Project ROWDY 22: Tech Jacket 1

“Really? I get to keep it?” Zack barely got the words out. Hell, his voice cracked a little as it echoed in the Geldarian spaceship hangar but he honestly didn’t care.

The Tech Jacket clung to him like a second skin, and part of him still half-expected someone to yank it off, say it was all just temporary—some advanced loaner suit to be returned after the mission. 

After the war.

But the alien in front of him—the Geldarian emperor with the green skin and the voice like a lecturing principal—nodded solemnly. “Yes. The process of removing a Tech Jacket is so painful that it’s doubtful even you would survive.” The emperor closed his eyes for a moment. “After all, if not for you, our war with the Kresh may not have ended in our favor or even come to an end at all. You above all others have earned the right to possess one of our people’s Tech Jackets.”

Earned it. Zack blinked. The war already felt like a blur of blood, metal, screaming, and light. He remembered the heat. The speed. The split-second choices. He didn’t feel like someone who earned anything.

“You’ll be in possession of a weapon more powerful than any on your planet,” the emperor went on. “Use it wisely. Never for ill gains.”

Zack gave a shaky thumbs-up and pointed that same thumb to his chest as his Tech Jacket retreated back into his spine. “You can trust me.”

They believed him. Or maybe they just wanted him gone before anything else exploded.

“Of that I have no doubt,” the emperor continued. “We have arranged for your transport. You’ve been away from your homeworld too long. We’ve arranged your transport. Kanda here,” he gestured to the Geldarian male in an orange-colored Tech Jacket, “will make sure you will be returned immediately.”

His stomach dropped. “Immediately?” He glanced past them toward the damaged skyline. “But what about rebuilding the city? I could help—”

The emperor raised both hands. “You have done more than your share. Your place is not here. We cannot keep you any longer.”

And just like that, it was done.

Zack exhaled, scratching his head with one finger. “Can’t argue with that. Be nice to see my parents again.”

The ship hummed behind him, engines thrumming like an impatient heartbeat. He gave them one last look—the princess, the emperor, the others—all standing in a row like some kind of farewell committee.

“If you ever need anything,” Zack called out, forcing a grin, “you know where to find me.”

The ship lifted. Pale thrusters cast long shadows. His chest tightened. They were already fading.

Even still, he didn’t miss the way the princess looked back.

The trip back dragged. Even with alien tech, Earth felt far.

“We’re approaching Earth now.”

“…And not a week too soon,” Zack muttered, stretching. “I swear it didn’t take this long getting to Geldaria.”

“You were unconscious for most of that trip,” Kanda reminded him, smiling through scaled skin.

“Right,” Zack said, rubbing the back of his neck. “Fun times.”

Kanda looked slightly sheepish. “Sorry about all that. It was part of procedure.”

“Don’t sweat it, man,” Zack replied. “Besides, you thought I was a murderer.”

Kanda shrugged. “Fair enough.”

Outside the viewport, Earth bloomed into sight—blues, greens, swirls of white clouds. His chest ached a little at the sight of it.

“How far do you want me to take you?”

Zack shook his head. “I can fly myself from here.”

Landing was easy. Like muscle memory.

Zack touched down just inside the forest closest to home to avoid being spotted in his armor, suit steaming gently as his jetpack powered down. Can’t afford losing my secret identity on my first day back.

“Oh man,” he muttered, breath catching in his throat as his Tech Jacket retracted. He tore through the trees and rushed home. “Can’t believe I’m home. Hope I don’t give Mom a heart attack.”

Everything looked the same. The busted fence. The flowerpot he knocked over the day before he left. Still cracked. Still right there.

“Exactly where I left it,” he whispered. “They’re gonna be so surprised.”

He pushed open the front door. “Mom? Dad?”

The house was dark.

Dust motes floated in lazy spirals. A newspaper lay curled on the floor. Every footstep echoed like a gunshot.

“…I’m—home?”

Silence answered him.

Zack stepped further in. His voice cracked. “Mom?! Dad?!”

Nothing.

Upstairs was worse. Dead air. Shadows stretching long through the hallway. Doors closed like secrets. “Hello?” he tried again.

His foot hit the first step. “Anybody?”

Still nothing.

He moved room to room. Checked every floor. Emptiness clung to the walls like mold. No note. No trace. Just gone.

The front door creaked open behind him.

A woman’s voice cut through. “Excuse me! What are you doing here?”

Zack turned. Blonde. Business casual. Real estate badge pinned to her chest. A truck idled behind her. Mika Realty.

She eyed him like he was a stray. “Were you just in this house? Who are you? How did you get in?”

Zack opened his mouth. Nothing came out.

“What happened to the family that lived here?” he finally asked, the words scraping his throat raw.

“Oh…” Her tone softened. “Did you know them?”

“K—kinda.”

She sat beside him on the porch. “I’m sorry… but they disappeared six months ago. The bank had to—”

Zack’s heart stuttered. “Six months?!”

His legs moved before his brain caught up. He stumbled off the steps, reeling. “I’ve gotta go!”

As he walked away, he muttered to himself, “How could I have been gone a whole six months?”

– o – o – o – o – o – o – o –

Zack Thompson hovered above the Earth several hours later, looking down at the big blue marble, his mind going nearly as fast as the planet was spinning.

Today had been… insane.

Checking around the school to ask questions had led him to discover that people thought he lost his mind at getting rejected by some girl whose name he could barely remember now, and got shipped off to some camp for weirdos or juvenile delinquents or something.

He had been so confused that he had gone over to his parent’s old business, finding the place nearly as empty as the house, and decided to just camp there for the night.

Then he woke up to find some guys had broken in, some of the criminals who used to try and shake his dad down for money he had gotten loaned.

Zack hadn’t exactly been gentle but eventually he had gotten the guys to take him to their boss, determined to find out what these scumbags did to his family.

But apparently, even after some heavy questioning, their boss had no idea what happened to his parents.

Which led to him flying out of the broken skyscraper window he had held the boss out of and shooting up into orbit.

It was all so confusing.

“Mom… Dad… where did you go?”

Space was quiet, but Zack’s head wasn’t.

“Where could you possibly be…” he muttered, floating weightless above Earth’s atmosphere, the Tech Jacket sealed around him like a second skin. His voice barely registered in the vacuum, but it wasn’t for anyone else anyway. Just something to say so the silence didn’t crush him.

He clenched his fists. “Stupid Geldarians. I wouldn’t even be looking for my parents if they hadn’t needed me to save their entire stupid civilization.”

The words felt hollow and pointless, like screaming into a pillow.

Ugh. “Don’t be selfish, Zack,” he groaned, covering his face with a metal-plated palm. “You’re acting your age. Talking to yourself.”

But it was either that or lose his mind.

At least he knew they were alive. That was something. After months of war and space and aliens and killing—just knowing they were still on Earth was the only thing anchoring him.

“There are only so many places they could…” His HUD zoomed in on a familiar shape—mountains, a lake carved like a crescent scar in the land. He recognized it instantly.

“…be.”

The realization slammed into him like a gut punch.

“Of course! The lake house!” They had gone there on vacation last year, the place a gift from his grandpa. If they’re not at the regular house, then…

Zack didn’t waste another second thinking. His body snapped into motion, thrusters roaring as he punched through the exosphere like a bullet, diving through clouds, streaking pink light across sky and steel and farmland and wild mountains.

It was stupid how obvious it was in hindsight.

He tore through city skylines. Past train tracks and grazing buffalo and sharp cliff faces. His heart pounded harder the closer he got.

Why didn’t I think of this before?

His boots hit the grass with a crunch and he nearly overshot the landing.

He didn’t know what he expected, honestly?  A vacant pier?

He definitely didn’t expect the shout from behind him.

“ZACK?!”

The hero of the Geldarian race whipped around as a man with short dyed blond hair and a baggy orange shirt—bigger than he remembered, or maybe just louder—dropped a fishing rod mid-step and bolted toward him.

Zack’s throat locked up, actually surprised to see him again. “Dad?!”

They collided in a hug that hurt a little, the two of them gripping each other tight as if to make up for months of hugs missed. “Oh God, son… I…we thought we’d lost you!”

Zack was half-laughing, half-crying. “Lost me? I’m right here, dad!”

His dad stepped back. “It’s—you… it is you.”

Zack couldn’t stop staring. “Dad, your hair…” It was bleached at the tips, like someone had hit midlife crisis and rolled with it. “Why the flavortown look?”

“Let’s go inside,” his dad said, voice soft now. “We’ve got a lot of explaining to do.”

– o – o – o – o – o – o – o –

The lake house smelled like old pine and microwaved burritos.

“Your grandfather’s letting us stay here a while,” his dad explained, leaning on the counter. “Nice area. I’m trying to talk your mom into buying it.”

Zack glanced out the window. “Where is Mom? She’s okay, right?”

“She’s out shopping. We’re settled in. I’m working at the factory across town, your mom’s at the department store. Practically working for store credit.”

Zack half-smiled. That sounded about right.

“How’d you know I’d figure out to come here?”

His dad hesitated. “To be honest? We didn’t. We didn’t even know if you were alive. We were gone for a week. Didn’t go to the police, not after what happened with Cappella…”

Zack winced. That name still made his skin crawl.

“…I had to tell your mom everything. Well—most of it. Left out the alien parts. I didn’t want to risk the government coming down on us.”

Zack leaned back. “I haven’t even thought about that.”

“After a week,” his dad continued, “we were driving around, looking everywhere. Then one night, I saw a car—looked like the same one the thugs had. I panicked. Locked up the shop, ran out the back. Didn’t even know if it was really them.”

Zack’s chest tightened. “And then?”

“I called your grandfather. Told him to get the key. Grabbed your mom and came here. He didn’t know where you were, either.”

His dad slumped, voice breaking. “We thought you were dead, Zack. Jesus. We abandoned you.”

Zack reached across the table. “No. You didn’t. You didn’t know where I was. You didn’t do anything wrong.”

“We came here because we had a good vacation here last year. I thought—if the Jacket had something to do with it, maybe… maybe you were still alive.”

“You were,” he whispered. “You were alive. And we just left you…”

Zack didn’t say anything.

“Where have you been all this time?”

Zack leaned back in the chair, folding his arms. “Well… that’s a long story.”

Later, over cold juice and day-old eggs, Zack recounted the short version.

“After we beat the Kresh, the Geldarians got me back here. Took a day or two to figure out where you and mom were.”

His dad raised a brow. “Wait—you met Cappella?”

“Oh yeah.” Zack smirked. “Scared the hell outta him. Jacket lit up, full display. He said the debt’s cleared.”

His dad blinked. “Not sure I believe him… but hey, I’ll take it.”

“You really know how to work that thing now?” he asked.

Zack tossed a dish towel onto the sink and turned. “Dad… I can fly.”

His dad’s jaw dropped.

Zack kept going, almost unable to keep his mouth shut now. “I don’t know how strong I am exactly, but I did throw a spaceship into another one once, and they both exploded.”

His dad’s face froze.

“Pretty cool,” he managed, after several long moments.

“You don’t know the half of it,” Zack grinned.

He started to show off—launch stance, gauntlet and energy forming around his arm. “I can jump, flip, hit with the tendril things—move fast, shoot lasers, and this one shield thing that—”

BOOM.

The wall shook.

Zack and his dad turned to the window.

“What was that?!”

Outside, orange beams were cutting through the sky, leaving smoking impact craters in the mountain and hills outside.

Zack’s stomach dropped and, without wasting a moment, he sprinted to the door and flung himself outside. His dad followed.

And then they saw it.

“The Kresh,” Zack breathed as he looked up.

His eyes went wide as he saw a mass of armored fighters rushing down from a black gunship in the sky, so many Kresh in their battlesuits, dozens maybe, possibly hundreds.

His eyes went even  wider as he saw weapons begin to charge. “Dad, look out!” He flipped back instinctively, suit already forming around him as he grabbed his dad by the back of the shirt and took off.

“Hold on tight!”

He had one arm around his dad and the other firing lasers.

“O-okay!” His dad’s voice came back shakily as he tightened his grip around Zack’s Jacket. 

Not exactly the rescue fantasy he’d imagined growing up.

“You gonna be okay, dad?” Zack asked, firing several beams a second at the charging Kresh battlesuits.

“Son… I think that’s up to you!”

Fair enough.

“Th-these are the guys you fought on Geldaria?” his dad stammered, still clinging to his side like a human backpack.

Zack ducked a plasma burst and veered left at a speed that was just subsonic, trailing arcs of pink light across the smoking sky from his boot thrusters. “Geldaria and, uh… yeah. Some of them survived the battle on Geldaria. I guess they somehow tracked me here.”

That landed heavy.

Tracked him.

This wasn’t random. It wasn’t Earth. It was him. He brought this here.

The water below shattered under impact. Enemy drones swarmed like hornets. Zack’s mind blurred the motion—tracking, firing, dodging, scanning. Somewhere deep, the Jacket’s targeting system was screaming, but he’d long since learned to tune it to a whisper.

“You mean there were more of them?” His dad’s voice pitched an octave higher.

“Um,” Zack muttered. “Yeah.”

They banked hard as missiles skimmed the treetops behind them. Something exploded behind them—he didn’t check what.

“Dad… brace yourself.”

“What?”

Zack didn’t wait as his dad screamed at the top of his lungs. His body snapped forward, and they punched straight through the drone formation. Twin bursts of inertia and gravity smashed his senses flat.

The world turned into metal fists and plasma trails and enemy suits—bulkier than drones, with reinforced armor and gauntlets the size of trash cans.

Zack slammed through the first one like a cannonball. SKROSH.

The second one swung low but not low enough as he rotated midair, backhanded it into the lake. SKRAGG.

Laser fire stitched through their path, burning craters across the lake surface. Steam rose in gouts. Zack kept moving, dodging, adjusting, body-to-body combat in zero hesitation.

They weren’t here for a raid.

They were here to kill him.

“I think they only want me,” Zack shouted over the roar of wind and destruction. “All their fire’s been aimed at me.”

His dad tightened his grip, sweat slick across his palms. “That’s… oddly comforting?”

“As long as you’re not near me, you should be fine!”

His dad didn’t argue. “Sounds good to me.”

Zack dropped low, touching down just long enough for his dad to hop off. “RUN!” he yelled, before launching straight back into the sky, leaving a jet of heat behind him.

The clearing erupted behind them—lasers ripping through soil and air like molten knives. Trees cracked. Smoke rose.

His dad sprinted for the treeline, gasping for air.

Zack didn’t have time to watch.

Above the lake, the Kresh clustered in tight formation. Zack leveled out, eyes narrowing.

Alright. Round two, jerks.

He opened fire—VZOP. VZOP. The Jacket spat plasma from its arm blasters like machinegun bursts, carving clean lines through the first wave, a quarter dozen Kresh armors pierced through and destroyed every other second.

It wasn’t enough, either way, as the rest closed in fast.

Zack met them head-on, unwilling to flinch.

BOOSH. First impact—he shoulder-checked one into another, then grabbed a third mid-air and tore it apart like wet paper.

Bodies—metal and synthetic and alien—splashed into the lake below.

More followed, as unflinching as an insect horde..

Zack dove after them, spinning underwater, jets kicking up whirlpools. His fists glowed bright in the blue murk.

Boom. Boom. Boom.

Each one of them that rused at him was a reminder: You’re not safe. You’ll never be safe.

The Jacket synced with his pulse—faster, hotter, sharper. Movements became instinct, not thought. Punch, dodge, blast. Grapple, twist, crush.

He was sixteen.

He was a kid.

He was a-

“COOL! SPACESHIPS!”

A high pitched voice interrupted his focus, and Zack paid for it as a barrage of orange plasma hit him in the face, sending him flying back.

His jets flared, keeping him in the air and he raised his head only to see a Kresh heavy trooper with a giant plas-cannon aimed right at his face. “N-!”

Before he could even flinch properly, the sound of tearing armor drowned out the rest of his short yell and Zack could only watch with wide eyes as the Kresh nearest him was ripped in half by a cackling… twelve year old?

“What the hell?”

The words left his mouth in a rush and the little kid raised his head, wild glowing ringed green eyes locking onto him. “You an alien too?”

Zack shot back, instinctively terrified at the little monster holding both halves of a Kresh suit in his tiny hands.

Only to freeze up as he slammed into something that might as well have been an immovable wall stopped him from going any further.

Zack whirled around and found himself face to face with another kid, this one blond but with similar strange looking ringed eyes, only in a shade of bright blue this time.

“Nah,” the blond kid answered, his high pitched voice familiar. “I can hear him breathing in there. Those are grade A human lungs.”

He can hear me breathe? Zack’s eyes widened. But the suit is pressure-sealed?

“Awwww,” the green one zipped over in a burst of green light. “And I wanted to tear him open to see if he was empty like the other ones.”

Tear me open? Zack’s heart skipped only to skip again as he heard the last part of that sentence. “The others!”

“Huh?” the green and blue flying kids said in unison.

“The Kresh!” Zack yelled again, glancing up at the gunship releasing more battlesuits. “They’r-”

“Dead.”

A third voice cut him off and a beam of red lanced into the gunship above the lake, piercing through the metal and going right out the other side. With a sound like a small nuke, the ship exploded half a mile above the lake, the shockwave and explosion sending Zack flying back and sending waves through the water.

“What the-”

Another kid lowered from the sky, the red glow from his eyes fading.

Zack took them all in, three kids in black bodysuits with different aspects of color to each of them to match their eyes; red, blue and green.

“Who the hell are you guys?”

The green one grinned and rubbed under his nose with his thumb. “That’s an easy one. We’re the Rowdyruff Boys.”

“But officially,” the red one floated forward, “we go by Team Trinity. We’re responding to reports of multiple intrusions nearing Northern Californian airspace.”

“Reports,” Zack blinked. “Who sent you?”

“The Men In Black/Area 51/None of your business.”

Zack honestly wasn’t sure which of them said what, still confused at the levels of power these kids were throwing around.

“Besides, we’re not done here,” the red one continued.

“Not done?” Zack parroted. “You blasted the Kresh ship to hell.”

Red eyes locked on to him, looking at him as if he only had one brain cell. “Did you not hear me say multiple intrusions?” The kid pointed a finger upwards and Zack’s eyes followed it, going wider than they had been since this whole mess started.

“Oh My God.”