She-Hulk - The Fusion Part One of Three By Greenwood

"How long until we get there?" asks Taylor James. She's the new captain of the EOC Callaway. It's a newly re-christened spaceship that was renamed after its original captain was murdered in a shocking double-cross. But the crew of the Callaway continued on and the former second mate, Taylor, was promoted to captain. Taylor had always been a more than worthy candidate to be captain of another ship but loyalty kept her on the Callaway. That, and an impulsive attitude with a bit of a temper to match. She was somewhat of a prodigy, having acquired the many skills necessary to be successful at an extremely young age. Even now, at the age of 24, she was considered way beyond her years with regards to her skill level. Callaway had been the only person she had ever met who could out-think her, although a savvy opponent would be wise to exploit her fiery nature and fan the flames of passion burning deep within her. Callaway had always told her to keep her emotions in check but Taylor reveled in them. Her gut was almost always right and she trusted her initial instincts. Although she had been with the crew for almost 8 years they knew next to nothing of Taylor's past. This was not uncommon, however, but Taylor was more private than most. The crew suspects that she has some sort of demon from the past plaguing her. "It should be only another quarter hour." Lakri, the new second, tells her. He was an odd man, oftentimes saying something completely out of context. English was not his first language, in fact it wasn't even his second or third. He was well versed in many languages and found the backwardness of English puzzling. Taylor often joked that Lakri didn't speak English, he spoke Engrish. But he was by far the most intelligent person on board and was a master strategist but it was his lack of charisma and people skills that limited his advancement. Lakri was fine with this, though. He didn't enjoy the responsibility that came with being captain. Taylor sighs impatiently and blew her bangs from her face. She has short black hair that extends to about the middle of her neck. She favored this cut because it was short and didn't get in her face. Her eyes were a light brown and looking into them revealed a passionate personality. Taylor was a tomboy and had the physique to match. Years of working out and training had given her a well-toned body and she put it to good use. She enjoyed rolling up her sleeves and getting down and dirty and engaging in manual labor. She wasn't the type of captain who delegated and then sat on her butt, she would join right in alongside the crew and help out in anyway she could. It was because of this that the crew respected her greatly. Not a single man on the crew objected to taking orders from her despite her being a woman or being the same age as or younger than most of them. She had earned their respect through hard work and diligence. They had received a distress signal from the planet Yione. Apparently, a team of scientists had traveled there to explore and document the planet in an effort to explain why its chemical makeup is so similar to Earth's, despite being out past Pluto. Actually, there's a planet in between Yione and Pluto named Bardock but debate rages over whether or not this is actually a planet or a moon of Yione. It seems to have it's own orbit but not enough time has lapsed to see if it's orbiting Yione or not. Some even claim that Yione is not even a planet in our solar system. They say it orbits another sun and is in the same situation that Pluto was, too far out in space to accurately determine whether or not it's orbiting our sun. Yione was discovered 45 years ago and the first ship to arrive on its surface landed 2 weeks ago. And since Pluto's orbit is nearly 250 years and Yione is much further away scientists say Yione would have at least a 400-year long orbit. Regardless of numbers and figures Taylor knows that something is happening on planet Yione. And she also knows that her and her crew are going in blind. They have no idea what awaits them on the planet's surface. Trouble is afoot for the crew of twenty and Taylor knows she's going to have to rely on all of her instincts in order for them to make it out alive. Taylor and her crew descend upon the planet's surface with weapons drawn. Amazingly, its atmosphere was so similar to Earth's that they didn't require any protection from poisonous gas although the gravity was about twice that of Earth's. They had landed in a desert-like area atop a mountain of what they assumed to be sand. From their vantage point they had very good visibility of the surrounding land. Spying what they believed to be the scientist's ship far off in the distance Taylor decided against taking their own ship over there and instead elected to split the crew up into three. The first group, which Taylor would personally lead, would board the ship and investigate while the second group would remain some distance away keeping watch over them from outside attacks. The third group would stay put and serve as communication central. They would also be in charge of any rescue efforts, should it become necessary. "Alright, you guys. You five with me, you six in the other craft and the rest of you guys are staying here. Let's move out." Taylor says as she heads for the first craft. She nearly jumps into the lead gunner spot before catching herself and assuming her position as overseer. The two crafts head out in separate directions, with Taylor's group going straight to the scientist's ship. The other group finds a good scout position and sits tight. The lines of communication are wide open as information is passed back and forth between the three groups. Finally, after the long drive, Taylor's group arrives on the scene and she gives out the orders. "Alright, Jerema, you and Blake find your cover spots then me and Steve-o follow you in. Rand, you and Clipos cover us." All five men nod in unison. Jerema and Blake press up on the walls as Taylor looks over at Steve. She nods at the door and he proceeds to break it down. Instantly, Jerema and Blake flash inside and take cover. As they were headed to planet Yione Taylor covered, in exhausting detail, the layout of the scientist's ship. The entire crew could now find their way through it blindfolded so Jerema and Blake knew exactly where to find cover as quickly as possible. Taylor and Steve passed them and assumed their cover spots. Then, Rand and Clipos follow. As Clipos is strafing in he looks at the door laying on the ground and remarks, "You know, I bet this door wasn't even locked." Taylor immediately raises her hand to silence him. The only sound that can be heard is the soft humming of what they assume to be a computer. The group slowly makes their way through every room on the ship. The ship is comprised primarily of the main laboratory. This takes up over half the ship. Then there are two private labs with the rest of the ship being dormitories and restroom facilities. After searching the rest of the ship the crew comes back to the main lab. As she walks by one of the many computers in the lab Taylor sees something that has plagued mankind for many years. "Damn BSOD." She huffs. "You'd think they'd finally have come up with a way to stop that." "Well, what do you expect from MSAT&TNBCEANASDAQGLOBALDISNEY.COM/ORG?" Clipos says. "Bless you." Says Rand. "Well, you know, ever since Bill Gates came back from exile and bought them out it's just like the old days." Clipos adds. "Come on, guys." Taylor says as she walks up to the main computer. She starts to look it over. An opened can of Mountain Dew sits atop a "My laptop's got more terabytes than yours." coaster. Rand grabs the can and takes a sip. "Well?" Clipos asks. "It's not flat. And since Mountain Dew is the official drink of lonely tech geeks everywhere, and they sure wouldn't just leave a half-full can laying around, I'd be willing to bet that at least one of the scientists is still around here somewhere." "Rand." Taylor says as she shakes her head. Suddenly, the faint sound of a toilet flushing can be made out and a door opens. A girl geek walks out, tucking her shirt down into her pants. As she looks up and sees several armed soldiers she stops in her tracks, does a double take, and her jaw hits the ground. "Are you one of the scientists working from this ship?" Taylor asks, stepping forward. "Y-yes, I...I am." She spits out. "Did you or one of your associates send out a distress signal?" Taylor asks. "Y-yes, I...I, I...we didn't...we didn't think you'd, uh, get here so quickly." "Well, we're here now so if you could tell us just what is the nature of your problemwe can do this." "Well, I, uh,...you see, I..." the scientist begins, obviously very nervous. "Hold on." Taylor says before turning to the others. "You guys go outside and establish communications with the other two groups. Let them know that we've" Taylor looks at the female scientist. "Just tell them that I'll brief everyone in a little bit." The other soldiers walk outside. "Now, as you were saying?" "Yes, I, uh...okay, the thing is...we have foundintelligent life...on this planet. As you've no doubt already gathered this planet is very, very similar to Earth. They are so similar, in fact, that I theorize that this planet occupies the same, or close to, position in this solar system that Earth does in ours. Yes, I believe that planet Yione is a part of a different solar system than our own. Now, of course, full research will be needed to prove this but I think it's only a matter of time before I'm proven right." She looks at Taylor to gauge her reaction. "Oh, that's right. I'm sorry...I've forgotten to introduce myself. I'm Dr. Alison Landry." Dr. Landry extends her hand. "I'm Captain Taylor James of the EOC Callaway. Good to meet you." The two women shake hands. "Dr. Landry, if you could tell me the nature of your distress call. Also, if you could answer me this. What happened to the other five scientists on this ship?" "Well, first of all, I'll answer your second question first. The rest of the remaining crew is out gathering samples." "Remaining" crew?" Taylor says. "Yes, that's...a part of the answer to your first question. You see, there's a, uh...there's this creature...now this sounds very weird but...it's all too true. There's this thing...it's called "The Destroyer" and from what we've seen it's very, very powerful. You see, the inhabits of this planet are peaceful creatures. They're not warriors, they have no discernible means of defending themselves. At least, none that we know about. Anyway, back to the Destroyer. This is a mythical creature that we've learned about from the Yione people. Apparently, this thing has been around since the dawn of mankind and sustains itself by devouring whatever planets it comes in contact with. Its next target is this planet. We're hoping that we can somehow evacuate this planet and utilize the vast knowledge of the Yione's to vanquish the Destroyer. We must save these people and, if at all possible, save this planet." "I see. Well, we'll help in whatever way we can." Taylor says. Elsewhere A gargantuan creature, similar in appearance to a giant amoeba, roars in hunger some distance away. The deafening bellow is lost in the vastness of space. The creature is set on a collision course for planet Yione.