Bridge Carson, Secret Agent Extraordinaire
A.N: Firstly, I'd like to apologise for the long delay in the updating of this story: a number of things served to delay it. Shorter chapter ahead for all of you people: not so much because I didn't like the number of reviews, but because this is a lead up to the ending of the small arc of which there are many in this story. Again, thank you to all the people who reviewed last chapter! And to let you know, some of this chapter was inspired by the fictional 'Secret Agent Clank' show that is featured on the opening video of Ratchet and Clank 3. I'm pretty sure you'll recognise where I'm coming from if you've seen it. If not, just Youtube it if you want to.
Reviews, and I'll again see you next week! Yes, the chapter is coming along quite nicely so it'll be on time (provided you're kind enough to review)!
Disclaimer: I do not own Power Rangers
"Ninjas? Why are there ninjas?!"
"Who doesn't like ninjas?"
S.P.D. Intelligence Agent Bridge Carson and Chimera Agent Katherine 'Kat' Manx reflecting upon MaxStar Casino Incident
Time: 0017 hours, galactic standard time / Location: Gaming Table 19, MaxStar Casino, near Austrus III
Every single breath from every single person at Gaming Table 19 was held in every single throat as the two, almost insignificant white cubes with cute little black dots in varying numbers from one to six bounced around the table. They clattered against the high-rising walls of the gaming table, crossed the various boxes and squares painted against the velvety green cloth of the table, knocked over the piles of stacked money chips, and were nigh on unstoppable as they ploughed through two other piles of money chips, before finally running out of momentum, and started to slow down.
If it was possible, every single breath was abated even further, as no one dared to breathe in the multiple heart-stopping moments that followed the pair of dice slowing down. They clattered and rolled, twisting and turning as each and every eye followed them on their crazy, random path of destruction across the playing field. In the final moments, the dice stopped moving, and instead settled for rolling around slowly.
They stopped moving, clinking together in finality as the numbers of the top became readable, and a gasp came from most of the audience, followed by two shocked and incredulous faces.
A three-dotted side and a four-dotted side had met everyone's eyes.
In the stunned silence that followed, as Valda Kintopp struggled to comprehend how he had lost, his mouth opening and closing in an eerily similar fashion to a goldfish (or basically any other fish). Bridge also tried to comprehend a much greater matter: how he had won.
When he was finally done contemplating for all of ten seconds, he had come up with three answers: he was either exceptionally lucky and therefore had gotten the required seven to win, or he was more skilled at the gambling thing than he had thought. Or some divine entity was favouring him during that moment of truth. One of those was probably it.
A slow clapping started to happen sporadically, before growing in increasing volume as the people around started to cheer for Bridge. A few people close to him clapped him on the back, and a pair of women attached themselves to his side, both of whom he brushed off as politely as he could.
On the other side of the table, Valda had finally composed himself as best he could, and started to speak.
"Your luck is extraordinary, Mr…?"
"Not luck. I'm just skilled," Bridge answered coolly. "And it's Carson. Bridge Carson."
"I would not bet that it was all due to your so-called 'skill', Mr. Carson," Valda replied. "This game is all about chance."
"Then chance, and according to you, luck, is also on my side then."
"I think not, Mr. Carson," Valda dubiously said, lighting a cigar before letting out a puff of smoke. "You cannot chance everything forever."
"I'll think about it," Bridge said with a tight smile.
"Then you win," Valda conceded, pushing his pile of money chips over to Bridge.
"Why thank you."
"Don't bet on it; your luck won't last forever…" Valda said, taking another puff of the cigar, before reaching for a hidden remote that was his 'Plan B', and tapped it. "…Agent Carson!"
To both sides of Bridge and also behind him, a clink signified the landing of Valda Kintopp's Plan B.
Bridge whipped around to see…three robotic ninjas advancing towards him. All three were coloured with reddish-brown armour, had an optical sensor in the shape of a glowing red shield on their heads, and were slimmer than most combat robots. The only difference between the three was the coloured stripes running down their shoulders: one was black, one was blue and the last was a bright red. They appeared to be unarmed…until all three activated their double-bladed swords, which glowed with the same colour as their armour, and crackled with energy. People started screaming and running as the robotic ninjas advanced towards their target: Bridge.
"Aw hell, ninjas?!"
The lead black-striped robo-ninja (which he had labelled Robo-Ninja 1) leapt towards Bridge, its sword held high above its head. Bridge rolled out of the way, as the sword came down where he had been standing just moments ago. The blade left a black scorch mark where it had burnt through the thick carpet.
Coming out of his roll, Bridge drew his hidden laser pistol, knelt down and sighted for the second ninja which he had nicknamed in his head Robo-Ninja 2. It was charging straight for him, the sword held at its side as Robo-Ninja 1 was just starting to recover from its strike, and as for Robo-Ninja number 3…he had no idea.
Having lined up the charging ninja, Bridge squeezed several shots off at the robotic ninja. Much to his dismay, the ninja whipped out its sword, and spun it around its fingers in jaw-dropping movements. The blade moved so fast that it created a red circular blur in front of the ninja. The lasers struck the blur and were dissipated into nothing.
The ninja charged again, and Bridge leapt up, dodging a floor sweep. He twisted to the side, and narrowly avoided the thrust of the blade. He lashed out with a kick, but the ninja flipped back, avoiding it. The ninja landed on its feet in a slightly hunched position, the sword held behind its back and the other hand in the classic 'come and get it' gesture.
Before Bridge could attack, the third ninja ran up from behind the second ninja, and used that ninja's armoured shoulders as a position to launch itself high up in preparation for another attack on Bridge. This time though, Bridge managed to shoot the ninja in the arm, spinning it around and back through the air into the first ninja.
"Your time is up Agent Carson!" Valda Kintopp shouted, his own laser pistol out and aimed at Bridge.
"Not you as well!"
The laser went wide, striking a slot machine and blowing out the cover. Coins poured out like a waterfall, this time flowing in the way of the second ninja, who, despite its supposed 'ninja-ness', lost its footing and was buried under a mountain of coins.
"A lucky shot!" an enraged Valda Kintopp said, sending a flurry of lasers at Bridge who ducked behind yet another slot machine which soon found itself under assault from Valda's pistol.
"I didn't shoot the thing; you did!" Bridge countered over the sound of Valda shooting. He found an abandoned metal serving tray on the ground, and stomped on it, sending the circular disc flying into his hands. He brought it up to shield himself against the next laser…which melted a hole in the tray. Bridge's eyes widened, before he ducked behind another slot machine. "I need to talk to the management about keeping their trays shiny enough to deflect lasers," he sighed.
One of the ninjas stalked over from his right, and Bridge managed to surprise it by throwing the serving tray straight into its face, before following up with a roundhouse kick. The ninja recovered in time for it to start countering Bridge's attacks, its hands and legs moving constantly to try and find a pattern in Bridge's attacks. In truth, there was no pattern; Bridge was striking out at it with whatever he could come up with, simply because he knew one thing; he had to keep the ninja from finding a way to attack him.
"Die, agent, die!" Valda was laughing like the madman he was as he let loose laser after laser at Bridge.
Unfortunately for Valda, one of his own bolts struck the ninja Bridge was fighting, causing it to emit a metallic grunt and falter. Bridge seized upon the opportunity as the ninja released one hand from its blade to balance itself. He also grabbed onto the handle between the two blades, and began an epic struggle between the forces of the metallic ninja and the strength of his arms.
"This…is painful," Bridge said, gritting his teeth as he struggled against the ninja, aware of the other two approaching and Valda attempting to gain a good shot on him.
The ninja made no sound as it also tried to win out against Bridge. Finally, Bridge lifted his leg, and planted a solid kick against the ninja's chest with a loud clang! The ninja stepped back, and momentarily lost its grip on its sword.
"Thank you, come again!" Bridge announced, wrenching the double-bladed sword from its owner's grasp.
He swung it in a wide arc, connecting with the ninja's head with another loud metallic clang!, spinning its head around neatly as it followed the motion to the floor. The ninja lay sprawled out on the carpeted floor like an unconscious drunk. Before Bridge could deliver the final blow, one of the other ninjas leapt up onto the slot machine next to Bridge with another metallic clang.
"You're end has come," the ninja said in a monotone voice, before raising its sword and leaping at Bridge.
"Not another one!" Bridge moaned, barely blocking the ninja's strike and swiping at its hip.
The ninja twisted out of the way, but before it could launch into another attack routine programmed into its all-powerful (at least, when compared to other, more standard desktop computers) CPU, Bridge thrust his own stolen (or as he preferred to call it, borrowed-without-permission) sword into the ninja's chest, smashing it apart in a hail of harmless sparks.
"Noooooo!" Valda screamed. "THAT WAS AMONG ONE OF THE MOST EXPENSIVE ROBOTS MONEY CAN BUY!!"
"Tough luck mister!" Bridge shouted back, moments before one armed ninja and another unarmed but still decidedly very dangerous ninja leapt in front of him.
The pair circled him like a shark, as Bridge circled them, resulting in an endless circle being walked again, and again, and again, all over again. As they circled each other, they slowly moved deeper and deeper into the fluorescent jungle of brightly coloured slot machines and other such gambling devices which Bridge had vowed never to touch (his salary was tough enough without him losing endless amounts of his somewhat limited cash to the damned machines…). The atmosphere was extremely tense and brittle that it could've been shattered by a rusted spoon thrown with all the force of a two-year old. And like the spoon, the atmosphere was shattered by the armed ninja jumping forward, its sword spinning around in a very complicated and mesmerising pattern, before stepping forward and swinging its sword.
"You. Must. Die," the ninja said in the same monotone voice, accenting each word with a swing of its sword.
"This…is…not…fun," Bridge remarked, parrying each blow from the ninja with his own sword.
He blocked a strike, and then swept the sword aside, before raising his own and bringing it down vertically. The agile ninja leapt out of the way, rolling on the ground as Bridge's sword carved an obscene and obvious black gash in the red carpet before taking cover behind another slot machine within the maze of slot machines where they were battling.
"That's gonna leave a mark."
With one ninja having disappeared around the machines, and with Valda now actively peeking around the machines also looking for him, Bridge decided to focus his attention on the unarmed ninja still standing in a classic kung-fu stance in front of him.
"One on one, eh amigo?" Bridge asked, showing off some Spanish before assuming what he supposed was the best and coolest looking stance he could with the awesome laser sword.
The ninja probably didn't hear him, and instead took to showing off its own skills with its kung-fu moves. It pulled off fancy movements with its hands, arms, legs and feet, constantly moving so that the metallic limbs were little more than a reddish blur. It finished with a kick in the air, and landed crouching in another kung-fu pose. Bridge had the feeling that if it had been programmed with a wisecrack function, it would've said, 'top that, bitch'.
Instead, the secret agent just stared at it, before proceeding to pull out his pistol, and blasted the ninja full of holes before it could even react.
"Badda bing, badda boom," Bridge said, flipping the pistol back into its holster.
"Nooooooo!" Valda screamed again, having heard the distinctive thump that denoted the ninja falling and the whine of the processors stopping. "Curse you Agent Carson! Curse you!"
"Get over it," Bridge called back over the top of the machines. "And while you're at it, get a better name!"
"Grrrrr…you two, follow me! Cover my escape!" Valda yelled, deciding that hunting the agent wasn't particularly the brightest of ideas and also ironically, telling Bridge his plan.
However, the only thing working in Valda's favour at that moment was his last ninja, Robo-Ninja 3. The robotic menace leapt right out from between a pair of slot machines, and tackled Bridge to the floor.
"Oomph!" he grunted as he hit the floor with the ninja on top. He quickly kicked the ninja off him. "Sorry, I don't like having people on top."
The ninja landed gracefully, and proceeded to swing its sword around, much like the unarmed ninja. It too ended with a dramatic pose, spinning the sword around its body and head without letting the blade actually touch it.
"This again?" Bridge sighed, before proceeding to pull his pistol out again, and firing again.
The lasers were instantly blocked by the ninja, who either spun its sword really quickly, or simply dove out of the way. With a metallic war cry, the ninja launched itself forward, touching to the ground before Bridge, who took a step back instinctively to avoid the ninja's lunge. But instead, it planted its sword in the ground (burning yet another sizeable hole in the carpeting), and used it to spin around in a kick in a Matrix-like fashion.
The attack connected, and sent Bridge flying into a slot machine. He crashed against it, and nearly bowled it over.
"Ouch…" Bridge moaned as the ninja took a gigantic flying leap towards him. "Oh hell…"
He dove out of the way just in time for the ninja to go streaking right past him like a missile. The ninja impacted with the machine that Bridge had also struck, and this time, knocked it over. The sound of coins clattering to the ground filled the air as the ninja stood up, coins pouring off it like water. The ninja stared at him with its sword held at its side as Bridge stared back, doing his best not to blink.
"Is this going to turn into a staring contest or what?" Bridge asked.
The ninja replied; by flipping back onto a still standing slot machine, and from there, taking a lunge at Bridge, who just barely brought his own sword up in time.
The two clashed, constantly moving as their swords clanged against each other's while throwing off enough sparks to light up the room had the lights not been on. At one point, Bridge had to vault over the bar counter to avoid the blade, which sliced a dozen bottles of various drinks apart, spilling their contents all over the floor and counter. Eventually, Bridge finally managed to knock the ninja's blade away, and planted a solid kick in its chest. The ninja stepped back…into the spilt alcohol which caused it to lose its footing. The graceless metallic monstrosity of a ninja fell onto the floor, sat up and looked up just to see Bridge step up to it.
"Adios amigo," Bridge said, before swinging the blade horizontally at the ninja's neck.
The laser-enhanced blade slashed through the neck and separated the head from the body, which fell back as the head flew through the air. Knowing that most modern security/combat robots carried a backup processor, Bridge plunged the blade into the ninja's chest, causing a great deal of sparks and flailing from the now-deceased/deactivated ninja.
"Finally," Bridge sighed, before dropping the sword next to the still-sparking ninja. "What now? Oh yeah, Valda."
With the evil megalomaniac's plan still in his mind, Bridge took off after the madman, leaving behind the sparking ruins of three extremely expensive robotic ninjas and a thoroughly deserted casino.
Time: 0034 hours, galactic standard time / Location: Parking Space Bay 1, MaxStar Casino, near Austruss III
Less than half an hour had passed since Bridge had made the fateful/lucky roll of the dice, and already he was in a world of trouble. Not only had he been assaulted by a trio of heavily armed ninjas, but now he was under fire from a hastily setup blockade. A pair of metal barricades had been placed on the path, and in between them was an automated laser turret, which tracked his movements as he ran from the firing emplacement and flung himself down behind a parked shuttle which instantly started to take the beating.
"Note to self, always bring some form of explosive…even if they are hard to hid in a suit," Bridge noted, looking at his suit and its various pockets even as the emplacement continued to hammer away with high-powered lasers capable of blowing medium sized holes in a sheet of metal.
Without a single piece of something capable of going boom and hopefully taking something else with it, Bridge decided to wait until the automated rifle either stopped firing or ran out of power. Neither of which it seemed to be capable of doing as well, even as Valda got further and further away from him.
"Bloody hell," he sighed, waiting behind the shuttle even as it was beginning to be chewed up by the lasers. "Time to go."
He prepared himself for a sprint to the next closest available vehicle when another epiphany struck him like a hammer.
"What an idea; why didn't I think of it earlier?" he mumbled to himself.
Launching himself out behind the vehicle, Bridge began a mad sprint to the nearest vehicles not a moment too soon: the shuttle he had been taking cover behind exploded into a raging fireball and subsequently a roaring inferno as the shuttle took the last laser it was capable of doing. With the lasers tracking at his heels as a very good incentive, Bridge ran faster. He took a flying leap onto the top of a vehicle, and began to jump from vehicle to vehicle as erratically as possible. Now not only did he have the lasers at his heel to be an incentive to run/hop as fast and accurately as he could, but he had the empty space below as well.
The idea worked, as the emplacement sprayed laser after laser after laser at him to no avail. The lasers struck the many shuttles he was jumping from, and one just narrowly avoided his head. At last, he was back onto the path…behind the emplacement and out of its firing range and angle. With a single shot, Bridge shot out the power supply, and the gun died down, becoming little more than a useless pile of junk.
"People these days," he sighed to himself before taking off down the path.
"Hold off the agent, men!" Valda shouted even as he ran as fast as he could down towards a waiting shuttle that would take him to the small warship that he possessed…courtesy of a few new friends.
Once he was aboard the warship, maybe he'd actually send the disc out and get the agent off his tail - and then a substantial reward, of course. It always paid to have friends in high and well-paid positions. And then…it was off to start his empire anew. Preferably in an area out of S.P.D. or Chimera presence, as the two had a tendency to crack down exceptionally quickly on any sort of crime ring within months of it being set up.
"This way, sir!" one of his few elite troopers said, beckoning him over to his personal shuttle. Equipped with heavy armour and the best weapons he had been given, they were his most loyal soldiers and four stood guard around his ship, followed by another two who were now flanking him.
"Good job. I want two of you to stay back and hold off the S.P.D. dog," he ordered.
The two flanking him snapped to attention and turned to face the way they came, even as other people consisting of Valda's entourage shuffled past them. When the sounds of the automated laser emplacement they had set down to stall the agent stopped, everyone started to walk a lot faster. And when the sounds of laser fire filled the air, they all but ran for the shuttle.
"Halt, S.P.D.!" they heard Bridge shout, only mere metres away. With an infamous S.P.D. agent at their heels, all sense of order was lost as everyone screamed and panicked, pushing and shoving each other to get onto the shuttle and to safety first.
The two soldiers Valda had assigned to stop Bridge attempted to get in the agent's way, but Bridge was by now more than a little angry. He kicked the soldier's gun away, and followed it up with a blunt jab with the butt of his pistol. The soldier stumbled back and collapsed.
"Stop…getting…in…my way!" Bridge snapped, kicking the other soldier around before swinging around with a roundhouse that connected directly with the soldier's helmeted head. The kick sent the soldier flipping around backwards in a spiral, his laser rifle spitting colourful bolts into space like fireworks but admittedly much deadlier.
"So long, agent!" Valda screamed at him suddenly over the radio, nearly deafening Bridge and knocking him back in the process.
"Damn! Do you have any idea of courtesy?!" Bridge shouted back, even as a shuttle suddenly buzzed him, nearly shaving his head off. "Time to find my own shuttle," he mumbled.
Taking off in the direction that he hoped was the right direction, Bridge didn't notice a second shuttle beginning to pursue the shuttle that carried Valda. And besides, he was busy wondering what kind of fee he would have to pay for the parking.
Time: 0041 hours, galactic standard time / Location: Middle of space near Austruss III asteroid belt
"Warning: enemy Class-D mini-frigate detected ahead," the computerised female voice coolly alerted Bridge as he flew his shuttle at breakneck speed.
"Sophie, estimated time until weapons range?" Bridge asked.
"Weapons range in…"
Before the computer could respond, laser fire suddenly lit up the space around Bridge's shuttle.
"Never mind…" Bridge said, jerking his shuttle back and forth as the lasers traced lines through space. "Dang thing is armed well."
"Affirmative Agent Carson. Multiple weapon turrets have been detected, as well as the presence of two torpedo launchers," Sophie chimed in.
"Torpedos?!" Bridge exclaimed, nearly losing his concentration. It was only when a beam flashed by, dangerously close, that he quickly re-gripped the controls. "Do we have countermeasures?"
"Affirmative: scramblers were installed by Technician Number #03215, otherwise known as Boom, on the twenty-eighth of August, standard Earth time in the northern hemisphere," the computer recited.
"Okay…I meant like the flashy ones, the ones that light up and distract the torpedos!"
"Please hold while I process your query," Sophie calmly said, even as Bridge began sweating through piloting the storm of laser fire.
"Come on Sophie…don't do this now…I need a bit of info…" Bridge said.
"Search function complete. There are no flares aboard and the system has yet to be installed. From upgrading schedule, this shuttle is scheduled to undergo the installation of the flares in precisely one week from now," Sophie said.
"One week?! I have less than two minutes if they launch torpedos!" Bridge nearly screamed.
"That is untrue: at the projected distance and current scans of the mini-frigate, it would take approximately five minutes for the torpedos to warm up, acquire a lock and to make the distance."
"That's a great help Sophie," Bridge said, even as he pulled the shuttle (in fact, it was more of a space fighter than a shuttle) into a tight barrel roll. A pair of lasers whizzed past. "I've just about had it with this guy! Sophie, warm up the lasers!"
"Laser cannons charging. They will be ready for sustained fire in ten seconds."
"And while you're at it, activate the scramblers; I'd prefer they already be on when they launch torpedos," Bridge said, dodging another pair of lasers.
"Scramblers are being activated. Laser cannons are at ninety percent charge and will be ready within the next three seconds," Sophie said.
"Finally! A little payback," Bridge exclaimed as a clear pane of glass slowly rose up in front of him.
A second later, all sorts of data flowed across the surface of the HUD, and a green targeting reticule popped up. A birds-eye view of the ship was to the bottom left, showing the ship's integrity, which was thankfully at 100.
"HUD initialised. Enjoy the aspects of it," Sophie said.
"Will do!" Bridge said, pulling the trigger for the twin laser cannons built into the ship.
Suddenly, there were two lanes of lasers flying madly across space. Several bolts struck the mini-frigate, but due to its heavier armour, it merely shrugged them off. The chase continued, as Bridge and Valda's ship continued to trade laser for laser while Bridge also did his best to fly the ship in a very erratic manner.
"Where did that guy get that ship?" Bridge wondered aloud, firing a pair of lasers into the frigate. One of the laser turrets which had been spewing lasers at him exploded in a fireball, tossing the barrels of the twin laser cannons through space and right past Bridge's cockpit. "Whoa! That was close."
"Your assumption is correct Agent Carson. Fifty centimetres closer, and that would have ruptured the ship," Sophie reported.
"Yeah, Sophie? Do me a favour," Bridge said, jamming his thumbs down on the triggers again. "I don't need to know how lucky I am, alright?"
"Accepted, but there is a new development you should be aware of, Agent."
"And what is that?" Bridge asked, jerking the fighter to the left.
"Two enemy fighters are launching."
"What the?!"
Sophie's words rang true when a pair of doors slid open in the belly of the frigate, and a pair of fighters dropped out. They fired up their engines, and boosted away from the frigate and towards Bridge.
"Oh hell."
Within seconds, a third and fourth stream of colourful and deadly bolts had joined the fray, as the fighters sped around Bridge, trying to get a good shot off at him even as the frigate began to make headway. On a two-on-one basis, the two fighters had numerical superiority. With two of them, they essentially had twice the firepower, speed and manoeuvrability that Bridge had. But they lacked one crucial thing or more precisely, they lacked two: they didn't have Bridge's quick thinking or a computational A.I. helping to control their ships.
"Warning, fighter is above us," Sophie warned.
"Oh boy. Um, Sophie? What do we have against a fighter above us?" Bridge chuckled nervously.
"Activating Primary Defence Mechanism #2," Sophie said.
"What is Primary Defence Mechanism Two!?"
Just as the fighter above them dove down, its cannons ready to be blazing, a small panel opened up at the top of Bridge's shuttle. It quickly spread itself out, unfolding in a mechanical way to reveal…a large mirror.
"A mirror?! Whose idea was that?!" Bridge nearly screamed.
Then the fighter above them fired; lasers roared down, struck the mirror, and were reflected off the surface. Then the fighter was quickly forced to pull out of its attack run, joining up with its wing mate.
"I see. Phew. Sophie, remind me to buy whoever installed that system a drink," Bridge said, wiping the sweat off his brow. "And do we have anything that'll finish this up really quickly?"
"This shuttle is equipped with a pair of multi-warhead missile launchers."
"We have missile launchers? Since when?"
"Please hold while I process your query. And enemy fighter, dead ahead," Sophie reported.
"Okay…no problems Soph," Bridge said, triggering the cannons again, and this time, he actually struck one of the fighters, blowing off a tail fin in an explosion. "Progress!"
"Enemy fighter is not yet critically damaged. Many of its systems are still operational. Also, the missile launchers had been installed on the same day as the scramblers were," Sophie said.
"Okay…and why didn't you tell me that earlier?"
"Because there was no query relating to issue. You didn't ask," Sophie informed Bridge.
Bridge sighed. "Alright, just get the launchers ready; I wanna blow these guys right out of the water."
"There is no water currently for you to blow them out of," Sophie corrected.
"Sophie, you're a great help, but when we get back, ask someone to install a sensor between figurative speech and literal speech."
"Affirmative. Missile launchers are ready," Sophie said.
"Get a lock on the one I just nailed," Bridge ordered, manoeuvring to get behind one.
"Lock on complete. Missiles are ready to fire at your request."
"Fire! Blow the guy to Timbuktu already!" Bridge shouted suddenly, as he realised that Valda's frigate was straight ahead and that the other fighter was now behind him and that he was now caught in a laser sandwich, with him being straight in the middle.
"Missile away."
A small port opened in the wing of Bridge's ship, and a deceptively small missile dropped out, before firing its engines and boosting for the fighter. It instantly began to release flares by the dozen, shooting out brightly coloured sparks in the hope that the missile would go for them instead. It worked…in a way. The missile, before touching the clouds of flares, broke up into several smaller bits and pieces, of which half went for the flares. The other half however, steered straight for the fighter, and promptly blew it in half.
"Woo! Got the bastard!" Bridge shouted. Then the fighter/shuttle shook violently. "What the…?"
"Warning, rear armour integrity at critical levels," Sophie chimed in.
"Uh Sophie? We wouldn't have any rear-facing guns, would we?" Bridge asked nervously, even as he began to jerk the fighter/shuttle left and right.
"Negative. Recommend that you eject, Agent Carson. This ship will not hold up for much longer."
"Ah heck, that's just better!" Bridge said, even as the frigate slowed down, and began firing at Bridge, scoring several hits.
"Ship integrity compromised, Agent Carson. There is a ninety-nine percent chance that the shuttle will explode."
Even as Sophie began reporting the damage to Bridge, he didn't notice that he had actually flown straight underneath Valda's frigate. His shuttle was beginning to trail smoke now, and much of the rear armour had been shot right off.
"Alright, better eject," Bridge said, reaching for the ejector seat button.
"Best decision yet, Agent Carson. Ejector seat and capsule is primed. Have a good day," Sophie said.
"Bye Sophie. I'll miss you."
Then Bridge hit the eject button. An airtight dome formed around him, sealing him off against space, and the canopy of the shuttle blew open. The rockets underneath the capsule fired, and lifted Bridge out of the ship…and straight into the hangar bay of Valda's frigate, just as the madman realised that Bridge could've had a shot straight inside his ship, and closed the hangar door…right after Bridge had shot inside, isolated from the rest of the galaxy.