SPACE NEWBIES.

It was a normal day on the Island Force Space Station. Everyone was given their missions and jobs. 
Two figures stepped off the elevator and went to the Commander’s Office. They knocked on the door. 
"Hello, anyone in there?", asked one of them. 
"Come in!", it sounded from the other side. The two persons entered the office of the Space Station's Commander and saw Grandpa Max. He was in a exercise bench, lifting some weights: "Just doing some exercise. Staying so long in space can affect the body, ya know.” 
The one still in the doorway looked at him and shuffled his feet. “I wouldn't know anything about that. This is my first time being on a space station”, he said. He was a halfbreed and Grandpa Max now looked at him with renewed interest. 
"Ooooohh... A space newbie", Max chuckled and got up. "My name is Max Tennyson, commander of the Island Force Space Station. And you are..." 
The halfbreed walked up to him and extended his hand out. "I'm Scoobadex Oyama", he said with a smile. 
They shook hand. "Oyama? So you're related to the big bosses?", Max smiled and sat at his desk. "So, how can I help you guys?" 
"Well, me and my husband were sent here to see how things have been going and to bring up some supplies." 
At that time Buford stepped forward, carrying a really heavy box on his back. He sat the box down on the floor. "Man what’s in this thing?", he asked tiredly. 
"Why don't we all take a look?" Max looked inside the box and smirked: "Well, well... Christmas got early this year... Oh man, look at this beauty..." 
"What is it?", asked Buford wanting to see. 
Max picked it up from out of the box. It was so big and heavy he needed to carry it in both arms. "A new toy. Well at least it's for me. It's a new blaster cannon designed for space use", he said in an admiring tone. 
Buford looked at Max. He was amazed at how he was able to hold such a large blaster with ease. "Well, I see they picked the right guy for the job here." 
At that time Max's desk communicator beeped. 
"Yes?" 
#Sir, we've detected a group of meteors approaching.# 
"Estimated time of impact?" 
#Around an hour, Sir. We're proceeding to deploy the automatic defense system.# 
Max looked at his new "toy". "I'll take care of it personally. Keep the defense system as backup." 
#Roger, Sir.# 
Buford smirked. "This is great! We get to see the commander in action." 
Scoobadex looked at him. “Is there anything we can do, Mr. Max Tennyson?", he said, giving him a salute. 
Max smiled. "I usually work alone... But would you like to have true first line tickets to see this beauty working?" 
"Of course we do! I really want to see you use that big gun!", said Buford, grabbing Scoobadex by the tail. "So lead the way." 
"Follow me", said Grandpa Max. 
They walked towards the "Space Walk Dressing Room". There were many spacesuits ready to be used. "Pick one and suit up, you're coming outside with me." 
They both grabbed a spacesuit and put it on. Buford took out his huge axe. "Just in case you miss one", he said with a big smile. 
Max chuckled. "Help is welcomed, kid, but I believe it won't be necessary. And trust me, space is a whole different world." He slang the cannon on his back before picking a helmet. "OK kids, follow me." 
Both did as he said and followed him. As they left the room, they walked past three fighters who seemed to be very busy. Buford stopped and looked at them, thinking he seen them somewhere before. But he couldn't remember where or when. 
They entered a room and Max closed a heavy door behind them. He put on his helmet, saying: "Okay kids, put on your helmets and make sure they're well locked." 
Scoobadex put on his first and gave it a good twist. "Mine’s all locked", he said 
Then Buford gave his a try. "Same here", he said. 
"OK", Max replied. He pushed some buttons in the console and all the air of the room was drained. Another door opened, which was the way out to space for walks. 
Max pointed his finger: "You. Out." 
"No, we’re ok", said Scoobadex, with a puzzled look on his face. 
Max frowned behind his helmet's visor an repeated: "Out!" 
"Halfbreed, he means go outside", said Buford, pushing his husband outside. 
When Scoobadex was out the door, he found it hard to stay balanced. "Ok. Now things are bad.", he half froze. 
Max sighed: "Newbies…", he turned to Buford. "Get out." 
Buford chuckled for a bit before going out the door. "I'll get him, you just be careful." 
"Kid, remember who you're talking to", Max said slightly annoyed. He got out and smirked, seeing both newbies struggling to find balance and float properly in space. "Who needs to be careful again?" 
Buford just folded his arms as he turned upside down. "Ok, ok. So I need practice for being in space." 
Scoobadex just broke out into laughter. "Who’s gonna get who now, huh?" 
"Oh can it, halfbreed?", said Buford getting mad. 
"Okay, let Grandpa Max take care of it", said Max in a soothing voice. He turned them to a stable position and attached a security rope to their belts. "This way you won't get lost." 
Max checked his watch. "We have 30 minutes to reach the meteors and 40 minutes of air in our tanks, so don't waste any more time." 
"RIGHT!", they both said as they got ready to for the meteors. 
"Max, you sure you got this?", asked Scoobadex. 
"What do you mean, kid?", Max asked while he floated towards the spot where he could shoot down the meteors, pulling Buford and Scoobadex with him. 
"Well I want to know if you can really handle this alone. Cause we're here to help if you need it.”, Scoobadex replied. 
Max scoffed a little. "Kid, we have meteor showers almost daily and the defense system takes them without problem. This is just for fun, if anything fails we have the defense system as backup." 
"So you’re running things really well", Scoobadex smiled at Max. "Let’s see you work." 
"Sure, kid", Max smiled. 
They all reached the calculated spot, which was pretty far away from the space station. 
"This is the place." Max checked his watch. "Okay, we still have 25 minutes of air in the tanks." 
"Then you better make this quick", said Buford, lifting his axe over his shoulder. 
"Leave it to me, kid." Max armed himself with his new blaster cannon and saw meteors approaching at high speed. "You two, stay behind me", he said as he began to charge the cannon. 
"Ok Max, it's your show", said Buford. 
"Sure." 
When the meteors were at the right range, Max began to shoot them, reducing them to space dust one after one. "Ha! It works perfectly!", he shouted in excitement. 
"The guys at the lab make great weapons", Scoobadex confirmed. 
"Now if they could just make a better hot dog", said Buford in a mocking voice. 
Max smirked with the comment while he gave the space newbies a good show. After a while, all the meteors were reduced to space dust. "Whew... I hate not being able to wipe my forehead's sweat...", said Max as he slang the cannon back. 
Buford was jumping up and down and almost lost his balance again. Scoobadex patted Max on the arm. "Way to do, dude. That was awesome!" 
"Thanks kid. Now let's return to the station before we run out of air", Max said with a little proudly. 
"Right", said Scoobadex. 
Soon Buford floated by them. "Ummm, guys, a little help here", he said as he floated by. Max chuckled as he pulled Buford’s rope again. 
"C'mon..." They floated back to the space station. 
"Good, just in time." Max went to open the entrance door, but he frowned as it didn't open. "What?!" 
"Max, what’s wrong? Why won’t the door open?", asked Buford while his heart skipped a beat. 
"Control? Commander Max here, we're having problems with the entrance door", Max tried to contact control, but it seemed like they lost contact. 
"This ain't good. We gotta find another way in before it's too late", said Scoobadex. 
"I know an emergency door, but it's on the other side of the Space Station. Let's hurry, our tanks are almost empty", Max quickly said. 
"Let’s go!", said Buford. 
As they were going to the emergency door, Buford looked atMax and asked: "Max, what do you think could've happened?" 
"We'll find that out as soon we can get in", Max answered worried. 
They floated as fast they could. After a while, their tanks were empty and what was left was just the air inside the suits. 
Max tried to stay calm as he said: "Damn it... Kids, don't panic and breathe heavily, we're almost there." 
"Panic? We're always calm in the face of danger", said Buford. 
"Maybe so, but whatever’s going on seems fishy", said Scoobadex. 
They reached the emergency door. It was not automatic, so it had to be opened manually. "There it is..." Max breathed heavily, feeling he's running out of air. "How are you, kids?" 
"A little lightheaded, but ok", said Scoobadex. 
"Alright. You?", he asked Buford, noticing he's not answering. 
"I'm holding up, but we better hurry", Buford replied in a whisper, falling to his hands and knees. He was slowly passing out. 
Scoobadex rushed over to him and helped him up. "Hey Max, how do we open the door? Buford's fading fast." 
"Let me do it..." Max was feeling very tired too, but he took the door's wheel in his hand and began to turn it around to unlock the door. "Darn it... It's heavy... Mph..." Max moved it around slowly to not get too tired but aware that they were at their limits. He finally opened the door. "In. NOW!" 
Scoobadex quickly helped Buford in, right behind Max. 
Max shut the door and immediately went to the controls to pressurize the room. 
"How is he?" 
Scoobadex quickly removed Buford's helmet and shook him a bit. "Buford, Buford wake up!". 
Buford opened his eyes as everything seemed a little blurry. "Wha... What’s going on?" 
"Thank God...", said Max as he removed his helmet and took a deep breath of fresh air. He sat down. "You okay?" 
"Yeah, I'll live", he replied. "Max could the door have been locked from the control room?" 
"Is the most probable thing, the fact I didn't get response from the control room makes me think the station has been hijacked", Max answered with a barely hidden undertone of worries. 
"Those three guys I saw earlier… I know I’ve seen at least one of them before", said Buford struggling to his feet. 
"Which guys?", Max frowned. 
"The ones we walked past as we were leaving to deal with the meteors. One of them looked like Control Freak." 
"Darn it!" Max punched the wall. "They must have infiltrated during the last change of personal. While leaving we gave them free road to take the station..." 
Buford punched his fist into his hand as he gave Max and Scoobadex a smirk. "Well, why are we standing here talking? Let’s go take it back", he growled. 
Scoobadex looked at his husband: "I swear you could be my brother." 
Max chuckled: "Yeah, I see why you ended up with each other. But before we go gung-ho, it's better we make a plan." 
They went outside the room to a computer terminal. Max activated the cameras and found all the personnel unconscious. "Darn it, we're alone in this."
"Grrrrr… those bastards moved fast", said Buford. "Max, can you get a shot of the Control Room so we can see who’s in it?" 
"Sure. Let’s see who has invaded the station. There they are, do you recognize all of them?", he asked while focusing in upon three guys 
Scoobadex whistled. “Yeah. You were right, Buford. Control Freak, his husband Nick, and Viqtarr.” 
"Let's see what their plans are..." said Max while he turned on the audio and zoomed in on one of them. 
Nick was typing on the computer. They heard him say: "Ok, Control Freak. I got complete control of the station. All we need to do is get the station over HK' Isles and send it crashing down, killing all of the do-gooders in one apocalyptic blow." 
"Crap", said Max. He tried to access the station's controls using his commander credential but Nick had hacked them. "This is bad, I can't regain control of the station's computers." 
"Damn, they thought of everything", said Buford. 
"Oh no they didn't. They seem to have forgotten about us, if you know what I mean", said Scoobadex. “We have the surprise factor, which is good. But we can lose it with any false step we have. We must retake control of the station's computer." 
Max pondered what to do. After a little he showed Buford and Scoobadex a diagram of the station. "We must turn off the main computer." 
"What? All we have to do to turn it off?", asked Buford. 
"That's the tricky part. We can't turn it off from the terminals. We must shut the station's energy so the computer will turn off and only the emergency systems will be operative", Max replied. "The only way to do it, is to turn off the main energy module. Unfortunately, it can only be done manually. And the switch is outside..." 
Buford froze at that. "You mean we have to go outside again?" 
Max turned to them and crossed his arms. "One of us must go outside and turn off the station's energy. The other two will distract those three so the one outside won't be detected." 
"I'll do it", said Scoobadex. 
Max looked impressed at the kid's bravery. "Really?" 
"Hey my dad’s didn't raise no chicken. You just leave it to me." 
Max nodded. "Okay, you'll take care of shutting the energy. Buford and me will distract those three. Heh, if we're lucky we might be able to beat them before you get to the module." 
As Scoobadex began to suit up again, Buford walked up to him. He felt very unsure of all this. "I've refilled your tank. You have an hour worth of air. If you follow this map I've marked in your PDA, you'll reach it in no time", he said and he gave Scoobadex a quick kiss. 
"Ok you guys be careful", Scoobadex said. Just as he was about to go, Buford grabbed his hand and pulled him back and gave him a big hug. "Be careful out there, halfbreed. I don't want to lose you." 
Scoobadex returned the hug. "Ok, I will." 
The two then let go of each other. "Ok, here I go", said Scoobadex. 
Scoobadex entered the Depressurization Room and Max shut it off. The room was emptied of air and the outside door opened. Scoobadex waved them goodbye but stopped in the door seeing the vast space again and this time he'd be alone. 
"Wait a minute..." Max saw the halfbreed frozen in the door, not stepping out. Max sighed. "How old are you, kid?", he asked through the communicator. 
"I'm 20, why?", Scoobadex replied. 
Max smiled. "For me you are a kid. And if you don't step outside right now, I'm going to say you're a chicken too. You volunteered, remember? And you said your fathers didn't raise a chicken. Maybe you were wrong?" 
"No way I'm brave. Watch me", Scoobadex yelled out. He jumped out the door into space and floated there for a bit. He then grabbed his tail and twirled it causing it to act like a propeller, saying: "Who’s chicken now?" 
Max laughed. "Good luck... kid", and he saluted Scoobadex. 
"Thanks. You guys too", said Scoobadex and off he went. 
Buford looked at Max. "Ok Max, nice going on helping him get through the door. Now it's our turn to go. Time for us to let them know we're here. Any plans in mind?" 
Thinking about that, Max armed himself with his new cannon. "You know them better than me, any idea?" 
"Well, our best bet would be to get them alone. If we try to take them on while they’re together well just get overpowered." 
Max nodded in agreement. "Then let's go to my office, I have an idea." 
"Ok lead the way", Buford said as he followed him. 
Once in the office, Max used his terminal. "I'll try to hack the computer back. I'll let myself to be caught so they'll know we're inside." 
"And when one of them show up we'll ambush him," Buford said approvingly, "You’re really smart, Max." 
"Haha... Thanks. And..." Before Max could finish his sentence, the alarm went off. "We've been caught! Hah!" 
In the control room Nick and the others were wondering who tripped the alarms. Viqtarr decided to go see and deal with whoever it was causing the problem.
Max observed the cam and watched Viqtarr coming. "It seems they've sent the biggest one first. Pretty convenient." 
He contacted Scoobadex to inform him about what was going on: "Hey kid, do you hear me? They've bitten the bait, how are you doing?" 
Scoobadex was quickly getting closer to his goal as his tail was helping him speed up. "I'm ok Max, I'm almost there. How are you two holding up?" 
"Pretty fine so far, you keep going and leave the rest to us", Max said as he was closing the channel. Viqtarr was getting closer. 
"Okay, let's take him by surprise...", said Max to Buford. 
"Right, but we better be careful. He's a tough one to take on. I hope your cannon got enough kick in it to take him down in a hurry." 
Max nodded and they both hid in the office waiting for Viqtarr to appear. 
Soon the door opened and the big bear stepped in the office, looking around. "Ok now, come on out. I'll make this as quick as possible." 
From his hiding spot, Max aimed at Viqtarr and signaled Buford to distract him. 
Buford jumped out of his hiding place, rushed toward Viqtarr and slamming him into the wall. Viqtarr quickly grabbed Buford by his shirt and held him off the ground. Buford tried to struggle to get free. Viqtarr just licked his lips: "You should've died in space. But I guess me killing you seems just a bit more right." 
Max walked slowly behind Viqtarr and turned on his cannon, buzzing as it charged with energy. "I beg to differ", he said while shooting a pointblank energy blast in Viqtarr's back. 
The blast knocked Viqtarr across the room and into the wall, causing him to let go of Buford, knocking him out in one blow. 
Buford got up and dusted himself off. "Thanks, Max. For a minute I thought I'd be meeting my great, great, great uncle." 
Max smirked as he lifted his smoking cannon. "Always a pleasure, kid." 
He looked at Viqtarr. "We've knocked him down but he might awake. It's better if we make sure he doesn't interfere when we deal with the other two." 
Buford rushed over, grabbed his legs and started dragging him. "You know a place we can put him?" 
Max thought about it and smiled. A bit later they tossed him into a escape pod and launched it outside. 
"There, he'll orbit around the station waiting for Reinforcements to capture him." 
"Great!", said Buford, dusting his hands off. "How you think halfbreed’s doing?" 
Max put hands in his hips. "Worried?" 
Buford turned away, trying to hide his red face. "No, I know he's ok. I'm just wondering." 
"Okay, okay." Max contacted Scoobadex again. "Hey kid, how are things going?" 
"I'm at the right spot, but what do I need to do now?" 
"Open the main panel, you should find a red switch, move it left to turn off the energy module", instructed Max. 
Scoobadex did as Max said. He opened the main panel and saw the red switch. He moved it to the left and turned off the power. Suddenly the whole station went dark. 
"My man did it!", shouted Buford proudly. 
Max laughed as the emergency lights turned on. "Good job, kid. How are your air tanks?" 
"I have a little air left so I'm on my way back now", Scoobadex replied. 
"Alright. Be careful and return inside as soon as possible." Max turned to Buford. "Now, let's take care of the other two." 
But before anything else they heard a voice across the room. It was Nick. "Oh, don't worry. I'll finish both of you here and now!", he said as he changed his buster sword to a scythe. 
"Guess the surprise factor is over", said Max as he charged his cannon. 
"How right you are and so is your lives!", Nick laughed madly as he charged in at them. 
Max shot his cannon at Nick, but he avoided the blast. Nick jumped and tried to slice Max but Max blocked the scythe with the cannon. 
Buford charged in and swung his axe, causing Nick to jump back. "You ok, Max?" 
"Yes..." The cannon sparked, it was empty. "But I believe we're without heavy weapons." 
Max noticed something. "Wait, where is the third guy?" 
Buford turned to Max, he had almost forgot about him. But Nick started to laugh evilly for some reason. 
"What's so funny? Where is your..." Max had a bad feeling and called Scoobadex. "Kid! Do you hear me!?" 
"UMmmm… I hear ya… but .... I have a really big problem out here", Scoobadex managed to answer him as two giant arms were holding him. 
"It was real easy to figure out your little plan once the lights went out", said Nick smiling. 
Outside Control Freak called: "Hey Nick! I've always wanted to see for myself if it's true that when you go into space without a spacesuit will you blow up..." while he was trying to take off Scoobadex' helmet. 
Nick laughed hysterically: "I've always wondered that too, so let’s find out." 
But just as he was about to, the beardog's tail came up and smacked Control Freak across the helmet, causing him to trip back and release Scoobadex. 
"OOOOOFF!! Damn you halfbreed!!", Control Freak yelled as he chased Scoobadex. 
Max smirked at the turn of events and pointed his cannon to Nick. "It seems you no longer have everything under control." 
"How dare you! You think I can't defeat you two?", Nick growled in rage. 
"Actually..." Max knew the cannon no longer worked, so he just threw the big weapon at Nick's head, knocking him out. "Yeah, I believe it." 
Buford looked at him. "See, he's all talk." 
"I see, I see... Now, let's go and take care of the last one", Max replied.
Outside the station, Control Freak was still chasing Scoobadex who was running out of air. 
"Come here, halfbreed! I know you're almost out of air! If you let me, your death will be quick and painless!", he shouted. 
"Oh yeah, like I'm going to do that", he said flying. 
Then, suddenly, the station's Defense System activated and pointed its weapons to Control Freak. He gulped and raised his hands, surrendering. 
Scoobadex flew into the station and fell on the ground. "Thanks guys I thought I was a goner." 
"Hey, you've done well, congratulations", Max said with barely hidden proud in his voice. 
A bit later, Control Freak and Nick were being taken prisoners and put in portable pillories. The two were swearing at each other: "It's just a space station commanded by and old guy, piece of cake you said!" 
"Great, we can lock these guys away for good!", said Scoobadex. 
"So all is well what ends well. Thanks to you, kids", Max smiled. "Where is your boyfriend, by the way?" 
"Knowing him, he's getting something to eat", Scoobadex sighed. Soon Buford showed up with a plate full of steaks. 
"You guys looking for me?" 
Max chuckled. "You know him very well." 
Scoobadex smiled as he covered his face. "Yeah after a good fight he loves to eat." 
Max patted the heads of both. "You've been great, I believe you're not space newbies anymore." 
"We're not?", said Buford with a mouth full of steak. 
"Dude, chew your food and swallow it", said Scoobadex as sweat dropped from his back. 
Their chitter chatter laughter filled the space station.