"Somehow cross has to win...argh, no! Lost again!"

Even in the turbulences of the warp speed, Wolf kept a cool head. Stars ran past him everywhere; even the "Engine damage!"-warning displayed permanently on the screen wasn't able to worry him, as he knew anyway that the warp drive worked independently of the jet engine. Or it was due to the intellectual Tic-Tac Toe game where he tried for two hours to beat himself. Card games however bored him stiff because he always won there. Certainly because he always drew "purely coincidentally" the right cards. But winning didn't quite work at the former…

His comrades had unhooked themselves already shortly after the departure. Looking into the black for three hours, lined with white stripes, was too boring for them anyhow. After an exhausting and foolhardy escape it was best to put the head down and to sleep. However, one had to remain awake in case of their arrival and so Wolf volunteered for it. One could pass the time in various ways.
Fortunately no obstacles like asteroids seemed to be in their way. Not to think how they would look after a collision far above the speed of light. An "official" warp route to their destination didn't exist and on every system map which Wolf had seen in his life, the planet, or whatever hid behind the question mark, wasn't recorded. All the bigger the mystery about this, was why the entry was in the Venomian databases in the first place. Had Andross' scouts reached into the unknown regions once or had they simply registered the existence of this world and moved? Of course this also could be antiquated data - perhaps the tyrant had even a secret base there, which nobody knew about. And the least which Wolf could need on her flight was a meeting with his stooges.

It was anyway too late now, though, and with the damaged jet engine he wouldn't go far. The warp drive would give up sometimes and he would drift like an oversized piece of stone through space. Not really the kind of death which he preferred.
In the meantime the onboard computer informed him about their arriving soon. Only five minutes, then they would be there. "Finally, it was about time. These cheap productions are extremely uncomfortable," he mumbled, and told his wingmen by radio. When no reaction came, he got considerably louder and after that, frightened voices reached him.
"Wah! Don't yell like this, we're not deaf!" But he only laughed.
"...Wremja sakrytija...dostatotschno...segodnja..."

"Hm? What are you prattling? And why did you ruin the radio?" Wolf asked furiously, after he heard strange-sounding scraps of conversation, accompanied by a horrible hissing out of the loudspeakers. He was convinced that one of them had played around with the radio and obliged his foreign language skills.
But they made themselves out as clueless and Jan told him, "I have no idea what it was, but I listened once to the language of the dinosaurs from dinosaur planet for fun and I believe, it was the same..." If these explanations were actually correct which, however, Wolf doubted strongly, the scientists should deal with a new riddle from this time on: How could dinosaurs with their rather bulky and for crafting unsuitable "hands" build spaceships and where did they get that knowledge?
"...besopasnoi?...weschtschi...Tanki..?"
He had gradually had enough of these jokes. So Wolf murmured, "Can't you talk normally? I must pay attention so that we arrive and not decipher a pseudo-intellectual language!"
"But we didn't say anything!" There he wanted to reprimand them angrily, but was foiled by an interrupting interjection from Moritz.
"Hold on. I think I know from where that comes… Let's wait until we arrive." So the bounty hunter desisted from his plan.

"Arrival in: Five. Four. Three. Two. One."
They were soon afterwards shaken and slowed down abruptly. Wolf hated this part of a warp the most. It was much more comfortable with his Wolfen-flyer than with this cheap scrapheap. No wonder since he outfitted his "Baby", as he called it, with the best equipment one could steal or buy. Which way he preferred?
"Everyone can hand money over to the cashiers, but only pros can come home unrecognized with a 'present'!", as he always liked to say.
Even if the braking was uncomfortable and painful, what they saw out there in front of their eyes compensated more than enough for their expenditures.
An idyllic planet, seemingly untouched by civilization, appeared with its deep blue oceans, large landmasses and curved cloud formations, extremely inviting for lost souls. No doubt, one discerned at first sight the perfect retreat from everyday stresses. All that remained was to hope that the wildlife might be peaceful as well.
The jet engine punctually ceased to function. The yellow color gave way to red and a pestering signal tone got quickly on his nerves. Instead of the usual text was "The engine is absolutely busted. Please call the service number on our homepage, if you are not currently drifting helplessly through space." on the screen now. The same happened to the warp drive. But he didn't need either anymore. Just floating down to the ground and he would stand on solid ground. Because they were directly in orbit, it shouldn't take long.
What was with these voices again?

"It comes from the planet's surface," Moritz explained. "I received radio signals out of the planet's forests. But they are neither Venomian, nor Cornerian frequencies!" Wolf easily heard that the soldier was not at all pleased. Jan took a similar line too, who promptly shouted wild stories about barbarians and mutants. But the headhunter ignored him and, from this time on, paid attention to whether they were still receiving strange messages.
"Ljudi, my dolschny…" Someone spoke again, this time entirely without disturbances, but paused, like he noticed something odd. Then he gave an amused laugh and continued, "Ach u nas jest possetitel! Podgotowleno no naschi priwetstwuija Komiteta, he he he..."
Wolf didn't understand a single word, but according to the voice they were discovered. And what worried him the most: The speaker didn't sound friendly, but malicious. So he decided to warn his wingmen. "Boys, looks like we are not welcome here. Who of you has...hey!"
Interrupted by sudden rattling his mood darkened. "All right, who here is wetting himself at the moment?" In his experience he could determine those sounds as teeth chattering. Of course he knew immediately who it was and roared the name through the radio. "Jan!"
Instantly it stopped.
Exposed, the frightened one tried to justify himself. "I-I am really shit-scared, okay?!
I don't fancy getting slashed by some freaks and handing over my nut for their crappy village!" The soldier let his aversions against him run free once again and soon a battle of words ensued, which frequently went below the belt.
Wolf merely kept himself out and pursued the progress of their landing attentively. Nevertheless Jan's statements set him thinking...

While they dived into the atmosphere and his flyer fell due to the gravity like a stone, the argument ended. He didn't know the reason, but it was not of his concern. His thoughts primarily revolved around how they should react in the case of an attack. They would naturally defend themselves; the next problem, however, would wait at the ground subsequently. Were anti-aircraft guns installed? Maybe ground forces stationed in addition? Besides that, Wolf could only manoeuvre, brake and float. Under these circumstances aerial combat was hopeless.
"Uh, O'Donnell?" Moritz spoke suddenly to him.
"What's wrong? I'm trying to think of how we are going to survive down there!"
"Look at the radar..." With a queasiness in his stomach, he did what it was advised to him and saw – a dot. That was nothing unusual at first, as their ships were shown as dots themselves. Appropriately there were three visible, two of them behind him. But this one dot was alarming, as Wolf discerned a fourth marking. Possibly that was the cause for the end of the verbal quarrel.
And the dot approached fast.
Indescribably fast.
Within the time it took to blink, something big dashed past them. The extremely loud jet engine noises and the concussion of their fighters were also just as short. The dot was, after this encounter, on the other side of the radar.
"Okay, he really had fire under his butt…" Jan described the event appropriately. "I think Andross' army doesn't have such fast airplanes, does he?"
A transmission occurred again, this time more aggressive and demanding. "Glupyje inostranzy: snuck w wosduschnoje prostranstwo piratow! Jebat pokinut nemedlenno ili sakantschiwajetsja wremja gorenija oblomkow!"

Naturally, none of the three could understand it; they interpreted only one thing correctly: They were in great danger. To clarify this virtually, the fourth radar signal positioned itself a bit behind their tails. A look over his shoulder showed Wolf a comparatively large and streamlined combat aircraft in black paint with ten missiles on each wing. He couldn't, however, make out the pilot due to the mirror reflections. Despite a missing board cannon, their pursuer had more than enough firepower to shoot them down in one stroke.
"Oh dear...O'Donnell, what shall we do? Attack?" Moritz suggested skeptically. He himself wasn't convinced of his idea; however, a getaway seemed impossible in view of the outstanding speed of the opponent.
To quickly come up with a plan that would bring them all uninjured to the ground was a colossal task in such distress. Wolf was a progressive thinker, not a man of spontaneity. Especially not when they could be taken apart in any second. He needed more time now and he could buy it momentarily in merely one single way.
"Moritz! Babble at them on and on, no matter what. Main (thing,) you delay them as long as possible, so I can work out a plan!"
"Uh, yes sir!" the tomcat confirmed the order.
And so he told jokes to the strangers that would have been funny around 100 years ago.

Wolf used the confusion that arose from it to brainstorm. They headed directly for the first cloud cover, though they would never arrive without a hostile attack on time. He believed firmly in a language barrier, that prevented a peaceful outcome, or they were possibly simply asking for trouble. Moritz couldn't stall them for long and then they would die ablaze. Their only chance consisted for these reasons to assault the plane. But not because of its destruction, it was too fast and powerful for that. With it the armour plating not forgotten, it didn't look weak measured in terms of the vehicle's size.
So an inevitable air fight. Therefore he turned to his wingmen. "Boys, when I give you the signal, you slam on the brakes and attack the guy. That should chase him away at least...for the moment."
"All right, just as you like," Jan replied. "But what will you do?"
Good question. How should he support them without working jet engines? He was anything but a coward but there were situations where he wasn't capable of doing something. Like now.
"Sorry to say this now, but everyone who expects me to seriously attack a superior enemy with a totally broken flyer has lost his marbles. I..."
He somehow had to make himself useful…

An idea. Not his favourite role, but afterward he could boast about having rendered his service also in a complete inferiority. "...will be the target simply to be shot. While he attacks me, you hit out at him. Got it?"
A horrified "But...!" was quickly drowned out with a "Just do it!" and after they promised he made himself ready.
"My moschem snimat nakonez wy tak tschto eto takoje?"
"Hit it!"
His comrades at once braked and placed themselves on the heels of the combat aircraft. Obviously the pilot was so confused by the action that at first he didn't react. Only when lasers fired at his back, he gave it his all and pulled the column up. With breathtaking speed he went beyond reach and left his attackers literally standing still.
"Good grief, look at this...how he goes off."
"O'Donnell, I'd like to mention at this point that we can't keep up with that speed. He will come back for sure, be careful." It would be wrong to say, they put him to flight. But after all they had provided themselves some air. Their aggressors were, who would have guessed, less excited about it. The angry yelling out of the radio only amused them, though. A great feeling, to cheat a stronger opponent!

It was nevertheless still too early for a victory celebration. Jan and Moritz restricted themselves to watch the enemy's movements and to inform Wolf. They just broke through the second cloud cover, so seven kilometers remained until the landing – or the impact.
"Watch out, O'Donnell! Attack at six o'clock!" Basically O'Donnell didn't need them for the defense anymore, unless they really wanted to get a missile in the face. That's why he issued them the order, to dive in by means of afterburner and leave the rest to him. They should meet him then at a glade or similar, if he survived.
No sooner said than done, even if involuntarily.
After they left him and he stood as the sole one against the interceptor, the warning signal peeped tumultuously. No problem with flares, but apparently Andross had never heard of them. Wolf also couldn't perform a barrel roll in this condition. What now?
"Oh oh...I don't know if the stuff in action movies works in reality too, but from a physical perspective, it should be possible..!" So he began with the briefly considered feat and hoped it worked.

Wolf pulled the column to the side, didn't bother about wings breaking off, and turned his flyer 180 degrees in fall. As expected, the wings decided for an independent life; they loosened themselves from the body and sailed away. That was nevertheless the least of his worries, much more problematic were the rockets, that came hurtling towards him.
All or nothing.
"Here we go!"
Holding a button, he started a barrage of lasers without keeping an eye on the energy consumption. His life was at stake after all. And his plan worked out: the first missile exploded as it got hit and in this manner Wolf continued with the remaining projectiles. Once again he admired himself proudly for his imaginativeness and skill, to deal with seemingly impossible circumstances. Not everybody could just fend off twenty missiles.

"Eto perwy ras ja ne mogu sdelat kogo-to," the pilot spoke, enraged, then laughing, "odnako, semlja moje proiswedenije moglo by sakantschiwat!" After that the plane turned off.
"Har har, that will teach him a lesson to mess with Wolf O'Donnell..." However, in the midst of his victory celebration, he didn't notice that he had passed the third cloud cover.
Two kilometers until impact.
Only another warning signal broke in on his euphoria. He frantically pressed the button for the floating mode, but a text display on the screen reported a critical, technical error. Whatever the reasons were, he had to try something else. "As far as I know, these things even have an ejector seat...that has to suffice."
The altimeter displayed just about one kilometer now. The flyer indeed had an ejection seat; escaping per se would have been no problem. But what if the colleagues of the pilot were waiting down there?
"It has to be done...even if I leave a wreck behind again." The switch activated, he hoped for the best.

In the next few moments everything happened rapidly one after the other: first the glass detached and he was furthermore catapulted together with the seat out of the flyer. Under him, the wreck fell down into the forest, where it was smashed to pieces and exploded a short time later. "Phew, that was lucky."
Attentive round views assured him that the opponent wasn't to be seen anymore; he also didn't spot enemies on the ground. The fireball though might lure them...
Enjoying the fresh air, his seat with the parachute gently fell to the ground. He still didn't know how he would meet with Jan and Moritz now. But the main thing was that he survived, wasn't it?
The noises of birds, rustling leaves and insects closed in and Wolf mentally prepared himself to leap from a great height. The parachute would definitely get caught in the branches and leave him dangling.
So it went.
A short jolt and he hung four meters above the forest floor. "Oh well, it could have been worse," he said, and worked on getting the seat belt undone. Suddenly however, he squalled, startled as he fell along with the seat and landed hard. Mind you without the parachute, merely some shreds of it were left at the back rest. "Ouch! Stupid piece of scrap, would have been too much to expect to design something durable."
By then really unbuckled, he stood up, stretched his body, and looked around.

One wasn't able to see the wood for the trees anymore. Isolated sunbeams got through the foliage, airworthy insects wandered from flower to flower and in the distance he heard the hammerings from woodpeckers. He even saw the crash site from his position. Thick, black smoke ascended out of the charred wreck to the skies, visible for everyone. Briefly reminded of the disaster yesterday and thinking of the death of his team, he sighed and cogitated about how he should continue. "There have to be people here after all who don't blast every newcomer..."
Engine sounds.
Instinctively hidden behind a tree, he spotted an armoured car on four wheels with active headlights, painted black and a mounted machine gun on the top not far from the crash site. Nobody sat behind it. "Time to clear off, they will certainly scour the surrounding area!"
While he slowly retreated, he observed them to make sure where they started with their search. The vehicle conveniently stopped at the wreck and two large figures left the car.
In his opinion they looked...strange. Humanoid and walking upright, but something didn't fit them. With everything Wolf knew, he had never seen such creatures.
What exactly he found disconcerting about them, didn't interest him though, since there was a more important thing to do in the moment: Fleeing.

That they investigated the place alone was completely enough for him. Wolf instantly turned around and ran, further into the depths of the forest.

Translation of the transcribed language in order:

-...End of work...enough...today...

-...sure?...stuff...tank..?

-Guys, we need...ah, we have visitors! Just prepare our welcoming committee, he he he...

-Stupid aliens: You violated the airspace of the pirates! Piss off immediately or you end as burning wrecks!

-So what's wrong, can we finally shoot you down?

-This is the first time that I can't bump someone off...but the ground should complete my work!