Pioneers: Creation

The Orlius Massacre

The Orlius Massacre


three years earlier...


         Admiral Degross was seated in the commander’s chair of the bridge inside the super carrier Pironess, his small Terran frame and aging body belying strength few knew he still had.  His strong, weathered face was set into a perpetual scowl - a gift of perhaps a few too many years in combat.


         Before him there sat some of the MMCs finest.  Intelligent men and women who had served with him anywhere from 13 years to a month.  All were highly trained.  All were highly stressed.  The crew sat at their stations, checking that everything was as it should be, but the admiral himself didn't even glance at them.


         Instead his eyes were focused on the viewscreen in front of him.  Billions, perhaps trillions of asteroids floated in front of him as well as nearly 6000 highly trained men and women under his command.  All of whom were probably even more stressed, seeing as how their lives were in the immediate danger while the Pironess, her sister carrier Dedalus, the battleships Cypris, Verro, Johensen and Lydeck, the battlewagon Bob and the nine gunships and four minesweepers of varying names all sat hidden beside a nearby moon with their crew.


         The Hell's Demons pirating group would be coming past a break in the field at any moment - going on another raid, or so their informant had told them.  And he was quite sure the informant wasn't lying.  Few people in that much pain lie.


         The pirates were one of the larger groups - 3000 strong - led by some slippery upstart who’d put a reputation together over the last couple centuries as well as, more recently, her own small army.  The little group had been created just before the war ended and they had caused all sorts of trouble ever since.  There was not a crime the group was not wanted for.


         Today the pirates were outnumbered by approximately 3:1, but everyone was still tense.  This was not the first MMC fleet to engage the pirates and there was a good chance they wouldn't be the last.  No matter how crazy people said this Ruki was, she was ferocious and overpowering in battle and had proven so many times before.


         The radio man broke the heavy silence of the room.  "Black squadron just reported in, sir.  They say that they've spotted the first ships."


         Black squadron.  The combined SEALS teams and the people who would probably be the heroes of this all.  Under most circumstances combining elite teams like this was a critical mistake, one most MMC officers liked to make time and again and one which was turning the group from covert ops to elite regular infantry.  In any case they were the best pilots the admiral could come up with on such short notice.


         "I want all ships on radio silence.  Everyone has their orders," Degross replied in his deep voice.


         He'd been a SEALS once, too, in his younger days.  That made him one of the few people in the room to know what fears were going through the minds of his men.  They could all come out of this heroes if they did this right.  All of them.  He just hoped that bad feeling in the pit of his stomach was there only for the casualties sure to come out of this and not for a failed mission.  A failed mission would mean a lot more casualties beyond that of all his men.


         Ferro, his promising Luegarnian radio man, relayed the message and Degross looked back to the asteroid field.


-------------------------


         Kenshi stared silently at his viewscreen as he switched off his radio.  On it's normal view it looked as if some distant stars were zigzagging across space, but when zoomed in one would find a wide assortment of ships, many of which could not be recognized as anything more than a strange object with glowing lights on their backs where their thrusters were.  He could recognize two things which sent a shiver down his spine, however.  One was some sort of modified carrier.  The other was a battlewagon.  They would have to be quick in destroying that wagon unless they wanted heavy losses.  Battlewagons were known for their ability to take out an entire city or group of ships with a single blast and then aim for another only minutes later.  Very devastating during a battle.


         It wasn't long before the first of the ships was right in front of them - some kind of large battleship, he guessed from the man large weapons littering the twisted and otherwise unrecognizable beast, that they were using as a shield for the battlewagon.  He was the front line against a battleship if the enemy somehow knew they were waiting.


         Kenshi looked around the asteroid field.  He knew that all around him, even if he couldn't see them, fellow pilots were doing the same thing: looking around a dense series of rocks and trying to find their teammates - looking at the approaching enemy that could very well be their death.


         The battleship passed.


         The plan was simple: create a giant U and let the pirates fit in.  Then suddenly, BAM!!!  Bob finishes half their number while fighters and bombers intercept anything their computers say is a bad guy.  He was a part of Black squadron.  It was his job to circle behind them and make sure no pirate ran away.  It was suspected that after the initial attack a lot of pirates would try to escape.


         The second ship passed, the battlewagon, it’s domes upper half helping shield it’s long and mostly uncovered main gun along the length of it’s bottom.


         Kenshi tensed up.  This would be it.  He would be in his second real life or death battle against some of the universe’s greatest.  He didn’t even want to think about the first.  He just had to keep his cool.  No one would hit him.  He would protect the others just as they would protect him.  A well oiled machine.  Clockwork.


         A hint of movement caught Kenshi’s eye.  To his right, a ship was flying straight for the battlewagon, blasters going wild.  Fool.  The fighter lasted a grand total of three seconds before the battleship fired a shot at the stray pilot who had obviously lost his cool.  The fighter exploded in a flash of orange and white and time stopped.  Well maybe not time, but the pirates did.  All except that battleship which seemed to be moving away from the battlewagon...clearing a path for it to fire.


         In space there is no sound.  Just silence.  Sound waves need a mass to continuously travel through such as air or water and there is none of this in space.  Therefore, no one heard the battlewagon power up it's main gun.  Nor did they hear the enormous blast that ripped apart everything which just so happened to be in front of it.  None heard the dying screams of the thousands of men and women who were unfortunate enough to be caught in the bright white blast.


         In space, no one can hear you scream.


-------------------------


         Degross stared in horror as the enemy battlewagon destroyed a third of his fleet.  'That...imbecile!  Some kid gets scared and kills thousands because of it!'  Out loud he thundered, "Battle report."


         "1283 fighters, Johenson, three minesweepers, five gunships and Bob have been destroyed.  Dedalus, Cypris, Lydeck and three gunships are suffering heavy damage.  Everything else is at peak performance, sir," Vivec, his old fleet operator replied.


         'DAMN!!!'  "I want Black squad on that battlewagon immediately.  Blue and Green squads will give them cover.  That battlewagon cannot fire another shot.  Red and Gold squads are to engage the frontal ship.  I want all support ships out there immediately.  We're going to personally see to it their carrier does not enter this fight."


         The room echoed with acknowledgments and the real battle began.


-------------------------


         "What the hell is going on?!"  Everyone stopped what they were doing on the bridge of the refitted carrier, Sesquy, and looked back to it's entrance.  There stood a very angry looking Ruki.  And anyone who knew anything about the criminal underworld knew that a very angry Ruki was a bad thing.


         "An MMC fighter attacked the battlewagon.  The shield shot it down and we just fired a blast from the battlewagon," the bridge captain, likely some junkie who got on Rea’gis’ good side, replied.


         "How many are there?"


         "We don't know.  They're hiding in the asteroids."


         Ruki took a moment to glance at the viewscreen and grunted out a jumbled curse.  Between the hunks of rock were a few too many annoying flies for her liking.  "Launch all ships.  It's an ambush."


         "We know that but..."


         "Use those things you call eyes, look closely at the screen and you might be able to make out part of a fleet sitting in front of us.  NOW LAUNCH THE DAMN SHIPS!!!"


         The captain visibly shrunk and could only respond with a, "Yes ma'am."


         Ruki walked out of the bridge and headed toward the carrier's hangar.  She didn't take two steps before the furry form of her second in command, Rea'gis Lager, came to step beside her.


         "What's going on?" he asked in a voice as strangely soft as usual.  A veteran mercenary and pirate, Ruki took particular pleasure in trying to faze the man.  Now was not the time, unfortunately.


         "MMC ambush."


         "A large one?"


         "Yep."


         "You want to take them out personally."  It was not a question.


         Ruki smiled.  "Absolutely."


-------------------------


         Kenshi flew straight toward the battlewagon at full speed in hopes that the heavy fire all around him wouldn't find it's mark.  He opened up with his blasters, scoring hits all along the sides - small blue circles to appearing where the energy shield of the ship stood out to announce his minor success - and pulled up.  He had his orders and the battlewagon could not get off another shot.  Fortunately battlewagons were not known for their heavy shields.  It was almost impossible to have enough shields to last in a fight when you had a gun which temporarily took most of the output of one of the largest fission reactors a military had conceived for itself.  You would need a huge fusion reactor for something like that and enough physical shielding to not have it blow up in your face should something go wrong.  The ship would end up having to be the size of a small moon to have that much power.


         Though Kenshi knew all too well that a ship of the sort had been created before.


         It was full out war all around him.  Two other Black squadron members were beside him; his wingmen Nerdath and Burlai.  Their team leader had already been taken out by the battlewagon.  The rest of Black squadron was flying all around the devastating ship like flies over a trash can while fellow teams tried to keep the other pirate ships busy, but there were 12 such ships and occasional shots would still come through the lines to threaten Black squad.  It also didn't help that the battlewagon was retreating to those ships.  The battlewagon was doomed, clear as day.  Question was: how soon would the combined SEALS teams be able to take it out?


         His left wingman, Nerdath suddenly exploded into a ball of fire.  Kenshi dodged to the right to try to avoid most of the shrapnel, but his shields still flickered down a bit.  One more friend and teammate lost in battle.  One more face he knew would be forgotten to a fight most would find meaningless.  One more good man lost to a bloodthirsty group of petty criminals.  And now there was that much more of a chance for that battlewagon to fire another shot.


         "All squads be ready.  The enemy carrier has launched it's first wave," the radio spat out.


         Kenshi looked over to the carrier to find a group of lights emerge from it’s opened bay.  He turned his attention back to the battlewagon and opened up a channel with his remaining wingman.


         "Burlai, we need to destroy that battlewagon before those fighters get here."


         "No kidding.  And how do you propose we do that?"


         "We attack the main gun."


         “We've been doing that Tamaki."  He ignored the comment.


         "I got an idea.  Get your missiles ready."


         "Command told us to hold those until further ordered.  They were very specific."


         "Those missiles won't be doing us much good if that battlewagon gets another shot off, so get them ready."


         "Fine, but this plan of yours better work."


-------------------------


         "Alright boys.  Let's have some fun," Ruki called over the radio as she got her bearings on the situation.  Couple thousand fighters.  Support ships in the distance.  Bunch of rocks.  Blah blah, whatever.  At least they were packed tight together.  Surprising they weren’t flying into one another like that.  Or disappointing.  Either or.


         She flew her ship through a crowd of MMC, firing all the way and destroying four in one pass.  Behind her Rea'gis laid to waste two more.  More like lemmings than soldiers.  Even so, anything could be a hindrance en masse like this.


         "Rea'gis, I want to get those support ships before they arrive.  Get a few of your best guys and let's show them why we're called the deadliest."


         "Got it."


         A few of their larger fighters broke away from the main group and the six of them flew off toward the nearby moon where a few unlucky targets stood waiting.  Poor bastards would never see them coming.


-------------------------


         Kenshi was directly ‘under’ the battlewagon with Burlai by his side, both making their way slowly forward while having to dodge wildly in order to avoid the asteroids.  They were noticeably more numerous than on the other sides of the ship, a sort of perimeter to keep the fight contained.


         "The battlewagon probably has it's shields focused on it's main guns and bridge.  They don't think anyone would be able to hurt them enough from the underside to penetrate their shields with all the debris blocking the way.  We unload two missiles each, punch a small hole in their shield and use another to disable their main gun from inside their shield."


         "And what if their shields are stronger here?  There's a good chance they want to be well protected from the asteroids."


         "Then we'll be four missiles down.  It's worth a shot.  We need to take that thing out soon.  It has to be almost ready to fire again."


         The two continued slowly toward the battlewagon, still doing their best to avoid any and all asteroids in their way yet still being nicked here and there by smaller bits.


         "Ready?"asked Kenshi when they came within 50 meters.


         "As I'll ever be," replied Burlai.


         The two fired a pair of missiles each and went into full throttle.  The first three missiles exploded on the shield of the wagon, causing a large circle of blue to appear seemingly out of nowhere.  The fourth went right through and blew a hole in the hull.  There were no words of excitement as the two entered within the shield space just before the hole crackled back to a close - both were too concentrated.


         The pair flew fast, blasters blowing off chunks to the ship as they made their way to the main gun at the bow.  Both turned around as they reached the frontal shield and stopped, floating still in front of the enormous gun of an enemy battlewagon.  They hesitated only a moment, praying they would not be destroyed by the following blast, and launched another pair of missiles down the long barrel of the weapon.


         Together they took off immediately, flying along opposite sides of the long oval ship and trying to create another hole in which to escape with their blasters.  A bright light behind them alerted them to the destruction of the main gun and they looked back only to see a wall of fire moving their way. Speeding straight down to the lower shields they fired their blasters in hopes that another hole in the shield would welcome them.  Fortune was on their side and the wall of fire helped them along, shattering through the shield just before the two Ravens crashed.


         They came back to formation just to the side of the battlewagon.  Half of the bow was blown away and the entire lower side was scorched and, in some places, littered with small, plasma-burned holes.  The wagon kept its course to the other pirate ships, however, and the two found that most fighters were engaged in a large dogfight with only a few ships still focused on the battlewagon.


         "What now?" asked Burlai.


         "I guess we just get back to taking that thing down until command gives us something else," Kenshi replied.


         No response was necessary.  The two went back to firing their blasters along battlewagon's shields - now severely underpowered after the explosion - and joined their teammates once again.


-------------------------


         The support ships were more damaged than Ruki would have ever allowed herself to believe had she not seen the damage herself.  Only a carrier, battleship, gunship and minesweeper were actually undamaged.  Everything else could barely move and would be putting up a poor fight with their assorted half-functioning weaponry.  They were also slowing down the undamaged ships.  There would be plenty of time to take out the group without them reaching their fighters for assistance.


         "Rea'gis, take a man and destroy that battleship.  Leave the other three to take out the scraps."


         “Got it.”


         Ruki launched herself at the super carrier.  She would need to get another battlewagon.  If one could do this much damage to a mere part of a fleet, two would allow her to contend with an entire division!  A bright light behind her distracted her thoughts and Ruki looked back just in time to see the last of her battlewagon explode into scrap.


         'Now how about that.  The little soldiers actually managed to take my battlewagon out.  I'll just have to get an extra.  Though I wonder how they stopped it from making a second shot.'  Ruki turned back to the carrier and grinned.  'I guess I'll have to show these kiddies just why not to play with fire.'  The Reaper opened up with a flurry of missiles and blasters, each shot of which echoed the insane laughter of the dread pirate Ruki.


-------------------------


         The Pironess shook as it's shields strained against the gunship's freakishly powerful initial attack.  "Concentrate our fire onto that ship," Degross told his bridge crew, a bit redundantly.  'We can't withstand many attacks like that.  How the hell did they get their hands on a gunship with that sort of firepower?'


         "Sir, Cypris has just been destroyed and Verro is taking heavy damage," Vivec stated.


         "Is the battlewagon gone yet?"


         "Yes sir," Ferro reported.  "Black squadron is awaiting further orders."


         "Good.  Tell them to come back and protect the support ships.  I want Blue and Green squads on the enemy carrier.  Red and Gold squads are to engage the fighters."


         "Yes sir"


         A bright flash went up.


         "Dedalus has just been destroyed, sir," Vivec said grimly.


         'DAMN!!!'


-------------------------


         "Black squad, you are to head back to the support ships and provide escort," the fleet operator spoke.  Three dozen modified fighters under Black squadron broke away from the massive dogfight and headed toward the larger ships in whatever formations the devastated group could manage.  Behind them the pirate battleship exploded into a mass of fire whilst thousands of fighters and bombers shot at each other in a desperate battle, all trying to avoid stray rocks and debris deadlier than most enemy fire.


         "Teams eight through 16,  I want you to take out the three grouped together.  Three through seven, protect the Verro.  Everyone else, we're on the Pironess," sounded the gruff voice of Hanneguin, the Black leader.


         Kenshi and Burlai headed to the battleship with rest of teams three through seven.  It was easy to notice how much of Black squad had been sacrificed to keep that one last shot from the battlewagon at bay.  The group had been the smallest from the start, but they were the best trained out of the bunch.  Close to half their number had been destroyed in the battlewagon's blast and many others had been taken out in the dogfight which followed.  His group only consisted of 13 survivors instead of the 20 who had earlier been a part of the five teams.  Not much, but more than enough to take down two ships.


         The Verro was not doing as well as a battleship should against two fighters.  Of course, they were larger fighters, closer to small gunships, but still. The pirate ships were taking close to no damage and were dealing out a lot of firepower.


         Together five teams all rushed in and attacked as one...a mistake.  The larger of the two ships turned abruptly and took out two of the team before blasting away from the Verro and dodging all the fire they had coming.  The other ship pulled away from the battleship and circled around the team, reverting one more into a bright orange and white light.


         "All teams," it was Grendor, the team five leader and Kenshi and Burlai’s usual commander.  "Split up.  Proshzo, Jeste and Tamaki, you keep our larger friend company.  Teams seven and eight, I want you flanking positions on either side of Verro ready to take potshots.  Everyone else get behind our other bogie.  We’re trying to box him in."


         Kenshi turned after the larger fighter with Proshzo and Jeste following.  Together they opened up their blasters on the ship, which was dodging like mad as it tried to get away from them.


         'This guy's good,' Kenshi thought to himself as the pirate deftly avoided a barrage of shots that should have at the minimum clipped him badly.  'And he's got a fast ship with powerful blasters.  This might be hard.'


         The pirate turned around so suddenly that no one had a chance to react when he opened fire.  Jeste exploded into a ball of flame while Kenshi and the Proshzo danced away.  The pirate followed Proshzo and Kenshi turned around to get back on the fighter's tail.  The three flew in a series of wild maneuvers as Proshzo tried to shake off the pirate while the pirate tried to finish Proshzo and avoid Kenshi's stream of plasma.  The chase only lasted a few seconds but seemed to be hours for the clench-jawed Terran.  It finally ended when the pirate launched a missile at the SEALS in front of him.  Proshzo tried to speed away, but it was too fast and too close.  The following explosion destroyed his shield and damaged his ship, stunning the pilot for one precious second.  The pirate took the opportunity and fired a small burst into Proshzo’s engines, blasting him and his ship into nothingness.  Another friend gone.  Another face to be forgotten.


         Kenshi expected the pirate to turn toward him right away, but instead the pilot launched himself back to the battleship without hesitation.  The SEALS scowled and followed.


-------------------------


         Things weren't fairing too good for the major part of teams three through seven.  The pirate, while taking heavy damage from the ships chasing it, had gone down to the hull of the battleship and went into full throttle.  The result was the battleship hitting everything behind the pirate instead of the pirate itself.  Only four out of seven in the group remained and two of them were badly damaged.


         "All groups disengage.  We'll get this asshole from above," Burlai called over to his teammates, taking the lead after Grendor was shot down. 


         Confirmations scattered across the radio and they all pulled up.  The four started firing at the pirate but only scored hits on the battleship.


         "Shoot ahead of it.  Maybe we can slow him down," recommended Lassal, one of the newer and younger members.  Confirmations came across the radio an together they fired ahead of the ship.  The pirate, seeing the bolts of plasma explode just in front of him, slowed and turned giving battleship and fighters enough of an opportunity to finally get a bead on and hit the ship, their combined firepower tearing the already weakened pirate apart.  Any celebration was stopped short, however, by blaster fire raining down and destroying the two fighters behind Burlai.  The remaining pirate rushed by, followed closely by Tamaki.


         ‘Shit,’ Burlai thought, for the first time realizing how close to death these assholes were taking him.  The pair of SEALS hesitated only a moment before turning to follow Tamaki and the pirate.


-------------------------


         The four ships rushed straight for the battleship, the pirate making a heading toward the bridge of the supposedly mighty ship with Kenshi close on his tail and two fellow Ravens right behind him.  Together they followed and fired on the large fighter, but the pirate truly was an expert pilot, even considering their obviously more advanced ship, avoiding the group and maintaining their course toward the battleship.  The battleship had heavy fire going off all around the four ships, landing hits on them all, but they all managed to dodge enough to avoid too much damage.


         They were a mere 100 meters from the Verro when the pirate launched a dozen missiles straight toward the bridge of the battleship.  The head of the ship became a wall of flame as the missiles exploded off it's shields and the pirate opened up with it’s blasters and tore a hole into the weakened remains.  The bridge didn't last a second.


         With only a few bolts of plasma, the brain of the ship was depressurized and all inside were killed.  The Verro continued firing madly at the pirate, who was now moving as far away from the doomed battleship as possible, but the massive ship, without anyone to control it, slowly fell into the asteroid field where hundreds and thousands of asteroid impacted and made the ship into a huge burning ball of twisted metal and fire.


         The SEALS, distracted by the destruction of the Verro, almost didn't notice the pirate pull a 180 which would tear a lesser ship in half and begin chasing them.  All three managed to avoid too much damage and split apart, but the pirate, as if not wanting Kenshi on his tail again, was quick to follow him.  The other two turned back to chase the pirate once more.


         Kenshi dodged as best he could, waiting for the other two to bring down the overpowered fighter, but knew that he would most likely be destroyed long before they managed to get a hit on the guy.


         'This asshole's too damn good at dodging and has too agile a ship for us to keep this up long.  I need to find a way get him to hold still for a few seconds.'  Kenshi only knew of one thing to do: stop dodging.


         “I’m gonna buy you two a moment,” he said over the radio.  “Take this guy down fast or I’m screwed.”


         “Roger,” two voices said as one.  Only two...


         Kenshi straightened his joystick and the pirate took the opportunity to fire at the now easy target, sending himself in a straight line as well and allowing the two pilots to make a few of their shots hit their mark.  Kenshi watched his shields go down rapidly and finally short out. 


         'This guy's blasters are too powerful,' he thought as warning alarms came alive all over his cockpit.  Kenshi managed to roll out of the way before too many shots impacted the hull of his fighter, but alarms were still buzzing everywhere and red lights blinked across the control panel.  Fortunately it seemed the fighter could still fly as well as the day she was made.  Unfortunately, the same could be said for the pirate gunship.  'I can't do that again and my shield will take too long to charge up to last under this guy's fire any longer.'  He avoided a few more shots and tried a few classic maneuvers - close braking, split Ss, hard turns - but nothing worked.  Kenshi looked around madly.  'I'm fucking screwed.'


         The wreckage of the Verro came into view, still flaming despite the lack of oxygen in space.  Almost blinding him.


         Kenshi's smirked.  'That's it.'


         He let the pirate move a little closer while still pushing his ship into wide angles, closer than he should have dared let the guy come.  Another hit was scored but Kenshi ignored it.  He just dodged away...but not before launching a pair of flares and turning his afterburners all the way up.


         Looking back, he saw the plan seemed to work.  The pirate wasn't dodging and his two teammates were taking the opportunity to bring the large fighter's shields down.  In that half second the pirate's shield shattered and his engines were blown apart.  The craft itself seemed to have survived, but it was disabled for now.


         Kenshi let out a deep breath and started checking the damage on his ship.


-------------------------


         Admiral Degross fingered the armrest of his chair in irritation.  This pirate was a hell of a nuisance.  First knocks down a good portion of the Pironess' shields, then manages to avoid or absorb every single shot from the 200 blasters and missile launchers positioned around the hull of the carrier without any sign of trouble.  Black squadron had just arrived and while they kept the pirate from doing any more damage to the Pironess, the dozen or more blasters on the gigantic fighter were blowing away the SEALS operatives one by one.  To add insult to humiliation, the Lydeck and two of the four remaining gunships were the only craft left of the previously damaged support ships.


         "Give me a report," Degross said gruffly.


         "Black squadron has only 14...13 fighters left.  The support ships report that three of the pirates are still attacking.  The Verro has only one left, but has the fewest number of fighters on it.  We have 1873 ships left engaging the enemy.  They say the carrier shield is almost down, but they're meeting heavy resistance from enemy fighters," Ferro replied.


         Another bright flash of light.


         "The Verro has just been destroyed, sir.  The three Black squad members are still engaged.  Would you like me to send backup?" Vivec asked.  Degross frowned.  How could these ships be causing so much devastation?


         "No, let them work as a distraction for now."


         "Yes sir."


         There was a moment of silence as everyone kept their eyes on the station.  Suddenly Ferro called out, "Enemy carrier destroyed, Admiral.  They're awaiting further orders."


         "Blue and Green squads will continue their attack on the main ships.  Tell them to stick together, but no grouping.  Red and Gold are to keep the fighters at bay."


         "Admiral, the Black members covering the Verro report the enemy fighter is disabled.  One of the group seems to have lost their radio.  A team from Gold squadron seems to be having difficulty with a pack of enemy fighters, sir.  Should I send them in?" the Ferro shot back a moment later.


         Degross thought on it for all of a half second.  “Send them.”


         The fleet operator, Cardoll mumbled in the command while Ferro shot back with another bit of news.  "The gunships have all been destroyed.  One enemy remains, but only two fighters are on him."


         "Let them take care of it."


         Not another moment later and the ship rumbled once again.


         "Two Ravens just ran into the sh - ," Uveck, the maintenance operator, was cut off by another blinding light, this time much brighter than the others they'd seen.


         "What the hell was that?!" Degross roared.


         It took moment for Vivec to answer.  "It looks like the Lydeck, sir.  Lydeck, the pirate and the two fighters are all gone.  Their power cell must have ruptured."


         'DAMN!!!'


-------------------------


         Ruki was having fun.  The carrier itself had been easy enough to play with, but now that these fighters had joined in there was some actual difficulty to this.  She cackled loudly and fired her blasters at what she guessed to be the leader of the group.  Only when her shields finally flickered did she stop laughing.


         "You little sonofabitch!  You dare to hit me?!"  She fired her blasters again, taking out a pair of fighters, then started laughing again.  These weaklings were actually trying to contend with her!  What a joke.  Probably thought they would win, too.  She flew circles around the carrier, laughing and taunting the whole way.  She was interrupted in her fun when a soft voice sounded over the radio.


         "Just thought I'd let you know my ship’s been disabled."  It was Rea'gis.


         "And what do you expect me to do about it?  I am busy right now."


         "I don't know.  Maybe make sure to pick me up after the battle," he said sarcastically.


         "That only happened once!  And he deserved it, too."


         "Yeah, sure.  Just remember."  The line closed and Ruki was left with a scowl on her face.


         'That's the last time he talks back to me.  Little bastard may be a hell of a pirate, but he's a bad lay.  And that means he's expendable.'


         She was cut off from any further thoughts when another blast hit her.


         "Dammit!"  She launched her ship into a series of rolls and dives, making sure to keep the four remaining ships on her tail.  "Heh heh.  Try this one,” she said, making a line for the hull of the carrier and being sure the four ships stayed with her.  Two of the assholes realized her plan after a moment and pulled away, but the others were too concentrated on firing on Ruki to notice how close they were edging to the carrier’s shields.  Ruki pulled away at the last moment, knowing the fighters weren't nearly as maneuverable as her Reaper.


         Her cackling began anew as a sudden light show of blue and orange reflected across her viewscreen and disappeared a bare second later.  Her laughter died once again, however, as a much brighter light erupted from a few kilometers away.


         'What the hell was that?'  Ruki stared for a moment before turning on the distracted fighters.  'Whatever it was, it made my job easier.'  She grinned and opened fire on the two remaining ships.


-------------------------


         Kenshi looked up from the damage report on his ship and sighed.  The damage wasn't too bad, but the hull was badly scorched, the toilet plumbing would be screwed up until the proper repairs were made and, more importantly, the subspace radio was out of commission.  In other words: no more getting hit without shields, no going to the bathroom and no communication between ships.  At least the shields were almost back up to full power.


         Over to his right two fellow Ravens remained still, presumably chatting with the Pironess and receiving new orders. It took less than a minute before the pair turned and stopped, waiting for him to follow.  Kenshi obliged and the three were off toward the thick of the fight.


         It took almost a full minute for the three fighters to make their way to the pirate's side of the battle, but when they did what they saw was hell.  Fighters flew in scattered formations and plasma was everywhere.  It would be difficult to avoid the friendly and enemy fire both.  The remains of several large ships floated in the middle of it all, crashing into the asteroid field around them.  As if things weren’t bad enough the asteroids were scattering further into the battlefield, creating yet more chaos to avoid.


         Kenshi followed the others to one side of the battle where a group of the pirate fighters were slaughtering a dwindling group of MMC.  Behind them, bombers were making attack runs on one of the few main pirate ships left.  The remains of Black squadron opened fire together, taking out five of the enemy fighters in a single pass and destroying whatever bit of organization they’d created for themselves.


         'These guys are a lot easier than the ones we faced by the Verro,’ Kenshi realized immediately.  ‘The others must have been some sort of aces for the group.  No wonder there were so few of them.  Hell, no wonder they kicked our ass.'


         The three pulled around for another pass only to find many of the pirates breaking off to head straight towards them.  The trio split up and engaged the pirates one-on-one, giving the other squad a respite in dodging plasma long enough for them to go on the offensive and destroy anyone who didn’t end up in the three Black squad member’s crosshairs.  The fight didn't last long and soon the area was free of pirates without a single hit taken by the three Ravens.


         'There's a welcome switch,' Kenshi thought as he waited for the next course of action.


-------------------------


         "Black squadron has arrived and are taking care of the pirates.  Gold squadron sends their thanks," Ferro said.  The bridge rocked again.


         "Want me to call them back to take of our pirate, sir?" Cardoll asked.


         "No.  We need be able to handle the little annoyance by ourselves.  Keep Black squad on those fighters.  Put Gold on the support ships," Degross replied.


         "Yes sir."


         "Give me a battle report."


         "We're down to 807 fighters, sir.  The battle over there is looking intense," Vivec replied.  The bridge shook once more.


         "Pironess shields are at 52%, sir.  Gunners say we’ve barely hit the pirate," Uveck said.


         'What kind of pilot and ship does it take to almost destroy an entire carrier and take care of an elite team of soldiers while they're at it?  Must be the Reaper.  I've heard rumors, but I can't believe that so many of them weren't exaggerated,' Degross thought.  "What’s their position?"


         "99̊..." Uveck started to say, but was interrupted by Degross.


         "What side?"


         "Port sir.  But wh - ," he was interrupted again.


         "Blow starboard thrusters."  There was a confused moment of hesitation in which the Admiral lost his patience.  "NOW!!!" he thundered.


         The ship rumbled violently again and many of the bridge crew were thrown out of their seats. 


         Exploding thrusters was something put on ships since the middle of the Makar War over 4000 years ago.  They were basically pockets of gas thrown onto the sides and belly of large ships that could be commanded to explode, causing the ships to be thrust violently in the opposite direction.  Usually this was enough to dodge large attacks from, say, a battlewagon.  In this case they were being used to ram a powerful pirate.


         The crew resumed their positions and Uveck announced happily, "The pirate is standing still.  I think we disabled their ship."


         Then Ferro said, "We're down to 589 fighters sir.  They're all asking for assistance."


         'DAMN!!!'  "Tell them we're on our way."  The crew took care of business with a bit more skip to their step, so to speak.  Their confidence was regained, but the price paid thus far was much too high.


         'So many lives lost,’ Degross thought as the super carrier sped toward the battle.  ‘What a waste.'


-------------------------


         The Reaper raced along the left flank of the super carrier, firing blasters all the way as the much larger ship tried - and failed - to get a bead on the pirate.


         'This is getting boring,’ Ruki thought.  ‘They have enough blasters on that ship to take on the rest of my ships combined yet they can't even hit me.'  Of course the second that thought was finished the carrier lunged toward her at a startling speed.


         Ruki tried to maneuver away, but there was no way to dodge the huge carrier at such astonishing speed.  The pirate’s eyes widened and the energy shields of the two ships collided.  Titanium and kindathium crashed together violently and the Reaper shook explosively, lurching Ruki to the side of her seat. 


         The dread pirate laid there stunned for a moment, the one thought managing to come to her head over and over being: ‘What the hell just happened?’  She righted herself in her seat and looked around.  Her control panel was a mess of blinking lights and warning alarms and the room was suddenly illuminated in red.


         She smiled wickedly.


         "Now that's what I'm talking about!" Ruki cackled with devilish glee as she took control of her ship once more.  If the crew of the Pironess could see her now there would be no doubt that they would run from the laughing woman surrounded hellishly by the red alarms and warning claxons - the ancient, evil demon laughing at the sheer enjoyment of destruction.


         Ruki leaned back, still cackling, and looked at the form of the carrier limping away.  "You're not going anywhere!" she laughed and put her ship back into motion.


-------------------------


         Ships were being turned to debris everywhere.  The pirates, while outnumbered, still had more experience than most of the MMC pilots and, while there were only three of the larger ships remaining, they were still doing a lot of damage to the MMC fighters and bombers around them.


         Kenshi shot down the pirate in front of him then braked and turned to allow another to pass him by before reverting the replacement to more debris.  Beside him, the last of Gold squadron was taken down by the fire of a pirate support ship which had Blue and Green squad members swarming around it, launching plasma and missiles along it's shield.  After a few moments the shield collapsed.  The ship managed to shoot down a last few fighters before exploding into one more twisted heap of scrap and fire.  Kenshi took out another pirate and did his best to cover the two teams while they made their way to the next ship.


         The other two Black squad members led the way again as the trio shot and dodged incoming pirates, scraps and asteroids.  The pirate ship Blue and Green squads were over fired viciously, taking more of the dwindling squads’ number while the other major ship flew right beside it, trying to ram the MMC or catch them in the crossfire.  It worked for the most part, bringing the dwindling number of MMC pilots down dangerously lower, but the crossfire also served to help lower the shields of the pirate ship being swarmed.  By the time the other ship had passed by, the first ship had it's shields down and was starting to fall away uncontrollably from the battlefield.


         There were only a few members of the Blue and Green teams left by then and while some tried to approach the last major ship most joined the dogfight, leaving the others to be shot down by the almost fully powered pirate ship.  Red squad had the largest number left with more than 80 fighters, but the numbers were dropping fast to the pirate fighters and ship.


         Kenshi fired on another unlucky pair of pirates as the two Black squad members beside him did the same with another team of pirates trying to strafe them.


         'We're losing too many men.  That pirate ship is doing too much damage to our remaining forces,' Kenshi thought.  He looked over the battlefield.  'The other squads are doing fine against the fighters.  But that ship...'  He looked towards his two team members and made up his mind.


         Speeding up to full throttle, Kenshi launched himself at the last pirate ship.  The two other Black squadron members paused only a moment before racing after their teammate.


-------------------------


         "Battle report."


         "233 fighters remaining.  The pirates have only two ships and 102 fighters, sir," Ferro said.


         "Fire on the ship not being attacked by Blue and Green when we are in range.  Anything that doesn't have a clear shot on the ship fires on the fighters."


         "Sir!  That ship behind us is moving again!  It's coming in quick!" Uveck burst out.


         The Admiral tried to order them to turn around, tried to yell for rear barrage of plasma, but the ship began shaking, more violently ever, interrupting any words.  As the lights went out and he was thrown to the floor, Degross had one lone thought circulating through his head.


         ‘DAMN!!!’


-------------------------


         The Reaper fired everything she had into the thrusters of the carrier.  Four dozen missiles and a barrage of blaster fire tore apart the rear shields of the carrier and a second wave of another dozen missiles blew apart it's engine and power core, leaving the ship lifeless.  Ruki cackled madly.


         "And that is why you don't turn your back on Ruki!"  She had another fit of laughter before turning her attention the battle ahead.  "Wow!  Looks like I missed a helluva party!  I'll just have to go over and tell the little soldiers they should wait until the main guest arrives."


         Forcefully pushing the throttle all the way forward, the Reaper sped past the lifeless super carrier, flames jetting from her back half again as long as the great red ship itself.


-------------------------


         Laying in the blackened room of the Pironess, all Degross could do was hang his mouth open, stunned.  The carrier had been defeated.  Or, to be more exact, an MMC AF-32 class super carrier had been defeated by a gunship.  The pirates would most likely win and finish them off soon.  Ruki would build her forces again and go unchallenged in a universe of crime and corruption imbedded so deep it was commonplace.  All because of some scared moron.


         'No.  All because you couldn't handle a situation.  It's an Admiral’s job to make sure his men come back alive and you failed that job.  You underestimated your opponent now 12,000 men and women died or will die because of it, not to mention thousands of pirates.'


         Degross looked up once the emergency lighting to the bridge turned on.  The rest of the ship was without power meaning everyone onboard would freeze to death soon.  Auxillary power was provided for the bridge alone to ensure the leaders of the vessel would survive.  Degross cursed the power.


         Around him the men and women of the bridge picked themselves off the floor.  Vivec and Cardoll had been knocked unconscious with blows to the head and he saw Uveck had even broken his neck against a lever during the violent shaking the explosion had caused.  He had died, but not Degross.  Not the one responsible.  Only fitting that he would survive to live a personal hell.


         "Sir?  Are you alright?" the bloodied face of the Ferro asked him.


         'Some are still alive, and you are here to ensure they stay alive,' Degross reminded himself.  "Yes, I'm fine."  He picked himself off the ground.  "Turn on the emergency radio.  Send out an SOS.  Does the main radio still work?"


         "I think so."


         "Either it does or it doesn't now go check."


         The radio man stumbled back to his station and pressed a few buttons.  "SOS sent.  The radio is up and running."


         "Good.  Tell Black and Red to take out that last ship.  Blue and Green will finish the rest of the fighters.  Black will help once they are done.  Red squad is to take on the incoming pirate ship once finished."


         "Yes sir."


         Degross looked around his ruined bridge, at the lifeless form of one of it's officers and the beaten forms of it's survivors.  They would have to turn off the lights and gravity.  No telling how long a rescue would take and they needed power.  The fighters were on their own and most of them wouldn't have the power to survive in space for the next few hours it took help to arrive.  All but a few pirates would be annihilated, very likely, but it was the Ninth Fleet which had lost on this day.


         'DAMN!!!'


-------------------------


         Kenshi managed to avoid the blaster shots launching all around him and fired into the shield of the pirate ship.  The other two members of Black squad flew in a loose formation around the ship, making shots and avoiding incoming fire just the same.  The dogfighting was still furious and three fighters taking on one large pirate ship was looking grim, but Red squadron was starting to pull alongside Black to take down the largest obstacle they had left.  The few dozen or so Blue and Green members tried to fight the similarly sized pirates, but the pirates were clearly better equipped, better pilots or both and were slowly gaining the upper hand on their foes.


         Then another ship appeared.  Resembling a great red dragon and looking to be a small gunship in terms of size, it came in fast and fired madly.  Three fighters immediately fell to the beast and no ship seemed to be able to get a good hit in.  Another pair of fighters exploded next to him as sparks flew from the engines of one of Black squadron and the ship crashed into the pirate frigate below it.


         So many friends gone this day.  It was the same story all over again.  All that was needed was Mavys...


         Kenshi's mind went blank.  All he could see was the great red dragon tearing his allies apart.  All he knew was that it had to be stopped.


         Enraged, he ceased his attack on the ship below him and turned toward the new threat.  He rushed toward the dragon with little care for anything around him.  An enemy fighter flew in the way but he dispatched it.  He sped up even more and fired his two remaining missiles and all his blasters at the dragon.


-------------------------


         Smiling as another fighter exploded under her fire, Ruki turned her ship to dodge a pair of plasma blasts and destroyed the offender.


         "Is that all you people got?!  I could beat you pussies blindfolded and with both hands tied behi..."  She was interrupted as her ship shook under the power of two missiles and a flurry of plasma bolts.  "What the hell?"


         A fighter sped past, the same class which had fought her by the carrier.  These were noticeably different from the kinds she saw in the battle in front of her, had better pilots, didn’t have the same blind rush mentality of these other assholes.


         'Must be some sort of elite.  I should look it up later.  But first...'  Ruki opened fire on the new enemy.  "Sorry pal, but nobody touches this ship and lives to tell the tale."


         The fighter managed to avoid the plasma bolts and turned around, hitting her with another group of shots.


         "Alright asshole.  If that's how you want to play, that's fine by me."  With those words, Ruki jetted after the ship, launching a wave of bolts and missiles that could have disabled the Pironess all over again.  It was for that reason she was considerably surprised when the ship managed to dodge around all the plasma, weave through the mass of spiraling missiles and make three more direct hits on her ship.  Ruki's jaw dropped.


         Then she grinned.


         She launched an endless flurry of plasma at the fighter, but it spun around every single shot.  She tried hailing the guy, but he wouldn't answer.


         'Probably some crazed pilot.'  The smile grew and she launched another set of missiles, all of which he dodged.  She wasn't really afraid the guy would beat her - her shields were too strong and regenerated too fast for his shots to matter all that much - but this sonofabitch was giving her a rush she hadn't felt in years.


         She had to meet him.


         Slowly she drew away from the battle, but the fighter continued circling around and firing like crazy, not even noticing.  She sped her ship up and the man still followed - no longer circling due to the speed in which they were flying, but following nonetheless.  Ruki laughed and launched into hyperspace, the fighter right on her heels.


-------------------------


         Terrace didn't know what had happened, but Tamaki had gone nuts.  First he rushes in alone against a large pirate ship that would have been the end of him had not Terrace and Lassal followed and stayed by his wing.  Then he again rushes in alone against some new enemy which happens to be ruthlessly blowing away everything in it’s path.


         Not that he was really complaining.  Each shot Tamaki dodged was one less shot Terrace had to worry about.  But what really got him was that this new ship had actually retreated.  It was clear it was just playing around with Tamaki by the way it seemed to lead him away instead of speeding off like a vessel would normally do to attempt escape, but, again, he wasn't complaining.  The ship seemed more than powerful enough to take on the little remaining fleet of MMC.


         He launched the last of his missiles into the last pirate frigate.  A few more shots from Red squad and the shield was down.  The last pirate support ship exploded and the teams headed for the remaining pirates.  What they found was ugly; there were only eight Blue/Green fighters left and a score of pirates.  The pirates tried to retreat from the now superior numbers of their enemy, but they didn't last long under the combined fire of 31 ships.  In moments the pirates were destroyed and the battle was over.


         "Is that it?" someone asked shakily from Red squadron.


         "Looks like it," responded the gruff voice of someone from Blue.


         "Let's head back to the carrier.  I need to get out of this ship," said another member of Blue squad.  A stream of agreements came at that.


         The ships made their way back to the Pironess only to find a scorched shell.  They all tried to contact the bridge, but the communications were down...or there was no one left alive on the bridge.  Panic ran out through the teams.  In another three hours they would run out of power and freeze to death.  No checkpoint was within three hours of them without a hyperdrive.  They all gave ideas, but all were dismissed.  Insults were shared and prayers were given, but Terrace refused to listen.


         He would be the only fighter pilot to survive.  Sure, Tamaki was out there somewhere, but that pirate would finish him off soon enough.  Sure, he could go into hyperspace and bring back help, his being the only ship available capable of doing so, but by the time he arrived back the men would probably be dead.  It was just him and the two pirates.  Maybe the bridge crew on some of the bigger ships, but that was it.  The only story the MMC would have to go by would be his own.


         Terrace smiled.  He would be the hero of the Orlius battle.  It was a sure way into a promotion.  No more field combat unless he commanded it.  All he needed to do tell the story and his word would be truth.  Make up a sob story to really put his career on track.


         He could see it even now.  His own trusted teammate betrayed them all and ran away with a pirate leader, never to be seen again.  He himself had barely survived the endless waves of fighters and support ships, not to mention his own saddened heart at the betrayal of his partner.  All he needed to do was bend the truth a little and he’d have a dramatic and exciting story sure to get him a couple medals and a load of respect.


         Burlai headed over to the nearest wreckage, the pirate battlewagon, and switched his shields off.  With a bit of careful maneuvering, he rammed the back end of his ship into a particularly large and sharp piece of rubble.  Alarms went off in his ship and he checked the damage readout.  He rammed his ship back into the rubble.  More alarms went off and he checked once again.  Satisfied his hyperspace engines could no longer safely work, he landed his fighter inside the battlewagon, stood up, and walked to his quarters for some much-wanted sleep.


-------------------------


         'What am I doing?  What was I thinking?  What am I going to do about it?'  These three thoughts were foremost in Kenshi Tamaki's mind as he followed the dragon-like ship through hyperspace. 


         It was obvious that whoever the pilot over there was they wanted him to follow.  He was going his maximum speed but still barely managed to keep up with the obviously faster ship.  Maybe they were trying to get him alone so they could take him out without having to deal with the other ships?  No, this ship wasn't having any trouble with them before.  What did this pirate want from him?  It didn't matter much.  In a few seconds his hyperdrive system would be scrap and he would be stuck in the middle of space unless he slowed down.  A CTG-45 II's hyprdrive systems were usually meant for short leaps or slow, long trips, not hour long romps through space at full speed.


         Kenshi started to pull his fighter out of hyperspace.  Whatever this pirate wanted from him, they weren't going to get it.


-------------------------


         Ruki kept a close eye on the pilot behind her.  The guy must be pushing his limits.  Every time she tried to speed things up a bit he'd start to fall behind again, annoyingly forcing her to keep things slow.  A few hours later even that proved too much for him and she watched as the fighter began to pull away.


         'His hyperdrive must be failing.  Oh well.  Wherever we are, it'll have to do.'  She pulled her ship out of hyperspace, the fighter following right behind her.  Ruki took a few minutes to look around the nearby system and her navigation panel.


         'Perfect,' she thought as she headed for a mid-sized green and blue planet only a few hundred thousand kilometers away.


-------------------------


         Now he was positive this pirate wanted him to follow.  The gunship or whatever it was had pulled out of hyperspace just as he had and now stood still in space.


         'Ok...what now?'  He waited for the pirate to make a move - fire at him, turn around, anything - but the bastard just stood still.  Kenshi was just about to start moving closer when the ship suddenly turned and shot off into the nearby system.  He blinked a few times and sped off after them.


         The dragon-like ship proved itself again to be much faster than his own, jetting out of view in a bare few moments.  Odd.  They bait him to follow only to leave him in the dust.


         He looked at his control panel and flipped a few switches - he could still follow any signatures the ship left behind.  Though not a very precise way to look for anything, trace ‘sniffers’ could make out blurry patterns of objects that had moved through space up to three hours ago.  It couldn’t make out exact objects besides general size and was crap in high traffic areas, but it did have it’s useful moments.


         Kenshi adjusted his course slightly and found himself staring at a blue and green planet that reminded him of Earth.  Looking down at his radar and following the trail readout it vaguely gave him, Kenshi entered the atmosphere of Idona VII.


-------------------------


         The Reaper landed within a small clearing of one of the great forests on Idona VII.  Opening the hatch of her ship, Ruki took a moment to look around.  Towering trees with thick trunks and thousands of five-pronged green leaves providing a thick canopy surrounded the area and thick brush grew where the trees didn't.


         'I know the kid can fly a ship.  Now I just gotta find out how he dances without a joystick and this place is perfect for it.'  Ruki smiled when she heard the roar of an aircraft entering the atmosphere.  The forests would hide her ship well enough so the MMC wouldn't be able to locate her exact position, but he would sill have a general idea of where she was and would have to either get lucky or exit his ship to find her.


         'Come to momma, kid.  I'm in need of some good excitement and you better provide a heavy supply of it.'


-------------------------


         Kenshi glanced over the forest world then back at his radar.  Looking up at the viewscreen again, he sighed and maneuvered his ship to one of the many clearings.  The forests were covering the pirate's exact position, but he had a good idea of where to look.  Kenshi landed his ship and took one last look around the cockpit before standing up and walking toward the exit hatch.


         Just to the side of the hatch he pressed the barely visible panel and the armory door slid open.  It was something beautiful, the equipment they kept in these ships.  The best conventional equipment the MMC could provide complete with enough explosives to take out part of a large city.


         Kenshi put on a set of his heaviest body armor - a bulky metal thing that was much lighter than it looked and could stop a high-powered rifle burst from three meters away - then holstered his beloved AC pistol.  He strapped a combat knife to his opposite hip and put a scouter over his right eye, letting it run basic diagnostics as he continued.  Next he clipped a shoulder strap onto a HG-60 machine gun and slung it over his arm.  Lastly, he picked up a few frag grenades, which he secured on his belt, and slung a Fennton pump-action shotgun over his shoulder.  'For close encounters,' he told himself.


         He opened the hatch and cracked his neck.  Kenshi scanned the trees for a moment then brought the machine gun up and walked down the ramp.  He heard the hatch shut behind him and looked around once again.  Assured there was nobody in sight, he tapped the scouter and a motion tracker and a map appeared before his right eye, showing his position with a bright green dot and thirty meters of forest in each direction around him.


         The lone SEALS began walking in the direction he knew the pirate to be.


-------------------------


         Ruki smiled brightly as the pilot came into view.  She was hidden in a dense set of foliage and held as still as possible, trying to keep out of sight of that annoying scouter he wore and her smile grew impossibly wider when she recognized easily he was a Terran.  'Good.  I was afraid he might be some weak little Rittu.'  The Terran was heavily armed, but she could see he wasn't straining in the least to hold all his equipment up.  He was strong.  She looked closer at him.


         He wasn't that bad looking.  Sure, she'd seen much more handsome guys and he had a kind of cold look about him, but he was far from ugly.  Her eyes easily noticed the faint scars on his skin, one hidden behind his left eyebrow, another cutting just under his lower lip.  The man was tall too.  She couldn't see his musculature too well with the bulky green metallic body armor covering him, but his arms looked lean under the rolled-up black sleeves.  He held his gun left-handed.  Now that wasn't common.  His hair was cropped short just like most everybody's who joined the military and was a dark auburn in color.  Closer look into his roots revealed that it wasn't dyed.  Very rare.  Finally, a patch on his sleeve drew her attention - a trident, gun and eagle.  He was a SEALS.  SEALS soldiers were supposed to be well trained combatants.  Very well trained.


         'I got lucky today.'


         The SEALS walked right past her slowly and Ruki decided to give him a little hint of where she was.  She twitched ever so slightly and was rewarded when the SEALS jerked around and aimed his machine gun in her general direction.


         'Here mousy, mousy, mousy.  Let's see what our little prey has to offer.'


-------------------------


         Kenshi moved between the trees slowly and cautiously.  To say he was on his toes was a heavy understatement.  He was without his team in the middle of unfamiliar territory hunting a very dangerous battle-tested pirate.  Hell, he wasn't even sure it was one pirate.  That ship was large enough to fit three or four people comfortably.  Kenshi frowned as the image of four pirates with rocket launchers and machine guns, laughing while firing away at him, came to mind.  He thought of going back to his own ship and taking off, but pushed the idea away.  'I came this far, I’m not just gonna leave.  They led me here, they’re the ones underestimating me.'


         A red blip appeared on his motion tracker and he heard a short, quiet, high-pitched alarm to confirm it's presence.  Kenshi whirled around, heart pounding, and leveled his machine gun on the thick foliage in front of him.  The red dot had disappeared, but there had to be something in there.  He had set the scouter to only pick up movement over a certain mass - this was a forest, after all, and this wasn’t one of the bugged-out scout systems of old.


         "Come out of there with your hands up," he demanded with all the authority he could muster.  He waited impatiently for a few seconds but nothing happened.  Birds chirped overhead and wind whistled through the leaves and trees, but Kenshi ignored it all to focus on the bit of brush separating him and his enemy.  "I won't ask nicely again.  Come out with your hands up or I will fire on you."  A rich, mischievous giggle sounded from the bushes and leaves and a woman walked out with her hands by her sides.  Kenshi centered his aim on her and demanded again, "Put your hands in the air."


         "Who, me?  Why are you aiming that big ol' gun at me?” she said, a happy-go-lucky expression plastered across her.  Then she frowned.  “I take a walk in the woods and suddenly a big, bad man starts ordering me around with a gun.  Please don't shoot me!" the woman pleaded.


         Kenshi dropped his aim slightly and took a closer look at the woman.  She was tall compared to most humans, but still much shorter than him.  Maybe 5'6'' or a little over.  Her figure was something.  She was thin.  Narrow hips and waist, decent sized breasts.  She wore some sort of tight, black material on her legs and her chest was covered by a equally tight and mysterious white material, leaving her arms bare - both of which easily showed off a curvy body threaded with muscle.  A thin, brown, catlike tail waved slowly behind her - maybe a meter long.  That was something not seen often on a human.  Her features were exotic to say the least.  Wild navy blue hair pushed behind a pale, angular face.  Thin, nose, thin rosey lips, sharp, hawkish eyes, high cheekbones, strong jaw and a pointed chin.  Her ears were elvish - the narrow, pointed and long type that was fairly rare to see these days.  But her eyes drew him the most.  Slitted and red.  They seemed so primal that he couldn't tear his eyes away.  Those eyes suddenly glittered with mischief.


         "See something you like?" she asked him in a seductive tone.  Kenshi shook his head and looked at her again.  She now wore a playful smile on her lips which showed off a pair of elongated fangs and suddenly he recognized her.


         The infamous pirate Ruki.  Hated and feared universally and the single being responsible for the known deaths of nearly 8,000 people over the last three centuries.  The woman they called the most dangerous being alive and the confirmed leader of the Hell’s Demons group he’d been after was standing in front of him with playful grin on her face, wagging her tail happily.


         He brought his gun back up.  "Ruki!  You are under arrest for crimes against the Counsel of Midolloni.  Put your hands on your head immediately."  Ruki stared at him for second, seemingly surprised in the sudden change in him, then started laughing hysterically.


         "Oh that's rich!  You think I'd give up just like that?!  Ha!"


         Kenshi tried again, "I will fire."  Ruki stopped laughing and rushed toward the SEALS at a blinding speed he’d never so much as imagined.


         For Kenshi's credit, he did manage to get a trio of shots off, but Ruki had him on the ground in barely half a second.  Kenshi looked up to see a smiling Ruki throw away his machine gun.  A little lower he saw the three small, red holes where he’d managed to shoot  her disappear into nothingness.


         "You shot me.  Now that wasn't very nice."  Ruki tried to kick him in the jaw, but Kenshi brought up his arm, breaking his right forearm and knocking him back a few feet.  Kenshi hissed in pain while the pirate kept her attack up.  She tried kicking him again, but Kenshi brought his leg up and smashed her standing leg's kneecap, knocking her down with a quick cry of pain.  "That's it!  Your dead!"


         Ruki leapt up as if nothing had happened and picked him up by the throat, squeezing slowly.  The SEALS gave a choked cry in pain, but it never got past his frozen vocal chords.  Spots appeared before his eyes as he felt his pulse hammering under her impossibly strong fingers and Kenshi started to struggle wildly.  She tried to hold him above the ground, but he was too tall, his feet finding balance before she could try anything more.  Kenshi took a step back and ripped his neck from her grip with a chocked growl followed by numerous coughs.  Ruki looked at her hand in surprise while he drove his left fist into her stomach as hard as he could, forcing her to keel over.  While she was still bent over he brought his right elbow down on her lower spine, sprawling her across the ground and sending a numb shock through his right side.  Kenshi backed up a few steps, waiting for Ruki to try to get up, and was surprised to hear a loud cackling coming from her lips.


         "That's the spirit!"  She shot up and drove herself into his stomach, knocking the wind out of him despite the armor and dislodging the scouter from it's place on his eye.  With Kenshi still hung over her shoulder, Ruki sprinted to the nearest tree and drove his back into it.  She let go and watched him slide down to the base of the tree, coughing and spitting, then giggled as she saw him nurse his broken right arm against his stomach.  "Ohhhhh.  Baby got an owie?"  She broke into another fit of laughter.


         'What the hell is she?  I practically am a baby to this woman.  She’s freakishly strong.  Hell, she knocked the wind outta me through class three armor.  I gotta end this.  Bitch is just too damn strong.'  Kenshi took his unbroken arm and grabbed his AC pistol.  'Let's see if she can heal this.'  He whipped the pistol up as quick as he could, firing three shots in quick succession.  Ruki dove out of the way but he could have sworn he heard a grunt of pain.  He smiled.  'Serves her right.'


         "You just don't know when to quit, do you?" Ruki called out from some unseen place which seemed to come from everywhere at once.  Kenshi threw his pistol into his right hand and grabbed his shotgun with his left.  With the shotgun safely out, he holstered the pistol and pumped the larger weapon with his right arm, wincing in pain as he did so.  He looked around.  She was stealthy as hell.  He couldn't hear her anywhere and his ears were damn good at detecting movement.  The scouter would definitely be useful right now, if he still had it.  He looked over to where it lay on the ground, surrounded by thick foliage, and decided that would probably be a bad idea.


         'She's probably is expecting that.'  Kenshi looked around again, searching for anything that would hint at Ruki's position and finding nothing.  'She's just waiting to jump me.  Whenever I move to where she wants me, she'll rush out, attack and watch me writhe around in more pain.  But I can't run away - she's too fast.'  He looked back to the scouter.  ‘Ah, what the hell.’


         Kenshi walked over to the small, portable HUD and looked around him one final time before reaching down to pick it up.  He only bent halfway before he turned around as quickly as he could manage and leveled his shotgun on a wide-eyed Ruki only a few feet behind him.  The instant the barrel was in place he pulled the trigger, causing dozens of small, sharp pellets of plasma to rip apart Ruki's stomach and torso and push her onto her back.  Kenshi looked at the space where the pirate once stood, then to the smoking barrel of his shotgun and then finally to the prone form of Ruki on the ground.  Her wounds were healing already, but she was unconscious.


         'It worked.  That's a surprise.'  Kenshi let his gun arm fall and looked back in the direction of his ship.  'It's gonna be hard carrying all my equipment and Ruki back to my ship with a broken arm.  Good thing she looks pretty light.'


         Kenshi was cut off from any further thoughts when something grabbed his shotgun.  He looked down to Ruki just in time to see her swing the butt of the weapon into his ribs.  The shotgun bent under the tremendous force of the swing, as did the armor, and Kenshi overcompensated to keep his balance, falling to his knees.  Holding his chest with his broken arm, he found himself coughing up blood.


         "Never turn your back on a pirate - especially not this pirate," Ruki said with the first hints of anger he'd heard out of her.  "Is that it now?  Is our little game over already?  Damn.  I can never seem to find someone who I can actually test myself on.  I guess you're no use anymore then."


         'Game?  This was all a game?  I'll show her a game!  If I go down I'm taking her with me!'  Kenshi grabbed his knife with his good hand and a grenade with his bad.  "You wanna play?" he choked out of his damaged throat, his voice barely even a whisper.  "Fine.  Then let's play."


-------------------------


         "Come out with your hands up."


         She almost laughed at the sound of it.  All MMC were the same, trying to sound so authoritarian even in the face of overwhelming odds.  But then, maybe this guy didn’t know what he was dealing with.  The thought brought a grin and an idea forming in her head.


         "I won't ask nicely again.  Come out with your hand's up or I will fire on you."


         'How scary.  Why do all the MMC say the same exact lines?  Some sort of book of cliche threats maybe?'  Ruki let out a giggle at that thought and stepped out of her hiding place. 


         The SEALS adjusted his aim and demanded again, "Put your hands in the air."  There was no hint of recognition in his eyes.


         'He really doesn't know who I am.  This is starting to get disheartening,' she thought, deciding to really pour it on this time.  "Who, me?” she said innocently.  “Why are you aiming that big ol' gun at me?  I take a walk in the woods and suddenly a big, bad man starts ordering me around with a gun.  Please don't shoot me!"


         It seemed to work because the SEALS let his weapon relax slightly and took a closer look at her.  She saw his eyes move up and down her body, finally settling on her own eyes.  His own eyes were a dull green that seemed to be devoid of anything but an edge of anger.  They were cold.  Probably not a very pleasant guy.  But then, a lot of his friends were likely dead by now, maybe by her own hand.


         She saw a spark of something in those eyes.  Was that actually lust?  She almost burst out laughing once more.  Instead she asked, "See something you like?" in her most seductive tone.


         The reaction wasn't as hilarious as she had hoped, but at least it was a little comical.  The SEALS shook his head as if clearing it.  Was that a blush she saw?  Big bad soldier in all his gear with all those weapons and he blushes with some light flirting?  This guy hadn't been around the block nearly enough times.  He looked back at her.  This time she saw what she was looking for in those eyes: recognition.


         The gun was up again in an instant and the SEALS was back to ordering her around.  "Ruki!  You are under arrest for crimes against the Counsel of Midolloni.  Put your hands on your head immediately."


         'That was a quick switch.  Too bad.  It's always fun playing innocent.  But surrendering?'  This time she did burst out laughing.  "Oh that's rich!  You think I would give up just like that?!  Ha!"


         "I will fire."


         Ruki stopped laughing.  'We'll just see about that.' She lunged toward him, grabbing for his gun.  She heard a few shots and felt a flash of pain, but ignored it to throw the SEALS to the dirt.  'The little bastard actually hit me,' she thought as she glanced down at her wounds.  She looked back at the SEALS and said, "You shot me.  That wasn't very nice," then proceeded to exact her revenge with a brutal kick aimed at his jaw.  The guy, for his part, actually managed to get his arm up to block the shot.  Still, there was a loud crack as his arm broke and he flew back a couple feet.  Ruki smiled.  'Serves you right.'  She stepped forward to deliver another kick, but the little bastard had some fight in him.  Bringing his own foot up, he kicked her knee out, sending her to the ground.


         'Damn!  That hurt!'  she thought, wincing.  "That's it!  You're dead!"  The damage healed already, Ruki shot up and grabbed the SEALS’ neck, lifting him off the ground and squeezing slowly.  He let out a few coughs that never got past her grip and she saw his eyes take on a more feral tone as he began to struggle wildly, forcing her to lift him higher lest he manage to writhe out of her grasp.  This worked against her, however, as he managed to plant his feet on the ground and tear himself from her grip with a stuttered growl.  Ruki stared at her hand in surprise, ignoring the heavy chocked coughs freeing themselves from his throat.  'He's even stronger than he looks,' she thought to herself just before a fist impacted with her stomach followed by an elbow cracking into her back, forcing her to the ground.  'Much stronger.'  She laughed.  "That's the spirit!" 


         She jumped up once more and drove her shoulder into his armored stomach, lifting him off the ground.  With the SEALS stunned for the moment, Ruki searched for a nice large target to plant him.  Satisfied with a particularly big trunk only a few meters away, she sprinted over and ran the still-stunned SEALS into the dense wood and leapt back.  The dread pirate scowled as she watched him slide down the tree, coughing raggedly and nursing his right arm.


         'And he's defeated like that?  Come on pal!  You're armored!  I need to get more out of him than this!'  The need for a fight from this man was a passion in her veins.  The heat of competition, of challenge pumping through her.  She needed more, one way or another.  "Ohhhhh.  Baby got an owie?" she taunted and started laughing again, hoping to get a little more action out of the man.  She saw a trace of movement and looked down just in time to see a pistol level with her torso.  Eyes widened when she recognized the weapon and remembered the power they packed.  'Shit!'  She dove out of the way as the SEALS fired three quick shots and grunted when one took a good portion out of her side.  'Kid doesn't know when to quit.  Starts coughing and flinching after a little bump in the stomach then still fights me.  Ha!  I love it!'  "You just don't know when to quit, do you?" she called out in excitement.


         Ruki watched him from the brush get up ever so slowly, looking around for her.  Creeping around silently, she watched as the haggard SEALS pulled out his shotgun and holstered his pistol.  She had to hand it to him - he came prepared for a fight.  'Heh.  Shoot me if you can.  I'll make sure you don't hit me again.'  She walked around their playground, keeping herself hidden and silent and trying to stay as close as possible to her prey without revealing herself.  He walked over to his scouter, lost when she had decked him and positioned perfectly for an ambush in whatever direction she so chose.  'Idiot!  You’re forfeiting your life for a stupid motion tracker?!'


         Creeping out stealthily, she moved closer and closer to her prey, preparing to lunge should he somehow detect her.  Her tail swayed back and forth quickly in anticipation for the end of the game.  The Terran bent over to grab the scouter when she was only a few paces away.  Ruki was just about to tackle him when he suddenly turned around, leveling his shotgun straight at her.  She only had time to widen her eyes before he pulled the trigger.


         A sound like some colossal thunderbolt shattered the forest silence and Ruki was pushed back by the full force of a shotgun blast to her torso.  The pirate landed on her back and closed her eyes, trying to block out the enormous pain of a few dozen plasma pellets burning away in her chest and stomach.  She wanted to cry out, but refused to show her pain to this guy.  This SEALS.  She was angry.  She was pissed.  She wanted to kill him - to bathe in his blood.


         She refused to kill him.


         He had beaten her.  He had won and there wasn’t much she could do against a guy aiming a shotgun at her while she was lying on her back.  He would live.  She would be captured, however temporarily, and he would become a hero.  And he did it fair and square.  All-in-all it excited her to no end.


         The wounds finished sealing, though were still very raw, and Ruki opened her eyes.


         All the excitement she felt was gone, replaced by pure rage.  The guy was looking away as if she no longer mattered.  He was turning his back on her.  It was an insult!  She would make sure he didn't live past this day!  She grabbed his relaxed shotgun, tearing it from his grasp and rammed it into his chest.  The SEALS was down in an instant, clutching his ribs and coughing up blood.


         "Never turn your back on a pirate.  Especially not this pirate," Ruki said sinisterly, her tail straight and rigid in her anger.


         She waited for him to make a move - to just try to hit her again, but he only continued to hold his chest in obvious pain.  He had stopped coughing but was still breathing heavily.


         "Is that it?  Is our little game over already?  Damn.  I can never seem to find someone who I can actually test myself on.  I guess you're no use to me anymore."  No more joking.  No more fun.  This fool had underestimated her and would pay with his life for it.  She started to raise her hands to break his neck, but was stopped short by a gravely voice her acute hearing only barely made out.


         "You wanna play?  Fine.  Then let's play."


         The SEALS shot up with a newfound strength Ruki would have never guessed he had left and slashed a knife she hadn't even noticed deeply across her face.  Ruki stumbled back a few steps, but the SEALS was right on her.  He lunged forward and stabbed her in the stomach then, with strength which must have been born from pure adrenaline, he twisted the knife in her gut and threw her over his shoulder.  Ruki tried to leap up, but he was prepared.  He stomped his foot into her back and actually managed to knock the wind out of her.


         All thoughts of killing the SEALS quadrupled and, in a burst of rage, Ruki leapt up, setting the SEALS off-balance, and punched him across the face.


-------------------------


         The next few moments were a blur to Kenshi.  One second, he was on the ground, coughing up blood, the next he was standing up with a knife in one hand and a grenade in the other.  He had her on the ground in a moment with one wound that should have been mortal and two that should have scarred her for life.  His mind was focused on her and adrenaline was a drug in his bloodstream.  That all seemed to end, however, when Ruki leapt explosively up and punched him across the side of his head, her wounds already nearly healed.


         Now he was struggling with consciousness.  His vision was slowly blacking out and he was positive he had a concussion.  There were only three things which kept him from losing consciousness: the knife in his left hand, the grenade in his right, and the victorious smile on Ruki's face as she looked down at him.


         'Once more.  Just one more try,' he willed his body.  A wave of pure determination surged through him and he took another swing at Ruki.  She was ready this time and managed to jump back, but it gave Kenshi the room he needed to stand up again.


         "Trying your luck again?  I've got to hand it to you.  Most people would either be dead, unconscious or trying to crawl away by now.  But if you want to end your life fighting, I'd be happy to oblige," Ruki said.  She reached both hands behind her back and two rods he hadn't seen before appeared in her hands.  Each rod made a hissing and crackling noise which Kenshi recognized as the sound of air being consumed by plasma and a beam of fiery light emerged from the two cylinders.  Ruki had plasma swords.  "I know it's a little unfair, but hey! I'm a pirate!"  With those words Ruki leapt toward him.


         Kenshi had only one thought on his mind: 'If I go down I'm taking her with me.'  He didn't even bother to move.  He just held up the hand containing the grenade and flipped it's fuse.  Ruki stopped right in front of him and looked at the grenade. She looked back into his eyes.  He saw some sort of resolve come to her face and she dropped her plasma swords.  The woman grabbed at his hand and pried it open, ignoring the knife that had found it’s way into her kidney.  Pulling the grenade from him, she tossed it over her shoulder, but it was too late.


         The grenade only made it a meter before exploding.  Ruki took the brunt of the damage, though both still flew back.  Kenshi was knocked out the second his back rammed into the tree and the world turned black.


-------------------------


         Ruki took out her plasma swords.  The SEALS looked like crap - blood ran freely down his face and she guessed he was having trouble standing up.  The fool wouldn’t give up and, as much as she had to respect that, it was probably born of naivete.  He didn’t understand mortality and how close he was to finding it.  He should have turned and ran the second he’d recognized her, but he wanted to be a hero or didn’t understand he could lose.  She’d seen it often enough.  Either way, Ruki was going to become his personal angel of death.


         She switched on her plasma swords.  "I know it's a little unfair, but hey!  I'm a pirate!"  She lunged forward, intending to slice into his stomach, keeping him alive for the precious few minutes he would need to realize he was dying and she would remain alive.


         That’s when she found out the twit had one last trick up his sleeve.


         The man didn’t even blink.  He just stared into her eyes and raised his broken right arm.  He moved a few fingers and Ruki saw some sort of cap fall to the forest floor.  Then she realized he held a grenade.  Ruki stopped in her tracks, looked at the grenade and then back into his eyes.  What she saw she had never thought to bare witness to.


         This SEALS had no fear of what was about to happen.  There was no hate or anger.  No thoughts of heroism or vengeance.  Only quiet acceptance and a cold promise.  He was no fool.  He wasn’t naive.  He wasn’t looking to be a hero.  Wasn’t even try for vengeance.  He simply refused to allow her to do what she did and giving up wasn’t an option in that plan.


         It hit something deep inside her, seeing this man accept death so freely just to make sure she wouldn’t get the chance to live.  She’d seen it occasionally, the heroic types, but this...  This was a true warrior.  A person who not only fought like the best of ‘em, but laid down their life for their belief, not giving up even when the thread of mortality was paper thin.  There were few people she’d known like that and fewer so effectively dangerous against her.  And only he was both.  It startled her to think a soldier of this caliber was going to sacrifice himself to take her down.


         But it wasn't right.  He shouldn’t die.  Not like this.  It wasn’t right.  It wasn’t time.


         She dropped the plasma swords.  One hand grabbed his while the other grabbed the grenade.  A knife reached deep into her right side, slicing a kidney and making her grit her teeth, but she put the pain aside and focused on the task at hand.  His grip was strong, but she still managed to pry the grenade out.  The explosive's fuse must have almost been up so she threw it behind her, knowing he wouldn't survive a direct blast.  The grenade went off and the world went black.


-------------------------


         She woke up with a large warm object lying on top of her.  It took a few moments, but Ruki finally realized the object was the SEALS.  He covered her completely, his upper chest over her head and his legs entwined with her own.  She rolled him onto his back and sat up, wondering how long she'd been out.  Looking down at the still unconscious SEALS, she inspected his injuries.  Ruki smiled.


         'Did quite a number on him,' she thought to herself.  Dried blood covered half of his face and his right arm was swollen.  There were also quite few dents in his armor where she had hit him.  She unhooked a few clasps and straightened him up, lifting his armor over his head.  As she laid him back down, she noticed he was visibly more relaxed.  A pair of dogtags caught her attention.


         "Kenshi Tamaki.  Glad to know I can put a name to your face.”  She felt along his chest and noticed a few misplaced ribs.  'Maybe I was a little too hard on him.'  The memories of the man standing up to her with more than a few broken ribs and a broken arm put a smile on her face.  She looked down at the man.


         "Rest easy, Kenshi.  You've earned it."  Ruki stood up and took one final look at the SEALS.  She wanted to play with the guy some more - maybe try some more flirting and see his reaction - but she had things to do.  The Hell’s Demons were gone and that meant she needed to reorganize.  She would need to head back to the Orlius system and collect a few things before the MMC got their hands on them.  Then she had to get a hold of her employers and assure them all she was still very much in business.


         She thought for a moment about restarting a gang, but quickly dismissed that idea.  The crowd of the Hell’s Demons had been grating on her nerves as of late and she missed the days of working alone.  Besides, with a gang when would she be able to find the time to visit her new friend?


         Ruki walked away with a giggle.  Life was great.


-------------------------


         He woke up in agonizing pain.  Chest, head arm, back...it was as if he’d been caught between a pair of drunken, angry Wenlins.  It took a few moments, but Kenshi finally managed to stand up.


         'I'm...alive?' he asked himself.  He remembered being pummeled by Ruki...and the grenade, but there was nothing after that.  He looked around but there was no sign of the pirate.  'What happened?'  A roar sounded overhead and Kenshi looked up through the trees in time to see the dragon-like ship leave the atmosphere.  'She let me live?'


         Kenshi decided not to ponder anymore - his head hurt too much - and headed back to his ship, purposely forgetting his lost weapons.  He reached the hatch and flipped the outer panel.  A nine-digit code later and he was inside the safety of his ship with the hatch closing behind him.  He walked to his personal quarters and plopped down on his bed with a grunt.  Reaching over and pressing a few buttons beside his bed, a breathing mask and a pair of pads emerged from the ceiling above him.  He smiled and took the mask, securing it on his face and wincing as he was forced to touch his concussion, then took the pads and placed them on either side of his head.


          This was the latest in medical equipment, used primarily for soldiers who needed quick healing but couldn't get to a functional healing tank.  A healing tank could heal almost any physical wound - not including brain damage - within 24 hours.  The mask, while not nearly as fast as it's cousin, could still cut down healing time to a forth of it's normal rate and knock the victim out with the two pads while they healed.


         Kenshi closed his eyes and pressed a button by the side of the mask .  He fell back asleep almost instantly.


-------------------------


         Kenshi woke up again a full week later - still with a headache and a sore arm and ribs, but the swelling of his arm was gone and his head didn't hurt nearly as much.  He undressed slowly and stepped into his sonic shower - another inexpensive piece of hardware made more for convenience than comfort for MMC troops.  In only a handful of minutes, the added dirt and sweat of a week, not to mention dried blood, was forced from his body by the powerful sound waves.  Kenshi stumbled into another uniform and walked back outside to collect his fallen equipment.  After replacing everything he set to work repairing his subspace radio - an easier job than he had thought.  A couple connections had been burned out by a plasma bolt, but the radio itself was still intact.


         Only two hours after he had awakened, Kenshi sat down in his cockpit and prepared to take off.


         'Everyone probably thinks I'm dead.  It's been a full week since I disappeared chasing after Ruki so they all probably believe she finished me off.'  Kenshi turned on his subspace radio, playing with the frequency to find the general MMC signal.  He stopped short, however when he heard his own name said over the radio.


         "What was his name?" a female voice asked.


         "Kenshi Tamaki.  Some SEALS fresh out of training," the second voice, a male, responded.


         "A SEALS was responsible?"


         "Yeah, that was my reaction too.  Little bastard ran away with that pirate Ruki after pointing out the rest of his fleet."


         'What?!' Kenshi thought.


         "Really?" the female asked with something between surprise and disbelief.


         "You heard me.  MMC really wants to get this guy.  Probably will make an excuse and just kill him."


         "No kidding.  This guy bites it and everyone will just look away.  Then the only thing they'll have to worry about is Ruki finding out.  I hear from the undercovers that she's a jealous lover, heh."


         ‘What?!’ Kenshi’s thoughts repeated disbelievingly.


         "So we're supposed to find this guy before anyone else does?" the female asked.


         "Yeah.  Top wants to question him before anyone tries to rough him up.  We just gotta follow his ship's tracking device."


         Kenshi turned off the radio and rushed for the weapons panel beside his hatch.  Picking up a small wielder/cutter and knife, he headed back to the cockpit.  As part of his training he was one of the few people who knew exactly where on an MMC ship tracking devices were installed.  He held up the cutter just under the control panel and turned it on, giving him the power of a small, concentrated sun to use on the sturdy piece of metal.  A square was cut away, just large enough to fit both his hands through.  Inside was a number of wires, chips and boards connecting to the assorted switches and gears of the control panel.  Kenshi looked around a bit before finding the group of wires connecting to the ignition switch.  Attached to them was a barely visible chip painted red to blend in with wire it was attached to.  The real trick now was not to let the ship know he had tampered with the wiring.  He had to cut out the chip, without touching the metal of the wire else the ship would enter lockdown mode and the Terran would have to sit and wait to be arrested.  Kenshi brought out his knife and carefully cut a thin layer of plastic off where the chip was stuck.  He opened the outer hatch and threw the tiny piece of plastic out then reentered to wield the metal plate of the control panel back on.  As soon as he was finished, Kenshi jumped back into the cockpit seat and took off, fearing someone would arrive any moment to hunt him down.


         'What do I do now?' he thought, millions of things running through his mind at once.  He thought of just going to explain his situation with HQ but knew they wouldn't go on his word alone.  Someone had hinted at him being responsible for the incident at Orlius and given some solid evidence against him.  'Ruki!’ his mind came up with quickly.  ‘That’s why she let me live!  She wants to screw around with me!'  He didn't know where to go, but he did know who to find.  With a reputation as big as Ruki's he was sure they would meet again.  And next time he'd be the winner.


         Kenshi had a lot of time to think as he flew his ship in no certain direction.  The MMC was after him with a vengeance.  Bounty hunters would be all over him.  He had no friends.  He had no allies.  And the only chance he had of clearing his name was capturing the most wanted, perhaps the most dangerous and elusive being in the universe - and even then there was little chance that he'd be back in the MMC’s good graces.


         Kenshi flew away with a sigh.  Life sucked.