[A/N: Hi! Some folks let me know, the 'Interlude' entry throwing off chapter count made it to where they accidentally skipped over Chapter 8. Please go back if this applies to you! These are all one-shot written with continuity so no travesty if you missed it, but it IS meant to precede this chapter. That said, carry on :)]
Chapter 9: Space Cowboy
Noise.
Capitol city on Cygnus-X1 was dominated by the life of its own noise.
Horns blaring, low rumblings of transport buses, the high frequency whines of vehicles rushing along highways; the telltale signs of a busy city's existence were the brassy inner workings that blended all activity together into a myriad of sound.
The city's main attraction, the Cygnus Interplanetary Express Station, was even more inundated with commotion: squealing brakes, chugging gears, shouts from conductors. The station itself encompassed by city from the north and an industrial strip of construction aimed at the station's expansion to the south - tumultuous with sound all its own. The noise exposure was enough to cause any out-of-towner not used to the city life to be on edge, have increased stress.
Not Yondu; if the new surroundings had given him cause for nerves they were banished away by his relentless determination. He had been provisioned a few things while still on the main Ravager vessel: most noteworthy, a ship to pilot – a smaller two-person model than the one that had been used to retrieve him – and a set of orders.
The captain held no reservations with the former battle slave's inherent abilities to take on a job, but given he still didn't know Yondu there was no guarantee he would follow through. The assignment was risky.
Stakar had nothing to worry about: when it came to following orders, Yondu was in a league of his own. He had committed everything the captain told him to memory and - like the military machine he was - carried out his orders with flawless execution.
Per the coordinates provided the M-ship was cloaked and parked near the fence of the industrial strip surrounding the station.
He walked, as if he too were a seamless part of the city's concrete jungle, along the fence line and in through the station.
The boarding pass he was provisioned earned him the expected nod from the conductor for the currently boarding train. Yondu noted the numbers on the side of the train as he walked with the rest of the crowd: 7897. This was the right one.
Through the locomotive he maneuvered down the aisles; there were five passengers cars bookended at the rear by an observation car, a standing-room only spot walled with windows. His face expressionless all the while, he passed the other passengers and train detail. A voice came over an intercom and could be heard throughout:
"Welcome to the Cygnus Interplanetary Express. If traveling, please note that the baggage cars are located behind the engine at the front of the train.
If you are with us for sightseeing – especially first-timers - we encourage you to follow along with the brochures in the seatback in front of you as we make our stops.
As always thank you for choosing Cygnus Railways. Enjoy the ride~!"
Just stay put until the train breaches. Head to the back of the train, the very last car. Put up a barrier and keep the door open. We'll be there any minute.
Stakar's words became his own in Yondu's head as he ran it through over and over again.
He peered into his jacket at the dormant spacesuit affixed to the breast of his shirt before redirecting his gaze out the observation car window. The train starts off slow with its chugging along; gradually it becomes fast, faster and faster until -shunk- the entire train derailed from the tracks on the ground and began its ascent.
Leaning against the back wall, Yondu alternated looking from the passengers in front of him - they were all talking and laughing off the nerves that came with the separation - to looking out the window himself; he was careful not to get too distracted by the interesting new experience and this fascinating sprawl of city, covering every square foot that could be seen around them.
Within a matter of minutes the sky turned black: the express train set well on its course into outer space. Yondu took advantage of the attention drawn to the planet's now-clearly visible trail of moons and slipped through the back door unnoticed.
Get to the rear car, enable the barrier, open the back door.
Deliberately he pressed to activate his spacesuit after retrieving his (up until now, concealed) Ravager medallion; he stepped beyond the barrier created with the press of a key card to a panel and opened the back door.
He had done a great job staying focused up to this point, but the sudden jolt from cosmic winds whipping past the open doorway made his heart lurch forward along with the rest of his body. He braced himself on the vestibule between the railing and the door for fear of being flung off the train into space.
As terrifying as it was, he couldn't help but be awestruck as he stood on the back of the train car, a hand now gripped on the railing with a force backed by fright-filled adrenaline. From where he stood space was a vast canvas: black, painted with speckles of stars, a series of gloriously colored moons, and – two approaching Ravager ships. Sure enough, they were right on schedule with the charted course of the train.
The two mid-size crafts flew alongside the ship; with Yondu standing at the entryway and the back of the car clear, grappling lines ejected from the lower decks of the ships, securing the vessels in flight to the train car.
Everything was going according to plan.
Zip – zip – zip - zip - one by one, spacesuit-wearing Ravagers boarded the train and made their way through the open door into the rear car. The zip lines remained attached as the M-ship pilots stayed in flight, noses pointed towards the express train's engine.
Stakar was the last to zip down. He smiled at the new recruit (whose eyes were looking a bit wild) and gave a tap of encouragement as he walked past him through the doorway. "Alright! I knew you could do it." He motioned him to follow. "Come on. You're shadowing me."
Yondu gave a quick nod, grateful to be off the rear of the train. Spacesuits disabled and weapons drawn, they walked through to the front; Stakar turned to face the new recruit as they convened at the door.
"Okay Yondu: so far so good, but this being your first raid I'm expecting quite a bit from you." He looked Yondu in the eye and held there: "If you're going to be a Ravager you gotta do what – think of the first part of the code…" Like any good mentor, the Ravager captain took the time to see if his pupil had been paying attention.
Yondu thought about it for a moment. "...I gotta take somethin'?"
Stakar heartily rapped the Centaurian's arm, clearly pleased. "Kid is smart!" He whipped out his other blaster, his face brimming with excitement as he was about to indulge in his favorite activity: "Just follow my lead."
With that he gave a nod to the crew member currently affixing a detonator to the control panel: the same one Yondu had just operated to allow entry from the rear of the car. A slow series of beeps, followed by
BOOM! The panel's explosion resulted in a chain reaction: each and every door connecting the passenger cars and the observation car on the train were sent wide open.
The other Ravagers were all too familiar with this routine. Weapons ready they followed Stakar's lead as the captain made his entrance to the observation car dramatically, shooting his blasters in the air to add to the effect.
Blast blast blast "Ladies and gentlemen!" Passengers ducked down to avoid being shot; women gasping and children crying were heard among the worried murmurs.
"We're going to need to take all and any of your valuable belongings. We don't want to take your lives-" he pointed a gun at the face of the interplanetary transit authority – IPTA emblazoned on his uniform – that was reaching for his weapon "-but we will, if we have to." Stakar motioned for the officer to give him his gun, to which the transit authority obliged.
Ravagers dispersed themselves evenly throughout the cars, weapons drawn as they engaged in the most favored pastime of commandeering. Stakar turned to Yondu and said over his shoulder, "Let's make our way to the front."
Nearly flying out the back of the train and all the commotion up to this point had Yondu on edge: he was grateful to have orders to follow. His focus on adherence he strode forward and was making his way through the rearmost passenger car; his steps led to a distraction in the form of a squeaking sound that accompanied a knot under his foot.
He looked underneath his boot: a rubber toy. He bent down to pick it up and observed the squeaky oddity. Green with white spots; four legs; a long neck looping around its body - but its face: big off-centered eyes and a stupid smile with oversized teeth.
It was so damn goofy looking. Yondu couldn't help but laugh to himself; unprecedented, this silliness. What a funny, weird little thing.
The Ravager recruit looked over to the seat from whence it came: an alien mother and child, the child clearly having dropped the toy. The mother clutched the child to her chest as it cried in absence of their plaything; she was quick to distance herself from Yondu (an apparent threat) in huddling over by the window. Yondu felt awkward standing there, holding the toy. He couldn't exactly give it back... should he just put it back down on the floor?
The sound of a whistle carried down the train car; Yondu broke focus from this distraction to see Stakar motioning him to follow with a nod. Looking back at the mother and child one last time, he quickly shoved the toy into his pocket and escalated his pace to catch up with his captain.
They worked their way up through the passenger cars; Ravagers that had gone ahead were merrily raiding the occupants of their belongings. Any IPTA officers on board were quickly subdued, held at gun point and handcuffed with their own restraints, ones intended for any troublemakers onboard.
They passed through the passenger cars; they passed through the baggage car. Yondu felt perplexed when they arrived at the car between the baggage car and the engine; its door was curiously shut.
"What's goin' on-" his breathing was fast, his look to Stakar accurately conveying his confusion at the closed-off entryway. He stood opposite side of the door, both their backs against the wall with weapons drawn.
"Hang on," The captain was looking at his wrist communicator. "Any minute now this door's gonna open. We couldn't control it from the rear panel but I've got someone on the inside." His eyes flicked up to meet Yondu's fire red. "This is the real score, Yondu. Just give it another minute."
Within but a moment of Stakar saying this the door opened; Yondu stepped back alongside the wall of the car with his weapon drawn, ready to shoot whoever (or whatever) came through. He thought Stakar crazy when he simply looked in and entered, motioning Yondu to follow him.
In the center of the car on the floor: stacks upon stacks of bars, gold colored in nature. The bars themselves seemed wrapped in a protective type of plastic and anchored onto a metal palette.
Near the opposite side of the car in front of the hull was a stunning woman: wearing the same outfit as the officials subdued, her heels high increasing her already formidable stature. Her being bent over upon arrival was not an unpleasant sight to see.
"Ah-there we go." She had been applying quite some force to a lever down on the floor; upon her final press the car began to shake violently.
Her actions resulted in the car being unhinged from the paneling on the floor that had anchored the car to the vestibule; no longer adhered to the frame the car ricocheted in its destabilization, the framework being the only thing keeping it from floating off into space.
The stranger whipped her hair - long, curly, dark red in color - as she stood and turned around to face Stakar.
"Right on time, Mr. Ogord. As always. Them passes work out alright?"
She had a twang of an accent; it sort of reminded Yondu of his own. Her mess of hair tucked under an IPTA official's hat, with a gorgeous smile and bright blue eyes; right away the Centaurian was enamored by the mysterious beauty.
"Oh, you know it darlin'." Stakar threw a little bit of her accent right back at her, turning on his signature charm.
With a click of the tongue she bated the captain. "Now you stop flirtin' with me, Stakar. I know you got'cher girl back home - she'd prob'ly kill me for messin' around with you!"
The bombshell took notice of the captain's companion. Her eyes gave Yondu a sultry look up and down. "And who is this?"
"New recruit." Stakar responded in turn, shooting Yondu an encouraging look.
The woman held her posture incredibly well given the thunderous vibrations the train car was now exposed to."Oooh I like him. Such a cutie~"
The shaking required Yondu to allocate a fair amount of focus to staying on balance, his weapon still clutched in his hands: not one to disregard a compliment, he reciprocated the attention with a wink that earned him a smile.
"Now you be sure to wire my share once it's all sorted out. Y'all gonna haveta hurry, too: delay on the distress signal is only good for five minutes."
"You got it, Rexine." Stakar took to his wrist communicator and spoke into it: "Let's roll out." He flipped through the communicator's screen before saying aloud, "Martinex is in recon for the drop."
Rexine gave an amused giggle, it almost sounded meshed with a moan; the sultry vixen clearly enjoyed her role in this escapade. "Hang on to somethin'."
Behind her was a switch; she braced herself and slammed a button, causing the panels in the center on the floor to give away, a barrier taking its place.
Stakar pushed himself back, anchoring himself against the side wall; Yondu mirrored his captain's actions on the opposite side. Bent at the hip, Rexine eased the loot-filled palette downward, down through the gap now present on the floor. "Bye bye~!" she said as it went through the barrier.
It drifted loftily in space for a moment before a grappling hook latched to it from below; Martinex at the helm, the M-ship reeled in the loot for a clean, albeit kinetic, getaway.
Everything so far had gone just as expected – if the trend were to continue the Ravagers throughout the train were well on their way off the ship via the zip lines, re-boarding the crafts dedicated to reconnaissance.
Yondu had been mentally preparing for this moment: for him and Stakar, their exit would require jumping from the fast-moving train.
Stakar turned to Yondu. "You got this, right?"
"...yeah." His voice wasn't exactly convincing.
The captain further downplayed the event with a shrug. "You got this far, right?"
"…Yeah." His tone tried to compensate in confidence where his facial expression was still lacking.
With a finger point gesture to the recruit that resembled the shoot of a gun, Stakar smoothly used his alternate hand to tap the button that enabled his spacesuit. "Let's do this."
He turned to their female counterpart. "Bye Rex" were his only words before dropping down through the gap in the floor the haul left in its wake.
Yondu's respiratory rate increased as he holstered his blaster and enabled his spacesuit. Time was of the essence; he looked one last time to Rexine, still on the farther side of the train car, watching him with a flirtatious amusement.
With a wink and a blow of a kiss she bid him farewell. "See ya later."
Out he jumped.
Exacerbated by the express train's course diverting upward in a curve to the left, Yondu felt as if he were in a sudden free fall. No – it was more of a sinking motion he felt, sinking down into an endless place until his propulsion left him resting in a float, surrounded by nothing but darkness and stars.
He looked up, all around: his eyes beheld the wonders of the Cygnus-X1 solar system; the asteroid belt surrounding Cygnus-X1; and its five respective moons – colored in green, yellow, orange, purple, and blue.
Startled he was out of the surreal moment by Stakar's firm grasp to Yondu's right arm at the bicep. The captain and recruit made eye contact and an order was given: "Don't let go."
As hard as he tried to retain his grip, Yondu still felt like he was about to be sucked out into the vacuum of space as Stakar shot his grappling gun and sent them flying; he had effectively locked onto the rear of an express train overhead, on its way back to the station: the numbers 340 emblazoned on its side.
It was perfectly timed: the 340 entered Cygnus-X1's atmosphere just as the pair secured a hold on the rear car's railing. Before the express could return to the tracks the Ravagers de-boarded themselves, right over the industrial strip that Yondu had landed in to start. Not the most graceful landing, but at least nothing was broken.
Stakar couldn't help but laugh to himself, adrenaline still running hot, as he dusted off his jacket. "Hahahaha… Woo!" He whooped, looking over at his Ravager companion: Yondu was taking a knee, still trying to catch his breath. Looking up to Stakar he allowed himself to return the faintest hint of a smile.
He had done it. He had frickin' done it! His first job, his first raid as a Ravager... It. Was. Incredible!
The final act of the plan – retrieving the original ship, was now underway. As Yondu lifted himself into the pilot seat he felt a lump in the pocket of his jacket. He had forgotten all about this!
He pulled out the silly little toy from his pocket and observed it with a feeling of marvel; this little guy had gone through all of that with him. Like a little partner in crime. His eyes darted to the console of the M-ship: there was a decent amount of flat space. As if it were naturally meant to be there he placed the toy on the console near the middle of the windshield.
Stakar was pulling himself up into the co-pilot seat right as Yondu placed it down. "Nice." He said with an encouraging tone, smiling over at Yondu. "Now it's really your ship."
Yondu was taken aback. His what now? His ship?! "...I get the ship?" He repeated back, quiet in his awe.
Stakar acted like it was a matter of fact. "You're part of my crew you've gotta have a ship. Besides," he rationalized, "you've earned it."
Before Yondu could say anything Stakar broke the tension with a bump of the fist to Yondu's shoulder.
The captain had a sincere desire to welcome Yondu the 'right way': giving him a role in the heist, Yondu getting his own ship, these were all just part of the package in the captain's eyes for what it meant to be a Ravager. The fact that there were deeper connotations to it all, given Yondu had never before been free... it just couldn't be helped. Stakar wanted more than anything not to make a big deal about it.
"Come on." He plugged in the coordinates for the primary vessel into the console of the M-ship. "Let's go home."
Yondu sat there, humbled into inactivity, as the engine roared – this lasted only a moment. "Yessir," he affirmed, gratitude evident in his voice; still on quite the high Yondu navigated the M-Ship per the charted course off the planet. Headed back to the place that – as of today – he got to call 'home'.
A/N pt2: Bits of this chapter were inspired by some good space-centric anime. Worth reiterating that I own nothing ;) also thank you so much for your reviews - I am humbled by your compliments! ~