The BlackHawk Saga Part 7:
New Generations
a Phantasy Star Online Fanfiction
by
M_BlackHawk
He walked through the halls of the Ranger academy, making his way through the sprawling complex that was an entire ship of Pioneer 2's immigrant fleet, the academy ship known as Rykros, now turned into the new Hunter Academy in Pioneer City. He had dreamed of becoming a ranger since his mother told him stories of his father's time as a member of this organization. However, he was also told of the circumstances of his father's end.
"Your father gave his own life," he remembers her saying, "to insure that we all can live free. Don't let his sacrifice be in vain." His eyes narrow as he thinks to himself of the people that brought about that sacrifice, the criminal organization known as Black Paper.
Suddenly, the now 20 year old RAmar feels a tap on his shoulder. It's his friend, Gareth, another RAmar in the academy. "So," the young man says, "Want to hit the range and burn some powder?"
"I still find it funny you use those old addages, Gareth" the student ranger says, with a bit of a grin, "But I'll catch up later. I want to check out the Hunters' training grounds, and see who just may be our partners for the finals."
"Ok, Xander," Gareth replies, nodding, "I'll see you later." That said, Gareth runs off to the range as Xander walks on toward the Hunter training grounds. He emerges on the training field, where he notices people practicing their skills with sword, partisan, twinsabers, and other hunter weapons. He spotted one HUmar making substantial progress with a gungnir, but still left a lot to be desired.
It was about five minutes later that he spotted her. A HUnewearl with long, dark brown hair, wearing the yellow outfit that is usually part of the HUnewearl's issued wardrobe. She held in her hand a katana. Her moves seemed like some sort of intricate dance of footwork and slashes.
In awe of her skill, he continued to watch.
He noticed how fluid her motions were, and how the katana seemed to be a part of her body with each move. He noticed how quickly, and efficiently she seemed to attack with her choice weapon, and he marveled.
In awe of her movement, he continued to watch.
He still watched as she ended her almost dance-like training. He watched how she silently and slowly put the steel sword back in its scabbard. It was then that he noticed her frame. Her stature not at all masking a very attractive young woman. Her hair didn't move as she hung the sword and sheath on her belt. He watched her pick up a towel off the training mat and wipe the sweat off her face, but she didn't turn around.
In awe of her beauty, he continued to watch.
She had started to walk to a teleporter from the academy to the residential Sector. He followed her from the training grounds, and now walked the streets of the district known as "Mota". He started to hide behind a tree as she stopped in the middle of the sidewalk.
"You can approach me," she said, turning around and showing a pair of emerald green eyes, and a smile to stop traffic, "I won't bite."
Xander gulped once, and walked up to the young HUnewearl. "So," he said, quietly, "How long have you been training with a saber?"
"My dad started training me when I was five," she explains, "I wanted to be a hunter ever since hearing him and my mom talking about their missions here on Ragol."
"So, it runs in the family?" he asks.
"Yeah, except for my sister," she tells him, "She's studying at the force academy. We love her anyway." She laughs a little as she walks on. Her laugh is so contageous that Xander starts to laugh, too. "What about you?" she asks, "What prompted you to become a ranger?"
"I guess the same thing that made you want to be a hunter," Xander explains, "My mom kept telling me of my father's missions as a ranger. Then, she told me about how he died. He sacrificed himself to keep her, my sister, and me free from Black Paper."
"I think I remember Dad and my uncle, Seifer, talking about that organization. I thought they were done for already."
"I don't know about that," Xander answers, "But I do know that it made me want to be a ranger, so that I could possibly live up to that kind of name. By the way, what's your name?"
"Jessica," she tells him, "Jessica BlackHawk. You?"
"Xander," he replies, "Xander McAllister."
The two continue to walk the streets of the residential district, until they come to Jessica's home, in Skyly sector. Xander gives her a smile as he walks on toward his own place, in Bluefull sector.
next morning
Jessica was up early, and gone before her sister. Her father, Mike BlackHawk, had wondered what had gotten into her, until he saw the RAmar come to the front door to pick her up. He smiled a bit before coming downstairs for a cup of coffee and breakfast.
"Looks like Jessie set out early for the academy," Lara noted as Mike came into the kitchen, "and with that young man, too. I wonder who he is?"
"Well, I'm sure she'll introduce us sooner or later," the HUmar father tells his wife, "and if she's happy, that's all I really care about."
Lara just nodded as the vid-phone rang. "It's Jim Morgan," she advises her husband, "Maybe something important." Mike grabs his coffee and activates the communication device.
"About time you picked up, Mike," came the voice of Brig. General James Morgan, "Is now a bad time to come over?"
"Well, I just woke up," BlackHawk explains, "but we've got nothing going on right now. What's up?"
"Just some information that a little 'Songbird' happened to tell me," Morgan notes to his friend, "and it's important."
"Ok. Come on over."
Jessica had come to the academy with Xander this morning,only to find that the final would be a teamwork drill. She and Xander would be paired with a force in order to pass through a VR simulation.
"I wonder who our force will be," Xander thinks out loud, "I hope this person's pretty powerful."
A young FOmarl with sandy brown hair runs up to the group of students. "Just barely made it," she says, winded.
"You could have walked with us, Rhiana" Jessica tells her younger sister, "it looks like you're paired with those two androids over there." Jess points to a HUcast and a RAcaseal sitting over in the corner, watching the group, then looks again at the pairings.
"Doesn't look like we have a force partner," Xander comments, "Maybe there's a shortage of forces as of late."
"No, the force academy is having plenty of luck in recruiting," Rhiana tells Xander, "I guess this class is just not as big as the hunter or ranger class."
"Maybe," Jessie thinks, "We'll see. Besides, Xander, we'll manage. I'm pretty good with techs, too."
"I'm sure," the RAmar nods, "I'm ready when you are."
"What's all this about, Jim?" Mike BlackHawk asks as he sits in his living room with the now Brigadier General from military intelligence.
"Well, you remember Black Paper, right?" Morgan asks, "The organization you and the Angelus brothers took down back in the caves?"
"Yeah," BlackHawk thinks out loud, "We've not heard anything from that group in years. We thought they were done for."
"No," the general tells his friends, "Just restructuring. The main player, Black Paper himself, was always a shadow. No one knew who he was..until now."
"you found out?"
"Yeah, and man will you be surprised."
Jess and Xander had entered the VR simulation chamber, and their test had begun. Their surroundings looked like a huge temple. Jess started off by casting a Shifta and Deband, empowering herself and her partner. The pair then proceeded into the temple area, where they were met by their first challenge, a laser fence that stretched some ten feet up. Xander looks over at Jess and holds his hands down at his knees. Jess ran at her RAmar partner and he boosted her jump over the fence. She then hit a switch that deactivated the fence, but spawned a number of dimenians.
Xander grabbed his mechguns out of their holsters, taking aim. Jessica pulled her Agito from its scabbard, and rushed headlong at the monsters, while Xander proved quite useful in covering her with the machine guns. In mere moments, the monsters were finished off, and the pair continued on through their test.
"So you're telling me that Black Paper is some sort of shadow organization within the military?" the HUmar swordsman asks of his soldier friend
"More than that. General of the Army, Carl Hienrickson, is the mastermind of this thing," Morgan explains, "He uses the fear of Black Paper's criminal acts to keep getting funding for his plans. Even Tyrell fears this guy. He's bad news."
"Sounds like it," Mike nods, "What can we do for you?"
"Nothing right now," Morgan notes, "But, do you remember my old partner, Blaine McAllister?"
"Yeah," BlackHawk replies, "He killed himself in the caves to keep the Black Hound from getting to his family."
"His son is now in the Ranger Academy," Morgan tells his old friend, "Xander's a good kid, but I don't want him getting mixed up in this mess."
"So, don't tell him about Blaine's death."
"Too late," Morgan sighs, "His mother already did. That's why he's in the Ranger school."
"Great. We'll do what we can to keep him out of this mess for a while."
Jessica and Xander stood on a raft, with the wilting corpse of a manta ray looking creature hung onto the side. Suddenly, their surroundings turned into a black room with numerous boxes of gold lines. Their test was over.
"Congratulations," a voice boomed in the room, "You two passed the test with flying colors. Sorry for not having a force partner for you, but the class in the force academy was 1 member short than the ranger and hunter classes."
Jessica hugged her partner and new friend and the two exited the room, to be met by Guildmaster Tyler Clark. "Jessica, you're already an active hunter, having worked on your past few missions with your family," Clark begins, "But Xander McAllister, welcome to the Hunter's Guild. You're in Viridia section." Clark then places a green symbol in Xander's armor.
"Guys," Clark then says, "I have an urgent mission for you two, and only you two. There's been rumors of a rogue HUcast running around killing people in the residential district, Mota, and in the governmental district. I want you two to find him and...disassemble him."
"Got any information on him?" Jessica asks, "Fighting style? Known Weapons? a picture?"
"It's all on this disk," Clark says, handing the HUnewearl the disk, "Look it over, and be ready. Your quest begins in the morning."
Jessica and Xander nod at each other, before giving Clark a salute, and walking toward the BlackHawk home, where they would go over the information at hand.
Skyly Sector – BlackHawk Home – 2 hours later.
Jess and Xander had gone back to her home, where the two now poured over the information on the disc given to them by Guildmaster Clark. The information at hand told of an android killing machine that was skilled with a scythe.
"Look at all this," Xander thinks out loud, "This thing must have been around for years. Why are they just now sending people after it?"
"I guess he's been quiet for a while," Jessica answers, "It seems this guy is responsible for the kidnapping of several hunters, and the death of a soldier in the military."
An image flashed on the screen, of a purple colored HUcast with a demonic looking scythe in hand, and blades molded into his arms. A 3d rendering of the android later shows a weld in his back, apparently an impromptu repair from a sword slash.
"This information says that while this HUcast isn't very skilled with his weapon, his strength is incredible," Xander notes, "Of course, this information could be rather old. He may have had time to improve during his hiatus."
Elsewhere, Mike and Lara BlackHawk discussed the conversation they had with their friend earlier. Morgan had told them most of what he had learned about Black Paper through his program.
"So, Blaine McAllister's son is now in the guild?" Lara asks.
"Apparently," Mike answers, "And his mother told him what she knew about Blaine's death. I may want to talk to him later this evening."
"What will you say?"
Mike looks over at the box on the dresser. He opens up the lid and pulls out a raygun. "Remember this?" he asks his wife, "It's the handgun I took with me on that quest. I'm thinking of giving this to Xander. He needs to know what happened." Lara nods, while Mike puts the small gun back in its box.
Xander made his way upstairs from the computer room. He ran his hand through his auburn hair, going over the information he and Jessica had just reviewed. The mental image of that purple HUcast still fresh on his mind. "How do you fight something like that?" he asks himself out loud.
"With heart, soul, and steel," comes a voice behind him. The RAmar turns around to find Mike BlackHawk standing there, holding a box under his arm.
"Mr. BlackHawk, how long have you been standing there?"
"Long enough," Mike answers, "You headed home?"
"Yeah, I just want to keep this information fresh on my mind. Have you heard of a HUcast called 'Kireek the Black Hound'?"
Mike's eyes narrow as he hears the name. "Yeah," he replies, "I fought him several years ago. Is that your mission? To take on Kireek?"
"Guildmaster Clark gave Jess and me the mission," Xander explains, "What do you know of him?"
"Everything that was recorded about Kireek," Mike tells the young man, "came from my experience fighting that android. He's a killing machine, Xander, plain and simple. That scythe only makes him more dangerous, granted he actually repaired it."
"Repaired the scythe?"
Mike explains about the battle with Kireek that he fought back in the caves. Xander listened intently, taking mental notes as the elder HUmar continued his story. Mike goes on to explain about how Kireek was involved with the Black Paper organization.
"Thank you, Mr. BlackHawk," Xander says, "Jess and I can handle it from here. Thanks for the information."
"Xander," Mike tells the young man, "Hold up for a minute. I want you to have this."
He pulls a raygun from the box under his arm, handing it to Xander, "If you're going to take on the Black Hound, carry this gun with you."
"I'm pretty good with handguns and mechs," Xander explains, "But what's with this gun?"
Mike goes on to tell Xander all he knew of Blaine McAllister's situation, and about how that particular Raygun was used by the Ranger to take his own life, so that Black Paper wouldn't get to his family. Xander looks down at the gun, and then sets it in his holster.
"Thank you, Mr. BlackHawk," Xander tells the HUmar, "I know what to do."
"Good luck, Xander, and good hunting."
Unknown Location.
A HUcast stood in front of a desk in a dimly lit office. Behind it sat a human man, with his hands crossed in front of him, casually. "I understand your frustration, my android apprentice," the human tells his visitor, "Soon, your quarry will come for you. I've taken steps to insure that he will."
"What steps?" the android asks
"His own daughter has been assigned to hunt you down," the human explains, "If his profile and track record are correct, then he'll show up as well. And don't worry about that ranger that she's with. I'll deal with him myself."
"Understood, my master," the HUcast answers, "I fight the daughter and the father will come running."
Jessica met up with Xander that next morning, after going back over her information packet in the computer room. The night before, after Xander left, she learned more about their quarry, Kireek the Black Hound, from her father, who told her what he knew of the android. This morning, she met up with Xander at the guild and they started their investigation. Their first stop was at the precinct of the meager police force, where they spoke to the officer in charge of the case, a mere leiutenant.
"There've been absolutely no witnesses," the cop explains,"And apparently, his kills are around Skyly sector of Mota. I think the guy's looking for someone."
"I'm seeing that pattern, too," Jessica thinks out loud, reading hard copies of the files, "Officer, look at this picture. These slash marks aren't made by a partisan." She points out one picture to the cop. "These marks were made in close proximity to each other, and there's a lot of them, A partisan slash would slice someone in two in no time. If this is the same HUcast, then he must have decided to use the Sinow blades molded into his arms, instead of the scythe."
"I think I can leave him up to you," Xander tells Jessica, "But this file the cops have on Kireek is amazing. Black Paper must have had him built to kill."
"That's what I'm thinking," the HUnewearl replies, "If Dad could beat him, though. I'm thinking I can too...unless he's been training all these years." Jessica then hands the officer his files back. "Thanks," She tells the cop, "That'll come in handy. Now we'll be searching Mota for this guy."
Elsewhere, Mike BlackHawk was standing in the training room when Lara and Rhiana walked in on him. "Is something on your mind, Honey?" His wife asks, watching him reach for the katana on the mantle.
"I was just thinking about something," Mike answers, "Jess and Xander are going after Kireek. The only reason they're on this mission is because I didn't kill him back in the caves. I'm going out there and finishing what I started. I can't let Jessica face that android."
"She has gotten stronger lately, Dad," Rhiana notes, "When we were in the ruins, and against Trialos, she was vital to our victory."
"I know, Rhiana," the HUmar swordsman and father tells his youngest daughter, "But Kireek has had over 15 years to better his skills, a lot like Stalker did. This isn't Trialos she's facing. Kireek was a challenge to me, even back then. If he's gotten stronger, and his skill has improved, then I'm going to have to face him, with everything I've got, and I can't let her fight my battles for me." That said, Mike BlackHawk reached for the katana on the dias.
"I see you finally found me," the android said as the two youngsters stood facing their quarry, "Soon, my vengeance will be complete."
"Not quite, Kireek," Jessica BlackHawk tells the android, while casting Shifta and Deband on herself and Xander, "We're taking you down. Xander, cover me."
"Gotcha, Jessie," Xander replies, drawing his raygun from the holster, "Let's see just how fast this guy is." The Ranger fired off a volley of shots, which the android blocked with his scythe.
The volley of handgun shots, though, gave Jessica the time she needed to rush right past Kireek, and stop, spinning around and drawing her agito in the process. Her attack hits the android in the back, slicing into the Black Hound's metal frame. Kireek turned around, hitting Jessica with the shaft of the partisan, knocking her backwards. Xander fired again when the HUcast's back was turned, nailing the android in the legs. Kireek brought the scythe up to strike at Jessica with an overhead slash, which she rolled out of the way of, before jumping back up. She then notices the damage that she and Xander dealt out had regenerated, somehow.
"This guy doesn't seem to be taking the least amount of damage from our attacks," Xander tells his friend, "What now?"
"We pray we have the strength to finish the job," Jessica notes as Kireek turns toward the two.
The android starts to rush the two hunters as a streak of black and gold passes him. The Scythe is sliced in half from an unseen attack.
"My master was right," Kireek says, turning around to see Mike BlackHawk standing there behind him, "If I face your family, you come running."
"I started this fight years ago, Kireek," BlackHawk responds, "And I'll finish it. Jessica, Xander, get out of here. Lara should be here soon, to explain what's going on. We'll go on from there, as soon as Kireek's finished."
Jessica noticed one thing that no one else on the battlefield did. Instead of his normal red uniform, her father's outfit had changed. This one was almost entirely black, except for the golden image of a dragon's head on the shield arm. She then spotted the katana in her father's hand. "Good luck, Dad," she said as she grabbed Xander's arm and the two took off.
"You can't finish me off so easily," Kireek told his opponent, "Not with the skills you showed me last time we fought."
"I've gotten stronger since then, Kireek," Mike informed the android, "And your scythe is no longer a threat. Let's see just how skilled you are."
"I don't need the soul eater to kill you. I've got one better. A Katana of my own, that's more powerful than that scythe." The Android pulls out a katana of his own with a dark glow on the blade. "This," he explains, "is the Yamigarasu." That said, the android rushed headlong at his HUmar opponent. He slashed laterally at Mike, which sent the HUmar into the air.
"You'll regret doing that," BlackHawk told Kireek as he descended toward his opponent. Flames seemed to engluf the hunter's blade as he brought it down upon Kireek's shoulder. The flaming blade melted the android's hull around where the slash hit. The slash also hit Kireek's power unit, which caused the android to explode. Two items fell at Mike's feet. First was the sword, which Mike decided to store away in a safe place, should it not fall into the wrong hands again. The second item was the android's memory unit, which held all it's visual memory files. "This should be handy," Mike thinks as he picks up the memory unit, "I'll take this back to the house and see if we can use it."
Elsewhere, Jessica and Xander ran into Lara, who was making good time catching up to her husband. "Mom," Jess yelled out, "What in the world is going on? Dad never uses the Hiryu no Ken anymore."
"It's Kireek," Lara explains, "We know a few more things about Black Paper than you do, thanks to a friend of ours. Let's get back to the house and Your father and I will explain what we know."
"Ok," Xander says, "If Mr. BlackHawk's finished off Kireek, then what's left to do?"
"We take on Black Paper himself," a voice says behind Xander. Xander and Jessica turn around to see Mike walking up behind them, "We can use this visual memory chip to access Kireek's memory. That, along with what we can gain from Morgan should give us credible evidence against Black Paper."
"Do you know who he is, though, Dad? No one knows who Black Paper really is."
"Oh, I think I do, honey," Mike tells his eldest daughter, "However, this won't be a direct battle yet. Xander, I know you want to finish him off to honor your father, but please, give it time. He'll come to us."
"I understand," Xander resonds, "And I can be patient. Either way, Black Paper will fall."
Unknown Location
A lone human sat at his desk, looking over the video footage from a surveillance camera on the Mota. "He has gotten stronger," he thinks, "The nanomachine repairs we used on Kireek weren't enough to kill him. We'll have to find another way." He then taps a button on the desk, and a voice comes from a speaker.
"Yes sir?"
"Get me Damian Marks," he tells the voice, "I have a mission for him."
Skyly Sector – BlackHawk Home.
Elsewhere, at the BlackHawk home, Mike and Lara had called James Morgan over to explain to Xander what they were planning.
"You see," Mike explains, after putting the Hiryu no Ken back on the dias in his training room, "We not only have to deal with Heinrickson, but also Tyrell. It's Tyrell that's giving Heinrickson so much power."
"We're gathering evidence," Morgan continues, "through a program I started in intelligence back before we left Coral, called 'Songbird'."
"So," Xander thinks out loud, looking over at Jessica, "You believe that this mission we were handed at the guild was a ruse to draw you out." He then stood and walked over to Mike, face to face. "Then tell me this," the RAmar asks, "What will we do against Black Paper, and when?"
"It's a complicated matter," Mike tells the youngster, "But I believe if we defeat Tyrell in the elections coming up, then we have a chance of taking out a large portion of Heinrickson's power, the ability to make policy and manipulate the government through fear of his criminal acts."
"And we do have the memory chip from Kireek," Lara says, patting Xander on the shoulder, "That's incriminating against Black Paper himself."
"I can wait," Xander sighs, "But make no mistake. When the time is right, Heinrickson is mine."
"That can be arranged," Mike says, smiling, "Don't worry about it for now, but it is time that someone took a stand against Tyrell and the Black Paper organization. Jim, keep gathering information and evidence. We'll need all we can get."
A few minutes later, Xander was walking back to his home, when Jessica ran up to him. "Xander?" she softly asked, "What's wrong?"
"It's this whole mess," Xander answers, "I don't know if I should be thankful to your father for saving our lives, or resent him for not letting us do the job."
"Dad started the fight against Kireek a long time ago," Jessica answers, "And I saw the Black Hound regenerate from the attacks we had managed to hit him with. If he hadn't gotten involved, we'd probably be dead right now."
"Do you really think we can do anything against Black Paper?"
"I don't know what we can do," the HUnewearl tells her friend, "But we have to try. They've run roughshod for years, and someone has to do something."
"Jessica," Xander says, putting his arm around her waist, "Since we met, I've felt.." He doesn't finish his statement.
"I have too," she replies, "Right now, we need each other more than ever, both in our jobs, and in our lives, it seems. Tell you what. Let's go grab a bite. That fight took a lot out of me."
Xander smiles as the two walk to a teleporter from the Mota, to the main district of the city, where the shopping and entertainment districts await.
Looks like while the fight against Black Paper has only just really begun, there is time for a little peace in between the battles. Especially for Thomas Alexander McAllister, and Jessica Lynn BlackHawk.