Pioneers: Creation

Most Wanted

Most Wanted


         Kenshi’s first stop was the cockpit to his ship.  Alanya watched on quietly as he changed coordinates, trying to decide whether or not he’d be annoyed if she leaned against the back seat.  The work was quick, however, and a moment later he was leading her back into the living room.


         “Only one bed here so I hope you think that couch is comfy,” he said.  Then he was pointing.  “Bathroom, food dispenser.  We’re going to have to scavenge some clothes when the opportunity comes.  ‘til then I’ll scrounge something for you.”


         “Ok,” was all she replied with.  He looked back at her, but the princess couldn’t meet his eyes.  Grunting, he walked back into the corridor.


         “End of the hall’s the engine room,” Kenshi said, stepping across the hall to the doorway.  He pressed a button and the door slid open, revealing a small elevator.  “This leads down to a...VR room, I guess you can call it.”  They stepped in, the doors slid shut and then they were moving.  “Might keep you from getting bored in the meantime.  Thing is advanced.”  The doors slid back open and a large oval room greeted them, the walls a deep black while the floors stood bright white.  Kenshi stepped out to a panel across from them.


         “Heavy customization.  You can do what you want.  Even replicates touch, however the hell that works.”  The princess almost wanted to question that, but the desire to stay quiet overruled the thought.  Instead she stepped beside him and, at his urging, started playing with the panel.  “And that’s it,” he said.  “Home, for what it’s worth.”


         “Are you really a criminal?” she asked sparing a quick glance before looking back at the display to the strange “VR” panel.  His eyebrow was raised.


         “You really go for the jugular don’t ya?” he said, breathing a small, humorless laugh.  “You really wanna know my story?  You’d actually believe it?”


         “I dunno,” she replied quietly.  He chuckled again and again it was humorless.


         “I guess if you want a start you could say it was Orlius...”


         “Orlius?” she said, the name catching her eye as well as her ear.  She clicked the name on the panel and suddenly the room they were in disappeared and there they were, floating in space with asteroids all around.  Suddenly a ship, tiny as if from a distance, shot out of nowhere and a beam of light shot back.  There was a fireball and then Alanya saw them.  Tiny military ships everywhere.  And where that beam of light came from...they were ships and they looked like they could be in a military, but they were far from tiny.


         “God...” Kenshi said, looking around.  She looked at him, floating in space, it seemed.  Saw him close his eyes just as there was an enormous flash.  When she looked back there were a lot more fireballs.  “Turn it off,” he said.


         Alanya tried, she really did, but when she clicked to end the program the machine didn’t quite listen.  The scene shifted and suddenly instead of fireballs they were surrounded by scrap metal.  Destroyed ships everywhere - some big, some small.  Not all of them were destroyed, however.  There were a number floating in a group, unmoving.


         “Turn it off, Alanya.”


         She clicked again and again the scene shifted.  They were out of space and in a forest filled with large trees and heavy brush.  And in front of them...


         “Kenshi Tamaki.  Glad to know I can put a name to your face,” a woman said.  Ruki, Alanya recognized after a moment.  She was leaning over something.  Kenshi.  Only he looked like he’d been through a meat grinder.  Ruki was moving her fingers along his chest, smiling faintly.  “Rest easy, Kenshi.  You’ve earned it,” the hologram said, standing.


         “End program,” Kenshi demanded and then the room was back to black and white, like nothing had happened.  When Alanya looked over at him she saw he was even paler than usual, jaw clenched.  He was still looking at where Ruki had stood.  Then he glanced down at her.


         “That was the start,” he rasped.  “I’ve been hunting her since.”


         The young princess was more confused than ever and he must have seen it plain as day as he clenched his jaw harder and started over, telling the whole story.  Alanya simply listened, wide-eyed.


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


         Lady Luck had forsaken Dav.


         That was the only excuse for all this.  He’d lived off her for so long that she’d become bored of him.  Perhaps he’d grown too dependant upon luck.  Perhaps not even luck was a match for Ruki.  Or perhaps he should stop thinking of luck as a lady and get his head into the here and now.


         Dav was stuck in Hindsight with Ruki with what was, for all intents and purposes, a V chip in his head.  It’d been painful at first until he’d fully realized what was going on.  The merc-gone-over-his-head couldn’t so much as think of turning his back on the pirate without a splitting headache.  In fact, it even hurt just thinking about what the damn thing would do if he actually tried something.


         ‘Probably kill me,’ he thought, gritting his teeth as his heartbeat hammered against his skull.  ‘Different thoughts.  Different thoughts.’


         Ally had been compliant enough, apparently.  Gave them a tracker with a nice beacon to aim for and, according to Ruki, Tamaki wouldn’t be expecting them.  Didn’t make it any more comforting.


         Although she hadn’t mentioned it, Dav had a good idea what he was still around for.  Cannon fodder.  Ruki was a smart woman.  If she didn’t know he was transmitting she wouldn’t still be alive, incredibly strong or no.  It was strange.  She’d taken Tamaki beating her without so much as a blink, but it comes out the man’s Kerosian and suddenly it’s an act of war.


         ‘Soon with her very own military,’ Dav thought.  He was transmitting, she knew it and unless Ally had done an incredibly thorough check of his ship and person he was leading Burlai and whatever MMC the man had with him straight to Tamaki.  It wasn’t a difficult puzzle to solve.  Ruki was bound for killing the man by whatever means necessary.  Completely overwhelm him, kill him and take the data back.  He was only surprised the pirate hadn’t tried something like this earlier.


         ‘If that really is her plan.  Maybe Ally really did actually manage to disable the transmitters and she’s just toying with me now for going behind her back...’  Davnick had to stop that train of thought when his head felt about ready to cave in.  He winced, placing his hand on his forehead, and looked at the door leading to the living quarters where Ruki was relaxing.


         ‘In any case, I’m cannon fodder in more ways than one.  She’ll send me out into the fray just like she’ll lead the MMC straight to Tamaki...and straight to our deaths if it goes sour.’  He watched the blip representing Tamaki make it’s way slowly through a 3D map of the galaxy, dismayed.


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


         “Yeah, the little bastard shook loose,” Xander said and Terrace had to resist going into a stream of curses.


         “Did he do it?” Terrace asked over the phone.


         “Hell yeah he did.  It’s all just formalities.  The little shit’s a slippery sonofa bitch, though, and the prosecutor rushed in.  Bad move.”


         “So that’s it then.  Malcom walks free and there’s nothing we can do.”  The mouthy police lieutenant laughed over the line.


         “Now that’s where I can give you good news.  The evidence at hand was good.  Not given the proper backing, sure, but we can do that easy enough.  Malcom’s boned this time.  No way he’s getting out of this unless he bombs the Marble Keep to ash and that’s a little doubtful with the security ol’ Berin’s got running there.


         “Here’s the problem, though: MMC’s gotta prove the vid’s not fake.  Since it wasn’t a cop doing the work that means we gotta check every last detail of the vid and make sure nothing’s outta place.  Voices need to match up exact, room details, clipping and shading errors.  If it’s fake it’s near impossible to get on the money to the amount we gotta confirm, up to the point where courts would accept it.  Bad part is this takes time.  Checking every single last pixel in every bit of dimension.  Even with comps doing the work you need direct human supervision.”


         “How long?” Terrace grunted, undecided between angry and ecstatic.


         “Month, give or take.  Quality’s a bit fuzzy making it a big pain, ya know?”


         “Then what?  You haul him in and that’s that, right?”


         “I wish,” Xander laughed.  “He’s slippery, I told ya.  Malcom will go straight underground and I don’t doubt he’s got enough connections to live the rest of his life there.”


         ‘Fuck,’ Terrace thought in about 20 colorful ways.  “Keep me updated.”


         “No prob.  Later, Commander.”  The line cut, leaving the leader to continue figuring out different uses for the word ‘fuck’.


         ‘Whatever Tamaki’s up to, he wants Malcom away first and foremost.  Damn thing’s gonna be harder to end with him still on the loose.’


         Scowling, Terrace turned his attention to Cecile.  The man certainly had a destination in mind, having not changed direction in hours.  And considering his route, he or Ruki were almost certainly going after Tamaki as well.  That, they wanted to visit one of many old Terran War ruins or were taking the long way around to something on the other side of the old central warzone.


         He watched his personal galaxy map, the blip representing Cecile and, probably, Ruki.  Watched the dozen MMC ships slowly closing in around the two as well as, hopefully, Tamaki.


         ‘What will you do when staring down the barrel of this many MMC, Tamaki?  Will you keep running?  Or will you try to fight?  Will you be willing to kill to do whatever it is you’re trying to do?’


         The answer didn’t sit well with him.  Especially with Ruki along for the ride.


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


         Hyperspace was truly a spectacle to watch.  Almost like a fireworks show, except more blacks and whites and no thunder.  Lights flashed by, mostly stars, but the occasional comet or nebula added color as well.


         It reminded Kenshi of the old days, well before he was born, when Terrans looked to the stars.  He wondered what they would’ve thought if they found out it was but a simple recording.  A sphere covering the Solar System, among others, to keep them unaware as the Makar watched their monkeys thrive and become human until they broke out of the sphere.


         ‘Then our forefathers, the first of the humans and those responsible for our birth, are wiped out clean before we could ever meet them.  By the very same nation their last sons would go to a near genocidal war with, as well.’


         Kenshi puffed at his cigar in some semblance of relaxation.  The universe truly could be a cruel place.  ‘Wonder if the girl will ever comprehend that,’ he thought, his mind on Alanya.  She was sitting back in the living room, probably deciding if she believed him or not.  Not that it truly mattered much.  They were stuck in the situation in any case.


         The control panel gave off an alarm and Kenshi felt the subtle shift of the Quicksilver pulling out of hyperspace.  In less than a minute it was moving at a manageable speed, a sea of stars and a space station he doubted anyone had set foot in within at least 20 years floating in front of him.  Kenshi put out his cigar.


         Dardel was an old Terran military checkpoint station back in the days of Kiev IV when the race had actually tried holding ground against Midolloni.  Like all the other bases and planets, however, it was attacked and the Terrans were driven off.  Since then the base had found no purpose for occupation so it had been left alone, another useless ruin in space.


         ‘Docking bays won’t be available.  Will have to cut a hole and go from there.  Wonder if there’ll even be any air or power.’  Kenshi shrugged, maneuvering the ship closer.  He was going to need to dress warm.  Any heaters had probably been offline for years.


         ‘Just an old piece of scrap nobody has use for,’ he thought.  ‘About as good a place as you can find for stashing something.  Little chance of someone coming close enough to start looking.’


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


         “We’re here,” Dav said, entering the living quarters.  She looked at him and that alone gave him a pounding headache.  He clenched his jaw.


         “Where?” Ruki asked.


         “Space station in the Tol System,” he replied.


         “Gonna have to be more detailed than that, Dav,” she said, annoyed.  The Frentan’s head felt fit to explode.  His vision blurred and he had to place a hand on the wall to steady himself.


         ‘It’s fine.  She’s your best friend.  No betrayal.  It’s cool.’  Slowly the pain fizzled to an afterthought and he saw Ruki look at him in amusement.  The pain had a short spike when he realized what she was smiling about.


         “Don’t know the place too well.  Near abandoned.  Think it’s an old warzone.  Some sort of space station.  That’s all I know.”  She let out a short laugh, stood up and moved toward him.  Davnick was quick to throw himself out of her way and she grinned sadistically as she passed.


         “It’s military,” she said, looking at the viewscreen.  “Old military, but definitely military.  And definitely Terran.”  When he saw she wasn’t moving for the controls he did so instead.  Sitting down, he saw she had a thoughtful look on her face.


         “What do you want to do?” he asked.


         “Dock beside it.  Duh.”


         “And then?” he said, gritting his teeth.  The pirate grinned, though she wasn’t looking at him.


         “We hunt.”  That said, she left the room.


         ‘Burlai, you better be right behind me,’ Davnick thought, bringing his ship closer to the space station and trying to find a suitable place to park.  ‘And you damn well better come prepared or I’m fucked.’


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


         12 ships.  Not just any piece of scrap they could dig up either.  Carriers, battleships, destroyers, likely even a battlewagon.  12 of them.  In most cases it would be overkill.  Hell, it probably was overkill.  Still, Preesly knew one of those ships was the Bema.  He knew the Bema had only one mission at that point in time.  And he knew 12 ships might not be enough to keep Tamaki and Ruki from slipping through their fingers, scathed though they may wind up.


         “They’re coming out of hyperspace,” he said over the radio.


         The Sventh replied with a simple, if guttural, “Check.”


         ‘The company you get as a bounty hunter,’ Preesly thought.  ‘At least it’s interesting.’  The former SEALS looked over, saw the sharp, if small, silhouette of Nell traveling beside him through hyperspace.  The ship was Sventh military as far as the Terran could recognize so unless the race allowed such craft for civvy purposes then the lizard was either on a mission or rogue.  Neither held well with him.


         ‘What would he want with Tamaki and why does he want the data?  Try a double-cross maybe?  Keep it for himself or the Sventh?’  Suddenly the idea of a partnership didn’t seem so great.  On the other hand, Preesly figured he didn’t have much hope taking Tamaki and Ruki down alone.  At least not after the White Sun incident.


         “MMC aren’t gonna let us close.  If we get in there we’ll be treated as hostiles.  Best we stay back for now,” Preesly said, as much to himself as to the Sventh flying beside him.


         “This is a trap,” Nell hissed over the line and Preesly looked down at the scaled face talking to him on his control panel, surprised.


         “What do you mean?”


         “Ruki and Kenshi Tamaki have been successful fugitives for many years.  It is doubtful so many could trap them at so random a juncture.  Therefore it is an ambush.  To what end I do not know.”  Preesly frowned, checked the galactic map.  That made too much sense.  He felt the pit of his stomach roll.


         ‘And Burlai’s walking right into it.  God, the man might even know and he’d have to walk into it anyway, the way things are.’  He looked back at Nell.  “We’ll observe.  If they slip past maybe we’ll be lucky and get the opportunity to tag ‘em.  Otherwise it’ll be too hot.  Objections?”


         “None,” Nell simply said before cutting the line.


         ‘Lizard’s concise, I’ll give him that,’ Preesly thought.  ‘Definitely interesting.’


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


         The air was probably stale as hell, but it was present.  Power too, though how much of the equipment inside could still use it was very questionable.  -18̊ C.  Warmer than he’d thought.  He wouldn’t have to get into a space suit for that.  His best guess, whatever was holding the power was hot enough to keep the place from dipping to near absolute zero.


         “Stay in the living room,” Kenshi told Alanya.  “Don’t follow.  Don’t even enter the hallway.  It’s too cold.”  The princess only nodded.  She hadn’t spoken to him or even shared eye contact since he’d relayed his story.  Probably still deciding on him.


         Kenshi pulled his gloves on tighter, straightened the hat over his ears.  “Get going,” he said, taking out the cutter.  He barely heard the door close before kneeling beside the hull and switching the device on.  Sparks cascaded down and wherever the cutter opened into the space beyond a cool blast of air filtered into the Quicksilver.  Minutes passed by slowly as he cut through the thick hull.  It was nearly a half hour later when he shut the device off and kicked a man-sized slab of metal into the space station.  Small as the base was they certainly spared no expense in making it a sturdy sonofa bitch.  Likely it’s what allowed the Terrans time to evacuate when the MMC attacked.


         Immediately a rush of cold air hit him and, shivering, he adjusted the long, ragged grey coat he wore.  A moment later the old air settled and Kenshi stepped into the pitch black room beyond.


         ‘Could’ve at least left the lights on for any potential scavengers and criminals,’ he thought sarcastically, looking around.  He pulled out his scouter and a flashlight, the small HUD giving him a somewhat fuzzy layout of his surrounding and the flashlight revealing the abandoned storage room he’d broken into.  ‘Fun.’


         The place glittered and glowed with icy dust which stirred as he moved past it.  Dardel had been hastily abandoned, the crates and equipment lying disorganized throughout the room.  They’d taken what they could and the MMC hadn’t given a damn about scavenging the rest - at the time of abandonment Midolloni had vastly superior gear.


         Taking a glance over the map glowing in front of his right eye, Kenshi crossed the room and, praying, pressed a button beside the door into the corridor beyond.  Luckily it opened smoothly, though the area was still pitch black, and the Terran stepped further into the station.


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


         A knock sounded at the door and Terrace responded with a simple, “Enter.”  Immediately his aide Lieutenant Card came walking in, stiff in his formality.  Card was an average Midollonian.  White-skinned, average height, brown hair, nothing particularly pretty or ugly - easy to lose in a crowd.  Command had assigned him under Terrace alongside Rykov a mere week and a half ago, a pair of promising officers which would serve well and dutifully under him to gain experience.  “Report.”


         “All ships have enclosed Dardel, sir.  They report two ships docked against the station.  One does not show up on any of our radars.  Captain Fillers reports it is of highly unusual design.”


         “Scramble fighters.  I want both ships covered,” Terrace ordered.


         “Yes sir.  Lt. Rykov is currently briefing Lt. Wicks on the situation.”  The Terran cringed a bit at that.  Wicks was an arrogant, stupid man for the leader of an elite team.  Preesly would’ve been better if he hadn’t deserted.  In any case, he wanted more than a single team fishing in Dardel.


         “Have Rykov brief Jamerson as well.  I want the station covered and blocked off quickly.  No mistakes.  Stress the last point to Wicks.”


         “Yes sir,” Card said, holding his fist to his heart in salute then stiffly turning and marching out of the room.


         Alone, the commander’s attention was drawn to the map floating before him, a replica of Dardel with 12 ships surrounding her.  He frowned.  This was much too easy.  Ruki was baiting them and Tamaki...


         ‘Fucking unpredictable as usual,’ Terrace thought.  It should be a no-win situation for the two criminals.  They were surrounded, outnumbered, outgunned with one hostage, though a damn good hostage she was, and, unless something had changed radically in the past couple weeks, no backup to speak of.


         ‘Unless Tamaki really is working for Kerosians.’  The thought was ill comfort, but, Terrace had to admit, not entirely out of the question.  Standing up, the commander made his way to the bridge, intent on setting up something of a perimeter should backup arrive.


         Considering who he was up against, he knew things were about to get ugly fast.  Last thing he wanted was to take gambles on conventional logic.


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


         It took Kenshi another half hour to make it to the station’s old control room through the darkness and ice - and that was aside from the strange design.  Dardel had been used mostly for supplying between hyperspace jumps and as such the docking bay took up most of the space with corridors leading to assorted storage rooms and personnel quarters and an upper level which, for the most part, looked down upon the main room.  For a military station, it’d been made more for looks than efficiency, strangely.


         Getting to the upper level had been a bit of a chore in and of itself.  While the doors were fine the lines to the elevators had frozen and the stairway had been wielded and barricaded tightly shut for some reason.  In the end he’d had to pry open the elevator doors and climb the line to the next level.  From there it’d been another pain to brace himself well enough to pry open the next set of doors.  Then it’d been a smooth walk straight to the control room.


         The room itself was rather small and bare with only three computer stations and little else.  The place wasn’t built to stand long under combat, just long enough to allow an escape.  Terrans of old had depended on their lines to hold against the overwhelming MMC force to keep the station from intrusion and the idea had failed miserably.


         Kenshi made his way to the first station, opened a drawer and threw the Titan disk inside.  ‘Should keep hidden until things blow over,’ he thought.  Until then he’d have to think of another backup, something to pass the data’s location along should he and Alanya be knocked out of the picture and yet still keep things safe.


         Walking out of the room, he made it five steps before somebody shouted, “FREEZE!”  Kenshi spun to his right where a large opening in the wall looked down upon the docking bay.  It was pitch black, but he heard the telltale shuffling of multiple figures running, readying weapons and taking cover for the fight which may or may not happen.  The MMC had tracked him down.


         ‘Can’t do it to Ruki in a few centuries, but get my name on the top of the list and have me pinned in a day.  Congratu-fucking-lations gentlemen.’  Scowling, Kenshi dove for the panel beside the opening.  A dozen weapons went off at once, but they were too slow.  His fingers punched the button and a blue glow illuminated the room.


         Standing up, Kenshi looked out the opening to see a continuous stream of plasma aimed for him.  It took a moment for the attackers to realize the big blue transparent thing covering the opening was an energy shield.  The glow illuminated the docking bay well enough for the former soldier to see the place was crawling with MMC decked out in full armor and weaponry.


         ‘God dammit.’


         All he had on him was the little equipment he thought he might need and the AC pistol and sonic blaster he still had tucked into the jacket.  Not good for facing off against so many in such a large space and worse seeing as how he was trying to avoid MMC casualties.


         Kenshi turned back, walked into the control room.  He was quick to work, turning on all the computers before taking the disk.  It took a moment for them to boot and another to find what he was looking for.  Another moment, he activated a five men time delay to the lights then hurried out of the room.


         To his left he was quick in opening the door.  It was a backup weapons room, as expected and, as expected, the Terrans hadn’t bothered collecting the equipment on this floor just like the MMC hadn’t cared to touch it.


         ‘A bit of luck, there.’  The weaponry was largely primitive, much of it still using solid projectiles as ammunition.  All of it very lethal.  ‘Fuck, fuck, fuck,’ he repeated with every gun he sifted past, sorting through the lockers and racks for anything which could get him out of this and still keep the chance of not killing anyone.  His wish was granted when he pried open a far locker and, despite the situation, grinned.


         Taking the weapon, he clicked in place a cylinder of ammo then slung it over his shoulder.  He then rushed out the door and toward the elevator.  Again, Kenshi made it five steps before being stopped, though this time much more violently.


         Something slammed into him - hard - and the large Terran was face-first on the ground before he’d realized something was wrong.  He flipped over fast.  Before him stood a feminine figure.  That was the best way to describe it as aside from that she had no features.  A black suit covered her completely with no seams anywhere to be found.  Even the face was blank, a plain black mask in the form of a long, angular head, but with no other facial features aside from that.  Then that black face peeled away revealing exactly who he didn’t want to fight right then.


         “Hey Kenshi.  How’s Kerosia been treatin’ ya?” Ruki asked, grinning maliciously, though without any glee.  She held a hand palm-up and Kenshi watched the fingers elongate and sharpen into five knives.  He rolled aside just as she dove forward in an attempt to skewer him.


         “I don’t have time for this,” he growled, jumping to his feet and Ruki laughed maniacally.


         “I don’t care!” she said, standing as well, the dim blue glow of the energy shield twisting her insane features further.  “Greater good my ass, you were a competitor for the same fucking job.”  Her face contorted into pure rage, more than he’d ever seen from her at once.  “It ends now!”  The mask gripped around her face again and she flew forward, faster than he’d ever seen her.


         It was pure instinct which kept him from her slashes, stepping aside and having to jump back over and over so quickly he had no time for conscious thought.  It was also pure instinct which allowed him to dart his own hand forward, catch her wrist mid attack then punch his other hand at her sternum hard enough to send her across the corridor against the blue energy shield.


         A scream of rage echoed through the room and the pirate held up her hands, twin globes of pure red energy appearing in each just as Kenshi pulled out his AC pistol.  She let one fly as he fired and they both dodged together.  However, where his shot fizzled harmlessly against the shield, Ruki’s exploded against the wall behind him, the heat blowing uncomfortably against his back.


         Again and again she threw the globes and again and again he dodged, hopelessly shooting at her to keep her off her feet enough so that she might not gather her aim and blow him to pieces.  It was a simple click to announce his ammo was depleted, but those explosive red orbs kept coming.  Growling as an explosion nearly blew him off his feet, he clicked the magazine release, diving toward Ruki as an orb passed over his shoulder.  He slapped another in hard, still sprinting toward her and watched as she squeezed her hands around two globes, the balls of energy widening into two crackling red swords.


         Kenshi let out a short growl, Ruki a brutal scream as they dove into one another at full force.  Her swords skewered his jacket, his shot brushed past her side and the former soldier’s momentum proved the greater as he continued forward with the veteran mercenary off-balance in his arms.  Keeping her wrists in his hands, he headbutted her as hard as he could then, while she was further off-balance, dropped one of her arms to swing her around and pin her against the wall with her hand behind her back.


         There was no hesitation.  It was pure aggression, just as Mavys had encouraged in him.  Pushing his pistol against her elbow he let off one shot, disabling the arm, then spent another into her back before her other arm came around with her remaining sword and he had to back off.


         “I’LL CUT OUT YOUR FUCKING HEART YOU BACKSTABBING SON OF A BITCH!!!” she somehow screamed through the mask and launched herself at him.  He sidestepped her, but she was too fast and pushed her sword through his side then proceeded to tear a chunk out of him before he could manage anything else.  He grunted, tried to raise his weapon, but by then she was gone, floating out of sight as if she was never even there.


         He felt cold already and, looking down, grimaced at the ugly wound.  If it weren’t for Ally’s upgrades he’d likely be in shock, if not dead already.  Standing still, he kept his ears open for the slightest change to announce her reappearance to him.  It came with a tiny whoosh of air and Kenshi spun in time to pump one more shot into the pirate’s torso before diving aside to avoid the lightning slash.


         Ruki’s speed was incredible, but that was all the opening Kenshi needed.  He kicked her leg from under her and grabbed her remaining wrist as it came in for another stab.  Off-balance once more, he slammed her to the ground and pinned her.


         “This is for the greater good,” Kenshi rasped, reaching into his jacket and pulling out the sonic blaster.  She struggled hard, but it was no good.  Pressing the weapon against her sternum, Ruki’s mask pulled back again.


         “Kenshi, no!  Please!” she pleaded and in the dim blue light he saw she looked terrified.  The pleading child-like expression he’d seen back on Haqnen II was back, only now it was joined by pure fright.  For once she was afraid of death.


         Kenshi pulled the trigger and for a split second her eyes widened before a short, ear-piercing scream escaped from her lips.  Then he felt her body turn to mush below him and a moment after he could barely recognize who she’d been through the lack of bones and the blood seeping from her.


         The former soldier stood up silently, keeping his eyes on the body below him as he pressed his hand tightly to his wound.  A small chill went down his spine when he realized he’d probably just done what millions before him had tried to do since well before he was even born; kill Ruki.


         Turning around, he limped down the corridor.


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


         Taking partial cover behind a primitive loader, Lt. Arch Keverall aimed his rifle at one of the two large elevators in the docking bay.  Despite the darkness the room around him looked bright as day - though with a definite blue tint - under the thin grey band positioned tightly his eyes which were night vision goggles.


         On the platform above he watched as flashes of two or more figures all but flew across the hallway, launching bright bits of plasma and energy at one another in a series of sparks and explosions.  Eventually they moved out of sight and things quieted down until some sort of distortion filled the air.  Arch would’ve thought it a glitch in his NVG if the station itself didn’t seem to rock a bit with whatever had just happened.


         The young Lieutenant glanced around himself.  Fellow SEALS operatives sat in similar cover, assorted weapons pointed toward the only entrance and exit of the upper level.  Even if Tamaki blew out a second exit, the two teams had the complete lower level surrounding the upper one covered.  It was next to impossible for the man to slip through their fingers.


         ‘Of course, Wicks probably thought the same,’ Arch thought, looking toward his commanding officer this mission.  Arch hadn’t been there for Boragar incident, but he’d been clued in on the destruction.  This time people were ready, however.  No mistakes anymore.  Top wanted things resolved immediately and that’s how it was gonna go.


         An elevator slowly opened and the young Midollonian recognized Tamaki jump out, a ratty old coat with a dark stain on the side billowing behind him.  Weapons collectively readied, everyone in the room at least a little trigger happy.  It was Wicks who made the demands.


         “Put your hands on the floor and lay face-down!” he yelled.  Arch didn’t need to turn his head to know his commander hadn’t taken his aim off the man even the slightest.  Everyone’s eyes stayed firmly on the newly made most wanted man in the galaxy, unblinking, and Arch noticed the stain on his left side was, in fact, a fresh wound.


         Tamaki, for his part, stayed completely calm.  He moved slowly, reached into a front pocket and pulled a cigar out to place between his lips.


         “I won’t warn you again!  Put your hands on the floor then lay face-down!  Now!”  Tamaki didn’t react in any way and that, perhaps, is what kept away the order to fire.  Arch, like everyone else, stared in confusion at the man who acknowledged none of them, who placed a hand at the nozzle of some strange weapon at his hip and raised it in front of his cigar.  His fingers moved and there was a barely audible click then a short bit of flame lit the cigar as the former soldier puffed at it.  He lowered the weapon to his hip as he finally made eye contact with Wicks.


         ‘Oh dear God,’ Arch thought, perhaps before anyone else in the room.  Certainly before Wicks who, still staring in confusion, didn’t give the order to fire.


         A moment ago it wouldn’t have been thought possible by anyone in the two teams.  Then the moment passed and all around Dardel the lights flickered on brightly.  The assorted NVGs tried to adjust to the sudden change, but it was too much too fast.  For one precious second they were all blinded, all flinching from the sudden brightness.  When the second was over the room had gone from freezing to hot and Arch found a long jet of flame blocking most of the soldiers from where Tamaki had stood just before.


         As for the man in question, Arch caught sight of a blur crash the butt of a flamethrower against some unlucky SEALS not caught on the wrong side of the makeshift barricade.  He steadied his weapon, took aim, but then the target was gone - sprinting down a corridor with a new jet of flame blocking it off against any followers.  Stunned, the soldiers in the room could only look at each other.


         “Radio in to the Bema,” Wicks said, red-faced.  “Tell them Tamaki’s taking off.”


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


         Davnick heard the gunshots and explosions easily enough.  It was simple enough to recognize there was a vicious fight happening somewhere aboard the station and it wasn’t much harder to determine who it was between.


         Eventually the noise died down and Dav was left leaning against the wall, shivering and hoping against hope he didn’t have a place in whatever was going on out there.  Part of him hoped Tamaki would finally kill Ruki, end her and do whatever he wanted as long as Dav was free.  Then the chip in his skull would do something or another and it was all the young merc could do not to double over in pain, forcing a whole other part to hope Ruki would decapitate that rat bastard Tamaki then live happily ever after with the data she recovered from his bloody corpse.


         Moments passed on slowly in the far corner of Dardel where Tamaki had decided to park his ship.  Somebody was yelling off orders at the end of the corridor, but the words couldn’t be identified.  Things had gone downhill, that’s all Dav knew.  That and he was supposed to be the last ditch effort should Tamaki somehow make it through everything and find his way back to his ship.


         Suddenly the lights brightened and the Frentan flinched, shielding his eyes from the bright white and grey corridor.  He heard a strange noise off at the end of the hall, much like a whoosh of air.  Then a long, uncomfortable silence.  No gunshots, no yelling orders, nothing.  He squinted, blinking rapidly as he tried to make out anything coming his way.


         Seconds passed by and his eyes adjusted to the light.  The blast door slid open and a  figure ran through, one hand clutching his side, the other a weapon with a flame at it’s tip.  Dav noticed a cigar at his lips and finally he recognized Tamaki, bloodied, pale, wearing a tattered grey coat and looking determined as hell.


         The dual blasters slid into the merc’s hands as Tamaki caught sight of him and paused, recognition coming to his face.  Dav raised the weapons and fired, over and over as fast as if he were holding an automatic, his jaw clenched partially from fear, partially from determination.  Tamaki, wounded as it were, was still fast, however.  The large man flattened himself against some alcove formed by a doorway so quickly Dav wasn’t sure he’d even once hit him.  Trying for an angle, Dav moved to the side of the corridor, still firing.  Cornered, Tamaki was quick to do the inevitable.


         Kenshi Tamaki was fast.  Not as frighteningly quick as Ruki, but even so.  He made his tactical decision fast.  He rolled out of that alcove fast.  He popped up his weapon fast.  He pulled the trigger fast.


         To Davnick it all happened in slow motion and there was nothing he could do to stop it.  He watched as the small flame erupted from the nozzle of the gun Tamaki was holding, leaping toward him in a large, corridor-wide spurt.  The room wasn’t so cold anymore.  He’d even stopped shivering.


         As the flames engulfed him, Dav looked calmly onto Tamaki who looked just as calmly back.  For a second he felt nothing and that, perhaps, was his greatest mercy.  No headaches or cold.  Just that one second of calm and thought.


         ‘Lady Luck met her match,’ Davnick decided in that second.  Then his eyes were gone, burned away in the flames, and the second of painlessness ended abruptly to erupt into pure, hellish torture.  He screamed and the fire was in his mouth, sucking the air from him.  His arms tried to flail, his body tried to roll, to put out the fire around him, but he couldn’t even feel himself moving.


         Then there was nothing.


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


         “I won’t warn you again!  Put your hands on the floor then lay face-down!  Now!” the apparent team leader yelled.


         ‘This is so many kinds of bad idea,’ Kenshi thought, his heart racing in his chest.  He grabbed the nozzle of the flamethrower, held it up to the cigar between his lips and lit the flame.  It started up first try and Kenshi puffed at the cigar, pulling in some small relaxation from the brown stick of tobacco in his mouth.  ‘Not bad,’ he couldn’t help but think.  A mild spice.


         For the first time since reentering the room he looked around.  Soldiers were everywhere, a dozen or more weapons laid out against him, ready to fire the second the command was given.


         ‘Come on, hasn’t it been five minutes?’  A small chill went through him when he realized the lights might not even work any longer and he glared at the man who’d spoken to him.  It would be a losing fight, taking on all these men in the position he was in.  Probably a short one, as well.


         Then the lights came on and he reacted instantly.  Mostly blind, Kenshi triggered the flamethrower and blew a long path of fire along the floor before sprinting for his ship.  A single soldier stood between him and the corridor and, though the man seemed to have his eyesight in working order, he panicked, fiddled with his weapon in an attempt to get it up.  By then, however, it was too late and Kenshi sent him to unconsciousness with a quick slap of the flamethrower before passing him and entering the far corridor.


         Turning around as he entered, Kenshi let off another jet of fire, blocking his retreat.  He turned again, wincing as he did so.  The wound in his side was numb with pain and now that the adrenaline had worn down he felt it throb with every heartbeat and every step he took.  Clutching it, he continued running.


         ‘Gonna be a long trip out,’ he thought.  ‘This damn thing in my side’s got me exhausted already, but these assholes must’ve tracked me.  Until I figure out what’s what I’m not gonna have time to rest and heal.’  Kenshi grimaced at the thought, taking another puff at his cigar in some attempt to keep his calm.


         Pushing past the last doorway, it took him a moment to realize another figure stood in the corridor.  ‘The black-clad man from Haqnen II,’ he recognized, coming to a stop, and with further surprise saw the man leveling a pair of pistols at him.  ‘Fuck,’ he thought, throwing himself against the edge of the blast door, his side burning all the more.  Lasers danced across the bright metallic corridor, pinning him to his cover.


         ‘If this sonofa bitch gets an angle on me I won’t be able to get my gun up in time,’ he quickly realized.  Gritting his teeth, Kenshi pushed off the wall into a kneel and opened up his flamethrower fully on the man.  The man in black didn’t stand a chance.


         Flames engulfed him fully until he looked little more than a black silhouette surrounded by fire.  The man screamed horribly and, flailing, ran straight into a wall before falling to the ground and laying still.  Kenshi took a moment to look at the charred man then, puffing at his cigar, stood up and walked the rest of the way to his ship.


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


         It was cooling well inside Kenshi’s ship, though Alanya couldn’t tell whether she was shivering due to the cold or because of the faint explosions sounding off somewhere in the distance.  When the explosions stopped the shivering didn’t and the second princess was left with a whole other fear.


         ‘Is he dead?’ she thought, hugging her knees.  ‘Did something happen?  Am I alone now?’  The though should’ve given her comfort, she knew.  Her captor of sorts gone, her freedom won back easier than she herself had taken it away.  Things were never so simple unfortunately.


         She remembered the alley, the mobsters and the attempted rape.  There were the meals together and the weapon training.  The dance in the ballroom.  Despite whatever lies he’d told, she had to admit Kenshi had been her friend and at that moment she was deathly afraid he’d gone from her, as quickly and surprisingly as he’d come to her.


         Minutes passed and then there was a scream, horrible, perhaps in part because it was so nearby.  Alanya looked at the door expectantly and wasn’t disappointed when, seconds later, Kenshi stumbled in and looked at her.


         “Did anyone come aboard?” he rasped and she quickly saw how beat up he looked.  “Did you hear anyone at all?”


         “N-no.” she said, shaking her head.  The large man nodded and left the room and she followed.  In the cockpit he threw down some strange weapon she’d never seen before then plopped himself into the pilot’s chair and she followed suit in the seat behind him.  A viewscreen came to life around them, the consoles all lighting up and she heard the ship quietly start up.


         “Fuck,” he whispered and it didn’t take much to see why he’d said it.  The ships were small, but readily visible and numerous and she could easily see two larger ships in the distance.  Kenshi flipped a switch and the radio started spitting out some authoritative voice.


         “...be given proper leniency.  I repeat, do not attempt to fight your way out.  You are surrounded.  Come out with Princess Alanya and the information and give yourself to the authorities and you will be given proper leniency.  I repeat...”  The radio clicked back off.


         “Things went sour,” Kenshi said, his rasp harder than usual.  “This might drag on longer than I thought.”


         “It’s ok,” she replied quietly and, grunting, Kenshi turned to look at her above the oversized console.  She couldn’t look him in the eye, he was so pale, sickly and gruff at that moment.  After a moment he nodded and turned back.


         “Brace yourself.  This is gonna be rough.”


         The ship disengaged from the space station, floated away a second or two then accelerated fast, pushing the princess hard back into her seat.  Around her she saw red lights dashing around them and realized the other ships were firing on them.  That didn’t last long, fortunately.  After a moment the lights stopped and no chase was issued, as if they couldn’t even see them despite passing close to several of the ships.


         Further they flew away until the stars flashed by and Alana recognized they had entered hyperspace.  The pair sat like that for a long minute, watching the stars streak across the screen.  Eventually Kenshi stood up and the princess saw, for the first time, the bloody gash in his side.  She gasped.


         “Don’t worry ‘bout it,” he said, passing her.  Alanya followed once more.


         “What happened?”


         “Ruki and the MMC.  Somehow they’re tracking us.”  They entered the living room and Kenshi pulled off his jacket, pressing it hard to his side as he fell into the couch.


         “So what now?”  Kenshi paused a long moment before answering and when he did she couldn’t help biting her lip worriedly.


         “I don’t know.”


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


         ‘He’s gotta be absolutely nuts,’ Preesly thought, watching the large fighter separate from Dardel.  ‘There’s no way he could make it out.’


         Even as he thought it fighters surrounding the strange ship opened fire.  By then, however, the thing was rocketing off at a blinding speed and it took a moment for Preesly to realize how exactly he’d lost sight of Tamaki.


         “The damn ship’s a mirror,” he said to Nell over the radio.  “Nothing on radar yet the thing’s mirroring everything around it.”


         “Not even the thrusters appear,” Nell agreed.  “Kenshi Tamaki has access to advanced resources.”  It explained why nobody had successfully tracked the man in the past.  Still, it left a question on how the hell Burlai was keeping tabs on him.


         “Do you have anything to track him with?  Anything at all?” Preesly asked.


         “No.  He is invisible to all equipment I have,” Nell said and Preesly let out a dozen curses in his head, wracking his brain for options.


         ‘What might be able to find him, keep his ship visible?  It doesn’t show up on thermal, radar, or visible light spectrums.  What about other light spectrums?  The mirror could bounce that off as well, though.  Exhaust patterns, maybe, but it obviously doesn’t use any conventional system so I have no idea where we’d need to start off.  How the hell do you track an invisible ship?’


         A pretty blonde with an accent came to mind and, despite himself, Preesly grinned.


         ‘I don’t know, but I think I know who might,’ he thought.  Looking at Nell he said, “Set your coordinates for White Sun.  I got an idea.”