer and closer to Zain as they had traveled together. And now that he was incapacitated, Sasha missed him terribly.
She missed his determined nature. She missed his insatiable appetite. She missed the sound of his voice. She missed looking into his green eyes and finding nothing but kindness reflected in them...
Stifling a sob, Sasha closed her eyes. A tear fell, landing on Zain's cheek; there was no reaction at all from him. "Zain..." said Sasha, wishing he could hear her. "Zain, please wake up..."
As usual, there was no response. Sasha sighed and sat down next to him, drawing her legs up and hugging her knees to her chest. She looked over at Zain again. "I don't think I've ever really told you," she said softly, "but, in this journey, I've come as far as I have because of you, Zain. So you see, if you don't wake up... I'll be lost..."
Still there was no reaction. If only I had Zain's or Karen's empathic PSI... Sasha thought miserably. Zain can do anything. He's saved all of us so many times...
Sasha slumped over, resting her head on her knees. "I can't do anything..." she said. "For all the PSI I have... I can't do anything for him. And if I can't even help my friend, then... What good am I?"
Just then, Deckard and Karen came up the stairs. "Sasha, there's trouble," said Karen urgently.
Sasha looked up at them blankly. "What is it...?" she asked.
"Giaguo's forces from Stonehenge are on their way here," explained Deckard. "We only have about a half hour to get out of here before they show up!"
Sasha blinked as what Deckard said sank in. "They... They're coming?" She stood up in shock. "They know we're here?"
Deckard shook his head. "Jeff didn't think they knew," he replied. "He thinks they're coming just to take care of a loose end. After all, Giaguo and Kaatz both saw him with us."
Karen nodded. "But it doesn't matter even if they do know... We still have to leave," she said. "Hurry, we have to carry Zain downstairs!"
They went over to Zain's body and prepared to pick him up. Grabbing Zain by his feet, Karen looked up at Sasha. "Has there been any change in his condition?" she asked.
Sasha shook her head forlornly. "No..."
Karen looked at the floor. She understood what Sasha was going through. Karen knew that Sasha cared for Zain the way she herself cared for Neil. To lose the one you care about most... It's horrible... Karen thought. Only in Sasha's case, instead of being whisked away, Zain was still here... And there was nothing that any of them could do for him.
She looked up at Sasha. "Sasha, believe me, I know how you feel right now," she said. "But there's no time to feel sorry for ourselves. If the enemy finds us here... They'll take you and Zain away, and Giaguo will get you both. We have to focus, and make sure we escape from here with our lives. If we can do that, then there will be time to find a way to help Zain afterward."
Deckard looked up at Karen, impressed. Just like Karen, he too had lost someone, and what Karen said made a lot of sense to him. "I couldn't have said it better myself," he praised.
Sasha closed her eyes, and slowly nodded. "...You're right," she said. "Let's go."

Kyla sat down at the keyboard. She looked up at Jeff. "How do we search for the Sanctuaries, Jeff?" she asked. "This equipment detects and measures energy. How do we use it to find the Sanctuaries?"
Jeff looked at the screen, on which a map of the world was displayed. "Well, years ago, my father discovered that a Sanctuary emits an abnormally high amount of energy," he explained. "He was never able to determine why this happens, or where the energy comes from, but they give off energy. All we have to do is tell the scanning equipment to search for abnormally high amounts of energy in a relatively small spot."
"Okay." Kyla typed in some commands on the keyboard, and looked up at the screen. In the bottom lefthand corner of the screen, the word "SEARCHING" began blinking on and off.
She turned to Jeff. "How long will the search take?" she asked.
Jeff shrugged. "I don't know for sure. This is the first time I've used this equipment; after all, we only just fixed it a few days ago." He glanced at the screen. "We're running the scan globally, so that will probably take some time. I just don't know how long; it could be fifteen minutes, it could be an hour."
Kyla frowned. "But we don't have an hour."
"I know that," Jeff replied, sighing in disgust. "This is all my fault. If I'd actually run the scan earlier instead of moping around, we'd have this done by now."
Kyla shook her head. "There's nothing we can do about that now. Let's just hope it finishes soon."
A dot suddenly appeared on the map. "There's one!" Kyla cried out.
Jeff looked at it. "Zoom in on it," he said.
Kyla entered the command, and the map zoomed in on the dot. "Display all of the data on that region," said Jeff.
"This should do it," said Kyla, typing in the command. A myriad of text information appeared on the screen, but Jeff only saw the word "Primera," which was displayed next to the dot.
He sighed. "Well, it looks like we've found Lumina Pillar," he said. "The only problem is, Zain and Sasha already found it."
Just then, Karen, Deckard, and Sasha came down the stairs, carrying Zain between them. Jeff turned to look at them. "Put him in the Phase Distorter III," he said. "When we go, we'll take him that way."
Between the three of them, Karen, Deckard and Sasha managed to get Zain into one of the machine's four seats. Meanwhile, another dot appeared on the screen. "Jeff, we found another one!" Kyla exclaimed.
"Great!" said Jeff. "We'll look at it later, once we're out of here."
Karen came over to them and looked at the screen. "Where are we going to go?" she asked.
Jeff thought about it. "...Twoson," he replied.
"Twoson?" repeated Karen. "Why there?"
Overhearing them, Apple Man turned to them from where he was picking up various objects and nodded in agreement. "Good idea, Jeff. My house is there, and so is some of my equipment."
"That's what I was thinking of," Jeff revealed. "There might be something we can use. And even if there isn't, we can at least try to regroup in Twoson."
This time, Guy overheard them, and he was overcome by a sense of dread. He came over, holding various parts in his hand. "Twoson?" he repeated. "But that is where my father resides! He possesses the largest amount of security there! If they discover me..."
"Relax," Jeff told him. "You'll be okay. I know the main headquarters of Orange Enterprises is there, but we don't have any reason to go near it. And Orangeman Orangere has no reason to suspect that you'll be nearby. Even if he finds out that you're not in Troisemburg anymore, I doubt he'll expect you to turn up right near him."
Guy looked away, not entirely convinced. "If... If you say so..."
Apple Man interrupted them. "Sorry to butt in, but it's not exactly safe here. Giaguo's forces will arrive here soon!"
"That's right," Deckard agreed. "We can talk about all this later, after we get away." He looked at Kyla. "How is the scan coming?"
Kyla looked at the screen again, which now displayed three dots on the map. "We've located three Sanctuaries so far," she said. "But one of them is Lumina Pillar, Sasha's Sanctuary."
Sasha looked away... And froze, as a vision suddenly entered her mind. She turned back to the others, her eyes glassy and dull. "They... They're coming!" she cried, panicking at a sight that only she could see. "They're here!"
Karen walked over to her. "Snap out of it, Sasha!" she ordered.
Her voice brought Sasha out of her reverie, and the glassy look in her eyes faded. "...Sorry," she said. "I... I saw the future. They're not far away..." She looked at Jeff. "There's hundreds of them. Hundreds of those Starman robots..."
Jeff sighed. "I guess that means we probably don't have a half hour after all," he said.
At that moment, the door opened, and Kato stumbled in. He was wounded in several places; blood ran down his face from a cut in his head, and he was using his sword for balance as he walked.
"Kato!" Deckard cried. "What happened to you?"
Kato looked at everyone and managed a grim smile. "I must... apologize," he said. "It seems that... That my estimate of the time we had left was... mistaken." He coughed up some blood. "And the enemy is... smarter than I gave them credit for. They found me..."
Sasha moved over and placed a hand on Kato. "Lifeup Beta!" Under Sasha's power, most of Kato's wounds healed; however, the dried blood was still visible all over him.
"You have my thanks, Sasha," said Kato gratefully, his voice more steady. "With my injuries, I was too dazed, and unable to concentrate enough energy to heal myself."
Sasha nodded back. "You're welcome, Kato," she said.
Kato turned to Jeff. "The enemy consists primarily of the Starman machines, which compose their front lines. Behind them, there are some strange creatures that I assume are aliens. They have two eyestalks with a third eye on their bodies, and their bodies are covered with many tentacles."
Jeff knew what Kato was talking about, but so did Deckard; he clenched his fists angrily at the memory of Lexa's kidnapper. "Mooks..." said Jeff and Deckard simultaneously.
"It seems that you know of them already," said Kato. "There are also other machines: spherical ones with mechanical tentacles."
This time, only Jeff knew what Kato was describing. "Those are Octobots," he explained. "If those have been sent out, then we really are in trouble." He looked at Kato. "Kato, about how many enemies are there?"
"Hundreds," Kato replied. "Perhaps even a thousand. When I was discovered, I managed to destroy some of them, but they overpowered me. It was through sheer luck that I managed to return alive."
"How far away are they?" asked Apple Man.
Kato looked at the door, troubled. "They will arrive at any moment now," he answered grimly.
Jeff's eyes narrowed. "Then we need to get out of here NOW." He started walking over to the Phase Distorter III.
Kyla called after him. "But what about the scan?" she asked. "We have to finish it!"
Jeff looked back at her. "I don't think that's going to be an option now," he answered.
Karen shook her head. "We have to finish that scan. It may be our only chance to learn where the other Sanctuaries are." She walked over to the door and went outside. "I'll try to fend off the enemies until it's done."
Deckard drew his sword and followed her. "I'll help."
"I will assist also," Kato declared, even though he was injured. He went outside as well.
Jeff wasn't sure, but he acquiesced to their decision. "Alright then," he said. He looked back at the screen, which now displayed four dots. "Four more to go; if they can hold off the enemy long enough, we might finish this." He looked at Kyla. "But in case something goes wrong, have your weapon ready, Kyla. We may have to fight."
Kyla nodded in response. "Okay." She brought out the Gaia Beam and set it next to the keyboard.
Next, Jeff turned to Apple Man. "Apple Man, you just get out of here. Use the Phase Distorter III and take Zain to your house in Twoson. We have to make sure that the enemy doesn't get him."
Apple Man nodded, somewhat relieved; he wasn't much of a fighter. "Okay, Jeff," he said.
Jeff looked at Sasha. "Sasha, I don't know why, but Giaguo is specifically after you. You should go with Apple Man to Twoson now, so that they don't find you here."
Sasha nodded in agreement, still remembering how Giaguo had tried to take her back in Quattro City. "Okay." She got into the Phase Distorter III and sat down next to Zain.
Finally, Jeff turned to Guy. "Guy, what are you going to do?" he asked. "You can go with Apple Man now, or you can wait with us."
Guy glanced at Kyla. "I will wait here with you," he replied. "If the enemy manages to break into the laboratory, then you will need an extra person to fend them off."
"Alright then," said Jeff. He looked at Apple Man. "See you later, Apple Man. Don't try to come back for us, even if we're late."
Apple Man shook his head. "I can't promise that, Jeff. But I'll see you later."
He climbed into the Phase Distorter III. A moment later, it disappeared in a flash of light.
Jeff, Guy, and Kyla looked at the screen; no new dots had appeared on the map since the fourth one. "I hope Karen, Deckard, and Kato will be okay," said Kyla.

Karen, Kato, and Deckard stood outside in the snow, waiting for the enemy to appear. "Looks like it'll be three of us against hundreds of them," Deckard remarked.
"It's not exactly fair," Karen agreed. She smiled at Deckard and Kato. "The odds are against them."
Kato grinned at that. "I hope that you maintain this optimism five minutes from now."
As they looked over the snowy plains, the enemy began to show up. "There!" Deckard pointed out. "Starmen!"
As the robots trudged closer, Karen saw that they were the Starman Elite models that Kaatz had had with him in Troisemburg. She looked at her companions. "Are you two ready for this?" she asked.
"We are warriors," Kato answered. "We are as ready as we will ever be."
"Good," said Karen. Reaching out, she manifested her psychic sword and took hold of it.
Deckard stared at her in surprise. "Nice trick," he commented.
"Thanks," Karen replied. She looked at both of them. "Why don't we give them a little surprise?" she asked.
Deckard shrugged. "Sounds good to me."

Meanwhile, the Starmen took notice of the three humans as they approached. "Lifeforms identified as Target Priority Three, Anomaly-S1, and Code 'Dalaam-Alpha,'" said one of them in its mechanical voice.
Another one spoke. "Target Priority Three and Code 'Dalaam-Alpha' are to be captured alive if possible," it said. "Anomaly-S1 is to be terminated at all cost."
A third one looked at the laboratory. "The structure is not to be destroyed," it said. "Once we have removed resistance, we are to perform a systematic search of the structure for Target Priority One or Target Priority Zero."
"Target Priority Zero is expected to be incapacitated," said another. "Resistance is not expected from him--"
Most of the Starmen were silenced permanently as they exploded under the stress of a powerful starburst attack.
>From where he was standing, Kato lowered his hand. "I believe that I destroyed about twenty of them with that," he said.
"My turn," said Deckard, concentrating. Since the last battle with Kaatz, he had devised a new attack that he wanted to try. Time to see if it works, he thought. "PSI Chain-Lightning Alpha!"
Karen and Kato stared at Deckard in surprise as a gigantic bolt of lightning burst from his hand and struck the nearest Starman. From that Starman, the bolt jumped to another, and then to another, and so on, until finally twenty-five Starmen fell, electrocuted.
"Nice one," Karen praised.
Deckard shrugged. "I thought the regular Thunder attack was kind of limited," he said. "I didn't see why this wouldn't work, so I decided to try it."
"Well, now it's my turn," said Karen, "and I have a new attack of my own to try out." Her eyes turned red with the power of empathic PSI. "PSI Pyro-Tower Alpha!"
Deckard and Kato looked on as a giant tower of flame suddenly exploded into being in the middle of the Starmen, sending the enemies flying in every direction. Next, the tower grew spikes of fire on all sides, and began to spin around the area, blasting more Starmen.
"Wow," said Deckard in awe.
When the fire tower finally dissipated, at least fifty of the Starmen had been destroyed. The snow around the area had melted, revealing scorched ground underneath. Even Karen was surprised at the destruction she had caused. "I didn't know it would be THAT powerful," she remarked.
"It's probably your empathic PSI," Deckard suggested. "That attack looked almost as strong as Zain's Hyperion attack."
Karen blinked. "Really?"
Kato laughed. "Perhaps we can hold our ground after all."
His newfound optimism was shattered when one of the remaining Starmen spoke. "The resistance possesses powerful PSI techniques," it said. "Activate psychic power shields."
Suddenly, every one of the remaining Starmen was temporarily enveloped in a blue aura, which faded out.
Kato looked on in disgust. "Psychic power shields," he said in disgust. "Now, any PSI we use against them will be reflected back at us."
Karen sighed. "As long as they have those shields, this thing is useless," she said. She dispelled her psychic sword.
"It is?" asked Deckard.
Karen nodded; she had discovered this during her fight with Pokey. "That sword is an extension of my PSI; it's made of my psychic energy. So anything that blocks PSI will block it as well."
At that moment, to their dismay, the Mooks and the Octobots appeared. Deckard noted that although the Mooks were a different color than the Abductor Mook that he had fought in Summers, they looked almost exactly the same. The Octobots were as Kato had described them; metal spheres with mechanical tenacles attached.
In all, there were hundreds of enemies lined up before them. "This could be bad," said Karen.
"Yeah," Deckard agreed. "I've fought a Mook before, and just one was trouble; I almost didn't beat it. There's no way we can take on a whole army of them, let alone the Starmen and the Octobots."
Kato looked back at the lab behind them. "I am not one to shy away from battle," he said, "but seeing what we are now facing, I believe it would be in our best interests to make an expeditious retreat."
"You're right, Kato," conceded Karen, although she didn't like admitting it. "I just hope that we bought Jeff and Kyla enough time to finish the scan."
They turned around and hurried back into the lab.

Jeff, Guy, and Kyla stood near each other, eyes glued to the screen. There were now seven dots on it. "Just one more to go..." said Jeff. "Come on..."
At that moment, the door burst open, and Karen, Kato, and Deckard came back inside. "We held them off for as long as we could," said Deckard. "But there's just too many of them. They're going to be here at any moment now."
Jeff sighed. "Alright," he said. "We found seven of the Sanctuaries, but three of them are the ones that you've already found. There's still one missing, but I guess we don't have time to look for it."
He picked up a small device and opened it up; it looked like a miniature computer. "I'll download the search results to this handheld device," he explained, using a wire to connect it to the main computer.
"Hurry!" Karen prodded. "We don't have much time left!"
As she said that, all of them could now hear the enemies approaching. In another moment, the Starmen, Mooks, and Octobots would be upon them.
"Done," said Jeff, disconnecting the wire. He closed the device and handed it to Kyla. "Hold onto this, Kyla."
Kyla took the device and put it into her backpack. Just then, the first Starman entered the lab, tearing the door off of its hinges. It raised its arms at them, and its arms began glowing.
Guy drew his Equalizer pistol and shot the Starman. A hole appeared in its chest, and it fell to the ground, its limbs waving wildly. "We must leave here now!" Guy shouted.
"Right!" said Jeff. "Karen, you know where to go! Get us out of here!"
Karen nodded. She focused on Twoson; somehow, she knew that she had been there before. Then she focused on her friends, making sure that they would be teleported with her.
"Teleport Beta!" All of them were suddenly swept up into a large whirlwind and disappeared in a flash of light, just as the other Starmen burst into the laboratory.

They reappeared in front of a small house. The house was old and had clearly fallen into disrepair. The Phase Distorter III sat outside.
Apple Man was waiting for them on the doorstep. He ran down and hugged Kyla. "Thank goodness you're safe," he said. He looked around at the others. "All of you."
Deckard grinned. "It was a tight spot," he said, "but we made it out okay."
Kyla nodded in agreement. "But we only found seven of the Sanctuaries," she said. "We weren't able to find the last one."
"That's alright," said Apple Man. "What matters is that you're all safe."
"Exactly," Jeff agreed.
Karen looked at Jeff. "Will we be safe now?" she asked.
Jeff nodded. "I think we're out of danger. They have no way of knowing where we've gone." He looked at the house. "Let's go inside. We'll rest for a while, and then we'll figure out what to do next."
Apple Man looked at all of them. "I haven't been home in quite a long time," he said, "so it's a bit messy in there. Just so you know."
They all went inside.

To be continued...