Starman Junior's Mission

“Whirr. I have arrived in the year 1994, as per orders. I am beep awaiting my next command.”

Starman Junior stared at the small screen on the back of his right hand. This was his only link to Stonehenge, the operating system to which all Starmen were ultimately controlled from.

As he waited for a response, he felt a drop of water hit his head. Then another hit his left arm. Soon, a barrage of water droplets pelted his metal exterior, making small thuds as they did so. Starman Junior didn’t care. It was not because every single Starman was coated with a waterproof, rust repellent spray. It was not even because the water cleared the dirt off the screen on his right hand.

It was because he was not ordered to show emotion towards the rain. He had achieved his mission of teleporting ten years into the past. He would now remain idle until a Starman of a higher ranking than himself told him to do otherwise. He didn’t have the capacity to hold feelings like when to be cold, or when to show emotion. That was what made him superior to humans.

Suddenly, a yellow Starman’s face filled the screen on his right hand. It was a Starman DX, the highest rank that the machine soldiers could attain.

“Beep State your serial number.”

It was protocol to be asked one’s serial number before being assigned a new mission. Starman Junior didn’t know the logic behind this. Nor did he care.

“Serial code: 8251SJ, reporting.”

A few seconds of silence crept by. A wiper that was the same width as the screen shot out from a tiny crack on the left end of the monitor. It quickly shot across the monitor, leaving it completely dry, as it reached the other side and slid back into his hand.

“Confirmed,” Starman DX replied. “Your mission is as beep follows: Go to coordinates N185 E76, Onett, Eagleland, and eliminate target “Buzz Buzz.” The target is presently descending a whirr hill found between sub coordinates N300 through N218 and E110 through E163. Simulation tests have determined that the best location in which to initiate an attack is coordinates N239 E146. Once target “Buzz Buzz” has been eliminated, return to Stonehenge.”

“Understood,” Starman Junior replied. An image of Buzz Buzz filled his monitor, although it was unnecessary. Starman Junior had been assigned previous missions relating to the surveillance of Buzz Buzz; his image was already embedded in his database.

Starman Junior waved his left hand over the screen, causing it to vanish. He then took his right hand, and punched a button on his left arm. Because Starmen didn’t have fingers, the buttons were large to accommodate their tentacle-like hands. He then mouthed the coordinates Starman DX had given him.

A flash of light overcame Starman Junior, and he slowly faded away. If he had bothered to examine his surroundings, he would have noticed that he was in a field of wet grass, and that and that two steps forward would placed him under the roof of a cave, giving him cover form the rain. But he didn’t care about his surroundings at all. He was not ordered to by a Starman of a higher ranking than himself.

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The first thing that Starman Junior saw when he materialized was three human children accompanying his prime target: Buzz Buzz.

“It’s been a long time, Buzz Buzz. You’ve been good at foiling Master Giygas’s plans up to this point, but you’re time is up. I’m going to crush you!” Starman Junior said.

One of the children, a blond, overweight, male, took a few steps back. Another child, who was holding a baseball bat, took a step towards Starman Junior.

“What’s that?” the boy asked.

“A machine-soldier. One of many that enforces Giygas’s rule in the future,” Buzz Buzz quickly explained.

“Death to those that oppose Master Giygas,” Starman Junior yelled, pointing his hand at Buzz-Buzz. He couldn’t tell what Buzz Buzz was doing, but he could hear a type of chanting. But it mattered not what he was doing. Starman Junior could easily finish off this traitor to Master Giygas.

A wave of fire suddenly shot out from his tentacle. The massive wall of fire homed in on the group of four. He could hear the fat child screaming, while the third boy, who looked a few years younger than the other two, began chanting some nonsensical words. The fire now looked like a fat, horizontal line as it rushed towards the children. In seconds, they would be fried to a crisp, and Starman Junior would have accomplished his mission.

Just as the fire was to engulf Buzz Buzz, it suddenly disappeared. In the place of the burning flames was a yellowish, transparent wall that formed a barrier between Starman Junior and his targets.

“What was that you just did?” the boy with the baseball cap asked.

“PSI, a type of magic produced by the mind,” Buzz Buzz explained, before turning to Starman Junior. “You’re not the only one who can use PSI!”

“Your shield will wear down soon, Buzz Buzz,” Starman Junior said as he prepared to send off another round of flame. Before he had a chance, though, the boy with the baseball cap swung a baseball bat against Starman Junior’s chest. The machine soldier hardly felt anything, but that sign of aggression marked him as an enemy. He, too, would have to be eliminated.

The Starman drew one of his arms back, and punched at the boy, missing him by an inch. They boy jumped back, and Starman Junior prepared to lunge at him. That was when he felt a stinging sensation jolt across his back. The shock began to spread throughout his body, until the jolt reached his head.

Turning around, he saw Buzz Buzz draw back, his stinger still aimed at Starman Junior. Suddenly, he charged forward, prepared to stab Starman Junior again. The Starman quickly pushed the button on his left arm, and teleported out of Buzz Buzz’s path.

From where he appeared, he quickly shot a jagged block of ice at the nearest target he could direct his magic at., which happened to be Buzz Buzz. The PSI Freeze narrowly missed him, instead hitting the overweight boy who was sobbing hysterically. However, like with the fire, it was absorbed by the transparent shield around him.

“You’re stronger than I thought,” Buzz Buzz noted. “But you must notice by now that all your attacks are useless.”

“Your shields are wearing down,” Starman Junior retorted, firing another round of PSI Freeze on the bee.

“Then I should probably end this battle quickly,” Buzz Buzz replied, dodging another fire attack aimed at him.

Just as Starman Junior readied another PSI attack, he felt the baseball bat hit his head. It did nothing more than distract him for a few seconds, but that was all the time that Buzz Buzz needed to plunge his stinger into the Starman’s chest.

Starman Junior staggered back. Buzz Buzz had pierced through his metal exterior, snapping one of his circuit wires. The result was another intense shock that ran throughout his body, and into his “heart”, which was where the programs that allowed him to function were stored.

“I will not fail in my mission!” Starman Junior yelled, his mechanical voice filling the night sky. He then shot one final blast of PSI Fire.

Starman Junior’s visual functions had already shut down in an attempt to direct all remaining energy to keeping the “heart” active. He couldn’t tell if he had beaten Buzz Buzz and completed his mission. It was only when he felt the needle-like object pierce through him again that he knew he had failed in his mission of eliminating Buzz Buzz.

The attack snapped more wires, all of them vital to the functioning of the “heart”. After another round of electrocution, his legs finally gave way, and he fell to the ground.

In about a minute, Starman Junior’s systems would stop producing the energy needed for his continued activation, and he would malfunction. To malfunction was the Starman equivalency of a human dying. He had already lost the abilities to see, hear, and other basic sensory functions to analyze his surroundings. He could no longer walk, move his arms, or stand up. He had lost his vocal function, and shortly he would lose the ability to think. Then, his “heart” would deactivate, and he would truly malfunction, truly having failed his mission to Master Giygas.

But Starman Junior didn’t care about any of that. A Starman of a higher ranking than himself had not ordered him to.