A/n: I've wanted to write a fic for quite some time where Mahad is forced to think about why Cortes yells at him all the time. I mean, REALLY forced. That boy just doesn't seem to learn, and it may just be the fact the series/writing of the series doesn't want to go much of anywhere, but it seems he'd just need something really big to get him thinking. Thick head. I love Mahad really.... Anyway, read on! And please review!
" … can't... hear you… breaking up…" Mahad flicked the switch on his overhead console, cutting the sound of Cortes' voice out from his immediate surroundings. He sighed. Peace and quiet. Well, not for long. But it would be a sound he would enjoy – the sound of weapons fire and whining patrollers as they fell from the sky, no match for his superior piloting skills.
Mahad grinned as he felt his heart begin to pound, and the adrenaline fill his veins. He increased the Hyperion's speed, almost in sync with his own body's excitement. The first patroller came into view, and Mahad sent his weapons smashing into the side of the ships body.
The enemy ship listed to its side, and the two other patrollers in the area came rushing at him. What does Cortes know? Mahad scowled as he gave chase. Who cares if they're close to this bloc? There's only three. There's no way they'll go back to tell the Sphere about it. Not with me after them.
Mahad spun the Hyperion gracefully through the bloc's airspace. He'd finish the patrollers off before the Saint Nazaire got close enough to engage any. If Cortes would even allow the larger ship to fight.
At that moment, he heard an explosion behind him. The first patroller he'd damaged earlier still couldn't attack him, but now it had sent a barrage into the side of the nearby bloc.
"What!? Hey!" Mahad shouted, whirling his ship around. The bloc hadn't even attacked it! He set his own weapons to pummel the side of the S22. After a few seconds, it exploded. But the damage to the bloc – and the houses perched on the cliff face in the line of fire – had already been done.
Mahad turned on the other patrollers, blasting them without mercy so they wouldn't have a chance to do the same.
----
It was all over in a few minutes. Mahad docked the Hyperion, and got ready to step outside. The Saint Nazaire was just coming into dock behind him. Mahad looked down at his console and saw the light on the radio flashing, indicating a transmission was coming through. Cortes probably just wanted to yell at him. It didn't matter, because he'd already despatched the patrollers. What did the Captain have to be mad about?
Mahad sighed and opened the Hyperion's hatch. He could see some of the townspeople heading towards the two ships. Well, he'd be grateful too; who knew what those patrollers would have done if he hadn't destroyed them?
He thought he heard Cortes' voice, shouting at him from the Saint Nazaire. He couldn't make out what he was saying, and resisted the urge to turn around. Cortes could shove it.
"Hey, no need to…" Mahad was cut short as a boy a little bit taller than him came to a halt in front of him, drew back a fist and punched him in the jaw. Mahad dropped to the ground.
"You freaking idiot! You set that patroller right on us! My sister was still in our house!"
Mahad was immediately crowded by a rush of people. The people he thought had come to thank him. He scooted backwards, trying to get out of their way, but still too dizzy and now too scared to stand up. What had he done? He'd been trying to help!
"Everyone, just calm down!" shouted a strong female voice. It came from somewhere back in the crowd. Most of the people seemed to listen to this person, stepping away from Mahad.
The boy who'd hit him didn't seem to have heard, and still advanced on Mahad. Until the woman who had spoken grabbed him by the shoulder and pulled him back.
Mahad felt someone grab him from behind, and jumped. It was only Dahlia. She pulled him up and back, and Mahad realised the rest of the pirates had made it down from the Saint Nazaire. He'd been so freaked out he hadn't realised. "I…"
"For goodness sakes," Dahlia whispered loudly, "don't you think it would be a good idea to keep your mouth shut?"
"Don't you get it; he killed my sister!" the boy shouted. The woman pushed him back into the arms of an older man in the crowd. "Not now, alright?"
She turned to Mahad and the pirates, her eyes angry. "Cortes, I presume?"
Cortes gave a single nod. "Aye."
"Catherine. The leader of this bloc. I thought we had an understanding? This is our airspace. You don't let your pirates," here, she looked at Mahad for the briefest of moments, "open fire in it. And far less set the Sphere upon us!"
"We do have an understanding," Cortes growled. "He… disobeyed my orders…" He wouldn't look at Mahad.
Mahad almost wished he would. The other boy's words were still ringing in his ears. Someone got killed. The boy had stopped looking like he wanted to knock Mahad down again right there. He was shuddering in the man's arms that held him and looked like he was going into shock.
There were a few men and women in uniform gathering now. They had their eyes on the crowd, and their weapons on the pirates. One of the men walked up to Catherine and whispered something in her ear. She closed her eyes briefly and nodded. When she opened them again, she was staring hard and cold at Cortes. "It's just been confirmed. The Sphere attack has killed two people. Unless they find more."
"Catherine, I'm sorry, if you need any help…"
"We don't need your help," the woman growled. "But you listen to me. Your pirate was in our airspace. He broke our laws. If he didn't attack, those Sphere patrollers wouldn't have opened fire on our bloc and killed my people!" her voice rose slightly. She drew in a breath, calming herself. "You know our laws, Cortes…"
"He didn't kill anyone…" Cortes growled. "The Sphere did."
"His actions caused the death of at least two of my people," Catherine snapped. "Our laws are clear. He must die."
Mahad drew in a sharp breath. "What!?" He drew back, bumping up against Dahlia.
"What?" Lena exclaimed, "You can't do that!" Her hands began to glow with blue energy.
Almost immediately, all the uniformed men and women keeping watch raised their weapons.
"Lena!" Cortes shouted. "Stop it!"
"But…"
"We're already in enough trouble because of not listening to what I say! We can work this out, but not like this!"
Lena let her hands drop.
"Catherine," Cortes turned back to the bloc's leader. "He's just a boy. He doesn't deserve to die…"
"Our laws…"
"I know. But I want to work this out. No guns, no hostility. Let's you and me discuss this."
"You think you can change my mind?"
"I'm just asking you to hear me out."
Catherine finally nodded. "Alright. We'll talk. Come with me."
"Mahad and everyone else don't get harmed until we return. Got it?"
Catherine nodded. "Of course. Take them to the holding facility. Don't harm them," she ordered her men. "Come with me," she said again to Cortes.
Cortes looked at Mahad then, only briefly, then turned and followed the woman.
Mahad shuddered under that brief look. It contained a thinly veiled rage, which scared him all the more because it was blatantly obvious Cortes didn't want him to get hurt. Yet he was still angry. Mahad was pressed back against Dahlia, and didn't want to move. Cortes wasn't the only thing scaring him. Everything had happened so fast. He was going to die, and it wasn't even the Sphere that wanted to kill him.
----
They'd been waiting in the holding facility now for nearly two hours. At first, Mahad had been pacing, but now he simply sat down on one of benches to the side. Lena was next to him, and perhaps the only reason he forced himself to keep his fear under control.
"I didn't mean to hurt anyone…" he finally blurted it out. It was at least the fourth time he'd done so, as if he needed to convince someone, or at least himself.
"We know, Mahad," said the Vector, giving him a slight smile from across the cell. Even so, the old man himself seemed frightened. They had a massively overpowered pirate ship just sitting outside, but in this situation, it did them little good.
A uniform stepped into the cells then, and the bloc's leader Catherine came in after him.
The pirates all stood up, though Mahad hung back, scared for his life as he was.
Catherine looked at them all for a moment, her hands clasped behind her back, saying nothing. Her eyes rested on Mahad.
Mahad swallowed; he could swear she was trying to frighten him on purpose.
"Well?" the Vector asked eventually.
"We came to an agreement," said Catherine. "The incident wasn't the boy's fault. He's free to go. You're all free to go."
Mahad broke into a grin. "Alright!"
"Mahad!" Lena grinned. She tackled her brother in a hug, and Mahad spun her around himself.
"Why?" the Vector asked sharply.
His tone caused Mahad and Lena's excitement to dim. They turned and faced the front of the cell.
"You wouldn't just let him go without punishment; why?"
"Cortes and I agreed it wasn't his fault," she repeated. "He is under Cortes' command and he didn't follow Cortes' orders. It is the Captain's responsibility to make sure his crew obey his orders. This, he failed at, and this is what caused the death of my people."
"Wait…" said Mahad. "What are you saying?"
"I'm saying, as I said before, that you are free to go. But Cortes will bear the death penalty."
