Chapter 11
After over a month of waiting (and having to foil villains of the week), the time was finally approaching for Matt's court martial.
"Ok...let's go over this again, Sue. I don't have to plead insanity." said Matt, calmly
"But it's your most convincing case," said Sue, "There isn't a jury in the universe who wouldn't accept it."
"No, I'm sick of wearing a grav-jacket," snapped Matt, annoyed, and yelping as the anklet bit him.
"Well, if we plead guilty, I think we can bargain them down to a lesser sentence. Your 'civic duties' these last few weeks will definitely help weigh it in your favor," said Sue.
"So...how much are we talking about?" asked Matt, curiously.
"A few decades, give or take. The cincher was that Diana last week," said Sue calmly.
Matt facepalmed and said, "Sue, you're my attorney and attorneys are supposed to be helpful."
"Well, Jumba did design her to be an ultimate lawyer and that includes all the doubledealing conniving that goes with it," said Chip.
"Then what's with her green slime?" asked Matt.
"Doesn't that come with the job too?" asked Morph.
"Not really, I'll be honest there," said Chloe.
"Look, the point is I know I'm innocent and I need to convince them that I really am, no matter what that smeghead McNeil says," said Matt.
"He has a dad on the council. He literally has a guy on the inside. He'll try every dirty trick," said Sue, calmly.
"And it's your job to anticipate and counter those dirty tricks," said Matt, starting to lose his patience.
"Oh, I have something just in case. Chip, did you bring those helmet cam recordings?" said Sue smugly.
"Yes, I picked out all the clips that we need," said Chip, "Let me show you." He turned on his holographic projector against the wall, showing footage from the gang's assault on McNeil's Antarctic facility.
Matt slowly began smiling at the clips highlighted the labs, the mutants, and the disaster zone the mutant outbreak turned the base into before frowning again. "We should probably use that as a last resort. With the Empire pounding away as it is, the last thing the NSC needs is a scandal. Once we get off and the Empire's toast, we'll turn all our attention to McNeil."
"We may have to resort to it anyways. McNeil will put a very convincing case against you," said Sue.
"Please, I know a half dozen dimensions that owe me. Admittedly, only one can send a witness, but that is a witness for my first one," said Matt smugly.
"Is he here yet?" asked Morph.
"He'll be on Central by the time the uplinks online," said Techo, before a knocking was heard and two Disperse Inc mercs, in full dragonbuster armor walked in. "Captain? It's time," said one.
...
Of course, the entire court martial wasn't in one room. The council had too much to deal than to spend all day at a trial so they were present through video uplink. As was usual, the council had chosen to keep their link as just shadows on a screen, though the fact that a couple of them had glowing or reptilian eyes didn't make it better.
McNeil was already present with his own lawyer. "Good, we can get started," said McNeil impatiently, Matt noticing darkly that two Kryos guards were already in the room.
"Captain Matthew James Lynch of Constellation Private Security, you stand before this tribunal accused of manslaughter, sabotage, and going rouge," said Councilor Davine, "How do you plea?"
"My client pleads not guilty and wishes to point out that there was extreme mitigating circumstances," said Sue promptly, McNeil glaring at her.
"Are we allowing animals to be lawyers?" he said coldly.
Davine shot McNeil an offended look and said, "And what fits your definition of 'animal'?" A few other council members were also glaring at McNeil if their eyes were anything to go by.
McNiel stuttered a bit before going silent. His lawyer, who had covered his eyes at McNeil's words, slowly lifted his head with a sigh before saying, "Calling first witness..."
"Lieutenant Mark Anthony of Constellation Private Security," said Sue.
"His last name is Anthony?" asked Matt.
"Oh har, har," said a voice behind them, Mark walking in, carrying, to McNeil's confusion, a toy of some kind...whose visor seemed to follow him round the room.
"Mark, long time no see," said Matt, "How have you been?"
"As usual as that Tokyo can be. It's good for Robomon to get out and about though," said Mark.
"So that's a Digimon," said Chip as he looked at Robomon, "He doesn't look like much, even if he is good-looking."
"Well, you look like a walking battery." said Robomon, a little annoyed at that.
Then Davine cleared his throat and said, "Am I hearing correct that you brought a digital monster outside of the quarantine?"
"He helps keep that quarantine in place, councilman," said Mark respectfully.
"All bio-emerges are under constant filter and only 83.9% of hostile Digimon emerge and are swiftly confronted," said Robomon.
"I like it," said Davine, apparently amused before saying "Your witness, Mr. Lynch."
Matt got up and wandered over, "Hey Mark...how's Veemon? I've been meaning to visit but you know, interdimensional war and all that."
"Oh, he's built up quite a reputation as one of the toughest Digimon around. Nobody tries to pick on him anymore. But he says he missing digivolving up to higher levels," said Mark.
McNeil cleared his throat and said, "May I remind you that this is a court martial, not a social chatroom?"
Robomon settled for blowing an electronic raspberry at McNeil who went bug eyed with rage. Matt sighed before saying, "Over to you, Sue. Please don't spit at him."
Sue muttered, "That depends on him," before wandering up, "Ok, when did you and the captain first meet?"
"Well, that would be at Balwak Research Outpost, I was part of the security there," said Mark.
"Ah, Balwak Station. A Damocles class research post, lost when its coolant suffered a catastrophic system failure," said Sue, smoothly using the old cover story the council of the time had used for the accident.
"Uh, yeah, total malfunction. I was lucky to get out of there alive. I didn't have that much time to talk to Matt when he first came aboard," said Mark.
"You later became aware of an illegal genetic research program being undertaken by the head of the lab. A Dr. Anton Kurata, currently serving life in Kryos psychiatric wing," said Sue, looking at the notes.
"Yes, I was aware that Kurata was studying the Digimon, but I wasn't aware of how...unscrupulous his methods were and how his goal was less than...ideal," said Mark.
"Yes, you later aided the Lynches and a force of locals in undermining the operations until the 12th fleet arrived and assumed control," said Sue, calmly reading the notes before saying, "Tell me, what were your thoughts on Matt when you were ordered by the doctor to capture him?"
"Well, to be honest, I first thought Matt was being a nosy parker than that had gotten way over his head," said Mark. An empty cola can, tossed by Matt, bounced off Marks head at that, Robomon catching it and munching on it. "Later, he seemed to really care about helping. He got hurt more than a few times when he coulda just walked away," said Mark, calmly ignoring it.
"And at point, would you have ever considered him 'rogue'?" asked Sue.
"Yes...but in a good way. Sometimes orders are better off being ignored," said Mark.
"No further questions," said Sue before turning to the prosecutor, "Your witness."
McNeil's lawyer walked forward, nodding to Sue as from one pro to another. "Mr. Anthony. What was your post at Balwak again, just for the record?" he said calmly.
"Yes, as I already said, I was part of security," said Mark.
"Of course, but you must have had a position within security. From my file here, you're the only surviving member of that team," said the lawyer, calmly.
"Well, I was chief of security," said Mark, now sounding proud of it.
"As such, your clearance gave you access to every section of all facilities in both mirrors of that universes Earth, material and digital yet you say you were unaware of your employer's actions," said the lawyer smugly, Sue actually looking impressed behind him.
"Well, I had to admit at the time I was...biased towards Digimon. No one really thought of them as living beings," said Mark, sounding ashamed.
"So you admit to willingly aiding the program," said the lawyer in the same smugness.
"Well, yes, but Matt helped me see that what I was doing was wrong," said Mark.
"However, the fact remains is that you are actually serving on the B-42 quarantine as part of a sentence passed down by the previous council!" said the lawyer, shouting that.
"Hey, I'm not the one on trial here!" snapped Mark.
"Maybe you should be? I call for this witnesses statement to be inadmissible..." began the lawyer only for Robomon to yell "SHUT UP!"
Everyone turned as Robomon continued, "You know have no idea what it was like in there! I wouldn't even be alive if it weren't for Mark. You know what Kurata wanted to do with me? He wanted to mass-produce an army of mindless Robomon but when I showed some personality, he wanted to delete me and Mark saved me before that happened! He might not have started as a good man, but he is a good man now and you have not right to call him otherwise!"
The lawyer seemed shocked before the voice of one of the council said, "Your movement to dismiss the witnesses evidence is overruled...in light of that...passionate show...but Mr. Anthony, stress on your...partner what will happen should he speak like that to us or the prosecution again."
Maybe it was the shock of Robomon's outburst, but Matt could have sworn that voice sounded incredibly familiar. In fact, if he didn't know better, he'd have said that voice sounded like...
Another voice, human, said "Colonel McNeil. You have yet to say exactly WHAT the captain sabotaged."
Matt gave McNeil a sneaky look and said, "Yes, if it wasn't a 'genetic research facility filled with unethical experiments', what was it that I wrecked?"
"I will...admit we had some specimens on site for research. Mr. Lynch's arrival caused a full containment failure of them and the artifacts we research for the Anti-Magi division," said McNeil, calmly.
"And you just happened to lose all your security footage that would have condemned Matt of his alleged sabotage?" asked Sue who was also working on something on a datapad.
"The facility was rendered nonoperational," said McNeil, turning towards Sue as the screen flickered into a split screen format, the left still showing the council.
The screen quickly cleared up to show what looked like demonic bat creatures, some were hospital gowns, savagely attacking Matt's team. This quickly raised much ire from the council by the tone of their voices. "McNeil, explain these pictures and why they have codestamps for your base," said the human's voice, full of rage.
"Well...it's clearly fake. I mean, have you ever seen such poor costumes? I can see the wire in those wings," said McNeil.
"Do you think I'm a fool?" said Davine's voice, "I could spot a fake blindfolded. This file is genuine."
"Uh...yeah, it is," said Matt before throwing a stern look at Sue who only looked smug.
"This complicates things. I'm adjourning this hearing for 3 hours," said Davine, the comm vanishing.
At that, McNeil lunged out towards Sue and had to held back by both Kyros guards. "You're dead, you little trog! I'm gonna skin you alive for that!" he yelled.
"Someone's got busteeed," sang Matt, forgetting his annoyance with Sue when he saw McNeil's reaction.
McNeil glared at Matt and said, "And that goes double for you, Lynch! You and your entire crew of freaks! You're not getting off this planet alive!"
"That sounds like a threat, did we get that, Sue?" said Matt, cheerfully, Sue waving her tape recorder. "Sir, please calm down or I'll be forced to put you in the brig for the duration," said a guard.
It must have took a momentous amount of self-control, but McNeil stopped struggling. "You'll live to regret this, Lynch. And that won't be very long," he said.
...
McNeil sat in his hotel room, gloomily. The helmet cam footage was as good as a ticket to prison. As much as he hated to admit it, Lynch had him in a corner and he couldn't see any way out.
These...mercs had more oomph than the military nowadays. The NSC had relied more and more on the private companies for military support and the council rolled over and took it. It was getting to the point that CPS was synonymous to NSC.
That brought him to the offer he'd nearly considered a week ago...
...
"More casualty reports, sir. 7th fleets bogged down in the Antiga sector," said an aide, passing a datapad over.
"We're close to losing even more territory," muttered McNeil, "It seems it's always 3 steps forward and 5 steps back."
"More bad news, the council pulled the core fleets back to Central. After that empire battlegroup broke through and Disperse recommended it..." said the aide, his voice trailing off under McNeil's glare.
"That's quite enough for right now, thank you," said McNeil sternly.
"Oh...and there's a visitor for you from QinaCorp technologies," said the Aide, before walking out.
Another man walked and said casually, "I've heard you've been having a string of bad luck lately."
"Ok, lets drop the blitznak. I know for a fact that Qinacorp doesn't exist. Who are you really?" said McNeil, not bothering to look up.
One of the people higher up the hill you've been fighting on," said the man.
McNeil looked up before lunging for the intercom, only for what looked like a fang to hit it. McNeil looked back at the man to see his outstretched hand slowly reverting back from a fang mouth. "Please don't make me do that again. It's hard enough to maintain this form without you tempting me," said the man, his eyes briefly glowing red.
McNeil managed to compose himself for a second before saying calmly, "I presume there's a reason I'm not sprouting fur and an urge to devour coconut cake and coffee."
The man, or rather OmegaMorph, smirked and said, "Like I'd ever devolve you into something that silly. I'd prefer something a lot more vicious. But my...master thinks that you'd be a better asset as a human."
"Ok, let's assume I am crazy. Why would I work for your mini-napoleon?" said McNeil calmly.
"Because that's the only way you're going to win this war," said OmegaMorph, "You're not trying to fight up a hill, you're teetering at the edge of a cliff. Continuing the fight is just going to end with a lot more destruction and death, not that I wouldn't mind. Besides, Hamsterviel's rule is not nearly as bad as everyone's been saying it is. He's brought something that's been all too lacking in this universe: order."
"Really? Didn't he toss your prototype out when he ceased to be useful? Maybe you'll be next?" said McNeil, leaning back in his seat.
OmegaMorph snarled and said, "I'll always be useful to him. The only reason your planet is not a radioactive ember right now it because my...master has enduring plans for it." His arms seemed to swell for a second before resuming their previous size.
"Oh, I thought it was because there's a Conestoga class battlecruiser in orbit taking pot shots at your ships? How many ships did you lose to Sec-Def before you got here?" said McNeil, grinning.
OmegaMorph's face distorted for a second before looking human again. "Don't push my temper. You really don't want to see what happens when I lose control," he growled.
"Do you turn green?" said McNeil before lifting up a device.
OmegaMorph's eyes widened and turned red as he said, "Where did you get that?"
"You think you're the only guy who can steal stuff?" said McNeil before hitting the button, causing OmegaMorph to involuntarily jumps back like he'd been burnt. "Ok, because you impressed me by not killing your way to me, what do you want? The NSC is not gonna surrender if that's what you mean," he said.
"Of course, not under its old softhearted management," said OmegaMorph.
"Oh please, you honestly aren't suggesting I replace the council?" said McNiel actually laughing and using his lunge forward to hit a silent alarm button
"We both know you'd do a much better job. Besides, when Lynch eventually exposes your experimenting under the table, you won't have a choice," said OmegaMorph before suddenly vanishing in a flash of red light.
Two security troopers ran in. "Sir? What happened?"
"Nothing...nothing at all," said McNeil, looking at the device that had been left behind...what looked like another remote for a remote controlled ion missile.
...
McNeil laughed at the idea at first, but now his options were dwindling. It hasn't helped that the Empire was gaining more ground. "Dana...system estimate before no-win scenario is imminent," said McNiel, looking at his wrist-comp.
"Estimating...at current loss rates, NSC forces will be too depleted to prevent losing 91.75% of remaining territories...full losses to follow 1 terran week after," said the AI, "Recommended courses include..." before McNeil turned her off. There's no hope of beating the Empire, there was only one way out...
...
Matt and company were back inside the 'courthouse' waiting for the rest to begin. McNiel had left back for Central, much to Matt's personal pleasure.
"As glad as I am that we're off the hook now, I think we could have won this trial without pulling out our trump card halfway through," said Chip.
"He shouldn't have called me an animal," said Sue sulkily.
"I've heard worse insults than that," said Draco.
"Huh, he got what's coming to him, the little..." muttered Sue before the signal flickered back to life, showing the council again.
"Where's McNeil?" asked one of the unknowns.
"Maybe he had to go to the bathroom," said Morph.
"Morph...who let you in the courtroom?" said Matt slowly.
"The guards," said Morph, calmly.
Matt sighed before the council continued. "In light of the new evidence, we're dropping the case against you...and opening a new one," said the same councilman.
"It's against Max the janitor, isn't it? I always knew he was hiding something," said Morph.
"Oh, I just remembered, Rule 42: anyone with an IQ lower than 30 has to leave the courtroom immediately," said Matt before plasmabending Morph out the door.
"McNeil's crossed the line. We sent a team to check the ruins of his base to verify the story and it seems to be checking out," said the councilman once Morph was gone
"Well, it's hard to see a great man like McNeil fall like that," said Matt.
"No need for sarcasm..." said another councilman in an amused voice before the room on their end of the link went red.
"What the smeg?" swore one in shock before the screen went to static.
"Uh, that was just a loss of power on their end, right?" asked Draco.
The viewer shot back to the usual NSC News network feeds with one thing seemingly occupying it. "Oh no," said Matt, activating one feed "-in. Some kind of missile has just hit the council headquarters here on central..." said the newsreader, being jostled as people ran past her.
"Er, that's just an incredibly unfortunate coincidence, right?" asked Draco.
"...As far as we know the entire council was in an emergency session. Colonel McNeil, under the emergency act has assumed control of the NSC until further notice..." said the voice before the screen went dead.
"Does that answer your question?" stated Chip.
...
Matt and the gang had gone outside to Central Park to try and think on what had happened. McNeil...the last of the old guard...in charge.
"Maybe we're just jumping to conclusions," said Kala, "I mean, McNeil is morally ambiguous enough to try to crossbreed demonic soldiers, but would he really fire a missile at the council?"
"No, the NSC doesn't have remote missiles like that. This was Empire." said NegaMorph, wearing a hologuise.
Sue had also tagged along, her transport cancelled. "I shoulda spat at him," she grumbled.
"Ok, McNeil's a colossal jerk, but he can't be a traitor, can he?" asked Kala.
"Depends how desperate he is." said Matt before looking up as several National Guard trucks shot by.
"Our guys in disguise or the real ones?" asked NegaMorph.
"Real," said Chloe in shock before a boom was heard, clustered with screams.
"Then that's a probably not a good sign," said NegaMorph.
A red beam shot down at that, hitting a building and literally removing the top. "It's an alien invasion!" yelled Morph before diving under a rock.
The group looked up as a trio of droid fighters shot past, firing rapidly at anything. "Kinda looks that way," admitted Draco.
A beep came from everyone's wrist comps. "All units...Code Alpha. Report to Control and gear up," said Leyton's voice, the sound of the alarms in the background.
"Code Alpha, not a good thing, I take it," said Draco as he pulled Morph from out under the rock.
"Means 'drop all pretense and start shooting the evil aliens'," said Matt, running for their jeep, only to be thrown back as a laser bolt blew it apart.
"Yeah, no point in hiding now," said NegaMorph before turning off his holocloak and shooting some laser blasts at one of the droids.
...
The fight seemed to be worldwide, the Time Square screen showing feeds all over the world before a National Guard Apache was crashed into it. Quite naturally, the civilians were fleeing in panic. Fortunately, a detachment of the National Guard was able to direct them to safety.
However, the Earth military was sorely outmatched. Sure a well-aimed Sidewinder could mess up a destroyer droid's day, but all the Empire had to do was shoot from orbit
And even with CPS throwing their fighters into the mix, they were outnumbered almost twenty to one. "Where the hell's the NSC? Sec-Def's supposed to stop this happening." yelled Techo.
"The Council was hit by a missile, remember?" said Chris.
"But the fleet wouldn't have run...ah look," said Matt, pointing to where several dozen droids were being blasted by a force of NSC marines.
"Phew, look likes the cavalry's arrived," said NegaMorph only for one of the marines to shoot his head apart.
"For whose side?" asked Chip.
"FRIENDLIES! HEY!" yelled Matt, dancing around rounds before trying to raise an energy shield.
"I don't think we're on their friends list," said Chip.
Matt dived for cover as they seemed to prefer him. "What the hell's going on?" he yelled, firing wildly back, missing on purpose.
"Didn't that news report say that McNeil was in charge of NSC now?" asked Kala before creating a wall of flame between the marines and them.
"Crapski!" yelled Matt, firing again before shooting another shot at a manhole. "Go down or through laser rounds, your choice!" he yelled to their disgusted looks
With some reluctance, the gang jumped down the hole into the sewer. "There better not be mutant reptiles in there again," said Chip as he jumped.
Matt jumped down last, slamming a disc on the bottom of the remains of the sewer cover. "Let's just go, back to Central. Chip, get Newsnet, find out what the hell's going on."
"Working on it," said Chip, "It'll be hard to get a connection down here."
"Let's just go," said Matt, pushing the others round a corner before the sound of a riot foam grenade was heard, "And just to be clear, we are not supposed to be using walking speed."
Chip finally got a signal and gulped. "Looks like McNeil's settled in, he's blaming CPS," he said.
"WHAT?! How could he possibly blame us?" yelled Kala.
"The same way he tried to blame us at Antarctica," said Chloe.
"Shit..." muttered Matt before Leyton's voice was heard, "You can say that again. Everybody, scatter. Disperce and Black 13 are doing the same. We are leaving."
Just then, Matt got another call, "Yo, Cap, we gotta problem over here."
"Everyone's got the same problem, Dirt Boss, it's not just you," replied Matt.
"What's with the NSC? Dey're tryin' to break inta the shuttlebay and carpool," said Dune Runner, the sound of gunfire heard in the background.
"Ok, just...keep them out till we arrive. We're coming in via the utility section." said Matt
"Ya think it's time to bring the big green?" asked Dirt Boss.
"No, a gigantic robot would just make a bigger target from orbit. Besides, the civvies are freaked out enough as it is," said Matt.
"Gotcha mon," said Dune runner before signing off.
"We have to get to the Bladestorm yesterday!" snapped Matt.
Sue was heard saying, "Hey, what about me? I have a career."
"There's no time for a drop-off at Kauai and you can't really build a law firm if you're dead," said Matt.
Sue seemed to think about this before saying "I'm still being paid by the hour, right?"
"Seriously? Aren't you pushing the lawyer stereotype a little too much?" asked Chloe.
"Hey, blame Jumba, not me," said Sue.
"Fine, we'll pay you in cake, happy?" snapped Matt, the sounds of voices in pursuit already heard.
"Let's continue this conversation when we're safely out of orbit," said Chip.
...
"What kinda merc drives a red buggy?" said one of the NSC troopers, kicking the dune buggy in the motor pool.
"For that matter, who collects construction vehicle?" said another, looking at the six yellow and grey vehicles also parked there.
"I wouldn't touch them," said the Hawaiian girl they'd found in the base canteen. Most of the base had been empty when they'd gotten in, just a few of the mutant freaks and the girl.
"Those oil guzzlers? They're better off being smelted down for parts than taking up space in here," said one trooper.
A voice said, "What oil?"
The trooper said, "Those oil guzzlers."
His fellow said angrily "I didn't say anything...hey, this kid's an EXP mutant, she's got a holowatch."
"What? This old thing? I forgot I was even wearing it. I won it at an arcade," said the girl.
The trooper grabbed her wrist and pulled it up, showing the Nullspace barcode. "Bullshit," he snarled, only for the blue 'freak' to tackle him.
"Looks like we have some exterminating to do," said another trooper. Suddenly, the headlights on all the construction vehicles and the dune buggy lit up, momentarily blinding the troopers. When the lights went off again, the duo were gone. "What the hell was that...damn, and can you smell that?" said one trooper.
"Hey, we just got out of a sewer. What would you expect us to smell like, peaches and cream?" asked a voice.
"Erm, where's the Lieutenant?" asked one of the troopers, only for their missing member to fall from the roof, out cold.
"...Oh no." said another trooper before they all looked up to see three Avalarian dragons in the rafters.
"Dat's not all," said a robotic voice with a Jamaican accent as the dune buggy's rail flipped open to reveal blasters, "Ya scratched me paint too."
The troopers all looked at each other, guessing who the dragons were. "Ok, I surrender," said one trooper.
"What? We can't just surrender like that!" said the leader. However, the construction vehicles started revving their engines as well as a few glowing eyes appearing the shadows. "Actually, yes, we can just surrender," said the leader.
...
"Good news, Councilman McNeil. The mega-corps have pledged their support, especially Executive Genetics who are also requesting their trade ban be lifted," said an aide.
"Tell them I'll consider it in a few days, I have a few too many things to worry about right now," said McNeil.
"Sir, what about that Empire attack in sector 314? The local military's being overwhelmed and the teams arresting the local mercs are requesting they are allowed to engage," said the aide.
"I'm about to contact the Empire in a few minutes. I think I can convince them cease fire," said McNeil.
"Sir, I'm not sure about this. How can you be sure they'll take any offer you have?" said the aide, nervously.
"Oh, I'm quite certain I'll tell exactly what they want to here," said McNeil.
"Very well, sir. Your brother also reported. He and his team are in position," said the aide
"Excellent, Lynch is too much of a wild card to keep on the table. He either needs to be shuffled back into the deck or removed from play," said McNeil.
The aide simply nodded weakly. "Shall I confirm his mission?" he said.
McNeil smirked, "What do you think?"
...
Matt ran down the landing ramp of the North Star and looked around the bay. There wasn't just the crew, but a mix of Black 13 and Disperse Inc. too, mercs who had simply ran for ships and ended up here. "Ok, let's get out of here. I don't care about the direction, but after a few jumps, head for Dragon Eye. Least we know we'll be ok there," he said.
"And then what? NSC's out to get everyone now!" yelled someone from Disperse Inc.
"Avalar's an Atlantean world. They're neutral...unless you want to stay," called Matt. Nobody made any comment about going back. "Ok, it's going to be a long trip so everyone find a place to get comfortable," said Matt.
On cue the ship shook as something hit. "Captain, you'd better get up here," said a voice on the intercom.
"Why can't it just be a meteor shower?" muttered Matt as he headed for the bridge.
...
Matt walked into the command center to see it in uproar, several NSC ships firing on escaping merc cruisers while ignoring Empire ships.
"Well, this is something I probably could have anticipated but didn't want to think possible, said Matt.
"Incoming projectiles!" yelled a technician, the ship shaking just before it went to nullwarp, "Negative detonation, captain, musta been dud rounds."
"No, Empire doesn't fire duds, they're probably trackers or something," said Matt, "We better decouple them."
"No, it came from a NSC vessel," said the technician.
"That's even more worrying. I want whatever it is scraped off the hull, immediately," said Matt.
Another bridge crewman said, "Oh shit, intruder alert, decks 2 through 6. Shit...NSC marauders."
"Worse than trackers," said Matt before saying into the intercom, "We've got boarders, don't stop to ask questions, fire on sight."
...
A crewman slumped down, two smoking holes in his chest. "Team one, you got engineering, knock out their FTL. Team two, take the bridge. Everyone else, with me," said Capt Daniel McNeil of the NSC 'Marauder' boarding squads. Capt McNeil wasn't quite sure if he agreed with his brother's new policy with the Empire yet, but he had to admit, flaying these mercs was too much fun.
"This is team one...detouring through deck 4...hey...who turned out the-" said the voice on the comm of team one before a cry of 'MEEGA NALA QUEESTA' was heard and it cut off.
"Figures Lynch brought his menagarie," said Capt McNeil, "Stay alert, men. There's a shipload of freaks onboard."
"This is team two...we're pinned down on deck 9...need backup and dragonbuster rounds...NOW GODDAMN IT!" came another yell. Daniel glared and made a note to chew his brother out later for giving bad intel.
"Ok, hey, someone's coming," he said, ducking back to see a squad led, by Captain Lynch walk round the corner. He had heard plenty of stories about Lynch, more than enough to know why bringing him in is important. While he didn't have any dragonbuster rounds loaded right now, he hadn't heard anything about Lynch being bulletproof. So it was that he fired a cluster of AP rounds, felling several troopers and Matt, though only a couple were dead.
Lynch hissed in pain before saying, "I hate to admit it, but that was a good shot." He looked around to see his team being wiped out. NSC boarders were a whole other level. Luckily another team, led by Kala ran round the corner at that.
Kala took in one look at Matt's squad before screaming "MATT!" and running towards him.
"STOP! One more step and I blow his brains all over the deck," said Daniel, pressing a now dragonbuster-loaded blaster to Matt's head.
Kala glared at Daniel as her eyes became fiery red and flames engulfed her hands. "GET AWAY FROM HIM!" she shouted before throwing a fireball at Daniel.
Daniel rolled to the side, letting the fireball hit Matt instead. "Oops," he taunted before firing a few rounds at Kala. Kala gave a cry of pain and fury as the flames on her hands grew even bigger. She threw three fireballs at Daniel in quick succession. To his credit, Daniel only got a few grazing blows before he noticed Matt was still there, albeit out for the count.
He aimed at Matt to give him a more permanent injury when a shriek from Kala made him look up. The flames in her hands were even larger from before and seemed to have spread up her arms. In fact, it almost looked like they were made of fire. But then Kala pointed both hands forward and released a huge double flamethrower attack.
Matt simply averted his eyes before half a blaster, its back melted clean off fell to the deck. Matt looked up at the swirling ash in the air that was Daniel McNeil before saying, "Nice shot, Kala. I didn't know you could do something that intense." However, the heat in the corridor hadn't gone down. In fact, it seemed to be increasing.
Matt looked up to see Kala seemed to be almost completely alight. "Erm...Kala? Please turn the heat down before you breach the hull," he asked carefully, noticing the wall warping.
From his position on the floor, Matt could see a clear view of Kala's boots smoking before they suddenly burst into flames. The flames quickly traveled up her legs, burning through the material in their way, stopping only at her hips. However, instead of flesh, in legs now seemed to be made of solid fire. As Kala started floating off the floor, her hair suddenly ignited, becoming a torch atop her head.
"Erm...dear? Please don't melt the ship, we're still paying for it," tried Matt desperately. Kala looked down at Matt with her eyes of flame with a relatively calm look. What was really worrying to Matt was that there was very little recognition in her face.
On cue McNeil's team one ran into view, some covered in what appeared to be cream before seeing Kala. "Bloody hell, open fire!" yelled one.
The regular ammunition melted before they got close enough, but the dragonbuster rounds were able to get through Kala's superheated aura and grave her. That set her off again as she let out another inhuman shriek before combusting. The men had to cover their eyes before looking again. The pillar of flames danced in midair before forming into the shape of a woman with fiery hair and burning eyes.
Matt's voice from behind said angrily, "Now look what you did."
The fire elemental shrieked before sending a wave of flame at the troopers. Matt watched as the troopers were incinerated bar one. "Ok...Kala...KALA...STOP!" Matt said, watching in horror as Kala advanced on the survivor.
Matt managed to get to his feet, hissing with pain from the bullet wounds. Of course, that pain was secondary as he moved towards Kala and deeper into the heat. "Kala...this is not you...calm...down," he said, raising a plasma shield around his skin to keep himself from turning to ash.
Kala turned and hissed like him like burning logs. However, she didn't try to attack him, though she show almost no signs of recognizing him.
"Kala...it's me...I'm your friend...please," said Matt, desperately.
Kala's eyes seemed to soften a little and the heat around her faded a little, but the look she was giving Matt was little more than one would give something curious and intriguing.
"Kala? Come on...I won't lose you again," said Matt desperately, while making a mental note to gut the Atlantean who had added the Shar-Ekta upgrade.
The heat around her faded until it was only coming from her fiery skin. The emotion in her face now seemed to be forlorn, like she was trying to remember something but had trouble grasping it.
"Come on...come back to me," said Matt urgently before swearing to himself in splitter and kissing her. Matt could feel his lips blistering but he could also feel Kala's temperature rapidly dropping. However, he couldn't hold on too and eventually had to let go with a yelp.
Kala's flame dwindled before it suddenly went out, leaving her flesh and blood again. "Matt? What just happened? Why are you holding your mouth and screaming like that?" she asked before looking down at herself and yelling, "WHY AM I NAKED?!"
"You turbed ibdo a fire mobster," said Matt through burnt lips.
"A what?" demanded Kala as she tried to cover herself up.
"A bire modsber," Matt tried again before yelling "Sweb!"
"Matt, can you explain this to me where everyone won't be gawking at me?" asked Kala.
"Obey," said Matt, before his nanites finished healing. "You were hot...and that's not just a compliment," he said, the two walking to a side door.
Kala looked at Matt's still red lips and asked, "Did you try to kiss a furnace?"
"Yes," said Matt, a little sharply.
"But..." began Kala, only for Matt to say "Don't...I'll tell you once we're out of here."
...
With the death of their leader, along with their underestimation of the crew's capabilities, the troopers were easy to defeat, but the battle had its toll on the ship.
"Deck five's uninhabitable for now. Deck 9 appears to be...let's see here...flooded with coconut cream cake...Stiiitch?" said Matt, yelling the experiment's name.
"Well, at least it'll get cleaned up quickly," said NegaMorph, "The others are already working on it."
"Looks like McNeil's wise to the evac plan. All hyperjump points to Dragon Eye are blocked for 4 sectors," said Techo, gloomily
"Where are we supposed to go now?" asked Kala, who was wearing fresh clothes.
Matt pointed to an area of the Badlands, marked as 'unexplored'. "We could take the back way," he suggested
"Uh, Matt, you know those places are unexplored for a reason," said NegaMorph.
"It's that or death," said Matt grimly.
NegaMorph thought for a moment before shrugging, "Well, those blank spots in the map need to be filled up at some point, though we're hardly the image of explorers."
"We won't be sightseeing. I doubt there is just the one boarder team chasing us. So we need to be fast and quick," said Matt.
"Aren't fast and quick the same thing?" asked Morph.
"Quiet you," said Matt before squashing him.
…
NSC News Network Bulletin…
Following the attack on the High Council, Commander McNeil has assumed command of NSC until a new Council can be established. However, the formation of a new Council may take some time since McNeil has declared war upon the various mercenary corporations, particularly CPS, over their alleged involvement in the assassination of the High Council. However, Commander McNeil has managed to reach a truce with the Hamsterviel Empire which is already calling off attacks on several NSC fronts. What the truce entails is yet to be determined, but with both the Empire and NSC taking arms up against the mercenary corporations, many are starting to call this tragedy the start of the Second Nullspace Civil War.
And there's the final chapter. It's rather bittersweet, mostly bitter. Now that the gang have to deal with both the Empire and NSC under McNeil's command, things are even more heated for them. And who knows what lurks in the uncharted places on the edge of the starcharts? Either way, the gang's still in the thick of it.
Admittedly, this hasn't been one of my better stories, but it's an important transition one. The next story will be up in a few weeks, still need to iron out some of the details. Keep an eye out for the story when it eventually appears and please review.