Outlaw Star: A New Dawn
Author's Notes: Thanks for the reviews! I'm glad I did the characters right. I hope you enjoy the next part.
Chapter 2: The Helix Hourglass
"What are you talking about, Fred?" Gene asked with a frustrated frown. Since when did Fred Lowe become serious about things?
Fred took another deep breath before continuing. "Have any of you ever heard of the Darkman Foundation?"
" Darkman? You mean that wacko scientist who wants to rule the universe as emperor?" Jim replied.
"Yes, James. That's exactly who I'm talking about," Fred said sounding happy for some reason. "His name is Jerok Darkman."
"Well, what about him?" Gene tried to keep the annoyance out of his voice.
"You see, Jerok has this absurd obsession with the study of time. He wants to be the first to discover a way to alter time to his control."
"Yeah? So what's the problem, Fred? Did he steal money from you or something?"
"No, no. It's not that Gene. What he stole is far more valuable than any riches."
"Then stop it with the melodrama and tell us already!"
Fred laughed a little, a sound so feminine that it sent shivers down Gene's spine. Shrugging it off, the outlaw did his best to keep his expression neutral.
"Now, now. Calm down, my friend! I'm getting to that part," Fred chided and giggled again. Gene shuddered. "I recently acquired an ancient artifact called the Helix Hourglass."
"Helix Hourglass? Why's some artifact so important? I thought you said it was something that could control time!" Jim complained.
The humor had completely left Fred's face. "Oh, but it can. The Helix Hourglass is not just any artifact. It was said to have been built and left behind by those who created the Galactic Layline."
"WHAT?!" Gene, Jim, and Melfina all cried at the same time.
"It's true. When I encountered the man, from whom I got it from, he told me to use this piece with caution," Fred said and took a sip of his wine.
"How do you know it works?" Melfina asked, speaking for the first time.
Fred looked at her seriously, "Oh, believe me, Melfina. I know. I thought what Pansy-his name-was saying about it was absolutely ridiculous so I tested the hourglass..."
"And?"
"I ended up meeting myself when I was two years old. And I have no idea how I did it or how I got back!"
"What? Are you sure?"
"Oh yes, Gene. Only I would have had those adorable eyes as a child. And I recognized my parents. There's no doubt about it. The Helix Hourglass is a thing of real time control capabilities."
"Great...so what do you want us to do?" Gene asked.
"I would like the Helix Hourglass back. Jerok and his men were last seen heading towards the outer regions of space."
"Outer regions? Do you mean the Dragon's Lair?"
Fred nodded. Melfina looked confused. "Dragon's Lair?"
"The Dragon's Lair was once one of the richest parts of space because a lot of Dragonite was found there. It's a really hard place to navigate through. There's a lot of interference on radar and unexpected stuff happens," Jim supplied.
"Over the decades, that region of space has become a haven for criminals because all of the Dragonite was mined. You can't go there and not expect to run into trouble," Gene added. "This mission might take us on quite a ride."
"So I take it that you accept?" Fred asked.
"Sure, Fred, but how much are you offering?" Gene answered.
"750,000 wong."
Gene shot out of his seat. "Are you serious?"
Fred nodded. "Absolutely. For something this valuable, I'm willing to pay a bit more. Are you interested?"
"Hell yeah, we are!"
"Wonderful! Now that that's settled, how about we eat? I heard their steak is simply to die for..."
Jim was still thinking about Fred's incredible offer when after the three of them left. Fred had treated them to an amazing meal, but Gene seemed anxious to get started on tracking this Jerok Darkman guy down. The outlaw had simply thanked Fred for the meal, endured another one of that man's bear hugs, and led them back to the Outlaw Star.
"Welcome back," Gillium said as they entered the ship.
"Hey, Gil. Anything interesting happen while we were gone?" Jim asked.
"As a matter-" Gillium didn't get to finish as two figures emerged from the interior of the ship.
"Suzuka! Aisha!" Gene exclaimed in surprise. "Hey guys! What are you guys doing here?"
Twilight Suzuka, as usual, was sipping a cup of tea in one hand while the other held her finely crafted wooden sword. Her quiet, stealthy manner was reflected in her dark eyes. It hid the highly skilled and self-sufficient warrior inside.
The loud, rowdy Ctarl Ctarl warrior woman stood proudly beside Suzuka. Aisha's cat/human face and body were very well defined with whiskers and muscles. Her long white hair was pulled back in a careless braid. A wide, ear to ear grin ran across her face.
"We thought we'd come by and see how you all are doing," Suzuka said with a smile.
"We were wondering what ya' were up to!" Aisha added in her gleeful voice.
"We're about to go on a mission to Dragon's Lair. You wanna' come? Fred's offering some major money," Jim said eagerly.
Suzuka blinked. "Dragon's Lair? Why would you want to go there?"
"Come on," Gene interrupted, waving them into the cockpit. "We'll explain while we're on the way."
After the initial take off sequence, Gene put the autopilot into action and explained the situation to Suzuka and Aisha. Jim saw the looks of surprise pass on both women's face at the mention of Fred's bounty. When Gene finished, both Suzuka and Aisha were willing to offer their help.
"Great. Then we'll be just fine," Gene said ecstatically. "How long until we get to the coordinates we set, Gillium?"
"In approximately one hour and thirty minutes if we go at full speed," Gillium replied.
"Then let's go!" Gene hollered and pushed the Outlaw Star to its fastest possible speed. The red grappler ship shot into an incredible pace, seen only as a blur by an outsider's eyes.
"Gene! Five ships are approaching us!" Melfina suddenly cried after a while.
"They're coming in fast!" Gillium added.
Gene glanced down at his radar to see five blinking dots coming quickly into the Outlaw Star's vicinity.
"They're surrounding us, Gene!" Jim cried.
"Looks like we don't have a choice but to fight," Gene muttered. Then he called louder, "Scatter the camera pods, Jim!"
"Right!" Jim's small hands flew over the keyboard and released the camera pods out around them. He looked up and saw several of the round, mechanical cameras spreading out.
"Done!" He declared and glanced up quickly to look at Gene. A small metal mechanism was attached on Gene's right ear and had a small screen for him to see the enemy.
"Releasing grappler arms," Gillium declared. There was a loud clunk as the metal coverings of the grappler arms bolted off. The pair of spidery mechanical red arms jutted out, ready for action.
Gene gripped the controls to the grappler arms tight. "Jim, how are we doing with ammo?"
"We still have 65% left from last time. I told you we should have stocked up when we got back!"
"We'll worry about that later!" Gene said as the Outlaw Star jerked backward sharply to avoid a barrage of gunfire.
"Those are grapplers too!" Gene cried in surprise when the five ships came into view. They were all black and red with an insignia sporting "DF". Each had two sets of grappler arms momentarily ready to do the Outlaw Star some damage. Darkman Foundation.
"Who do you think you are?" a shrill voice suddenly blared on the intercom. "How dare you enter Mr. Darkman's space! Leave at once!"
"Sorry, but we have some business we'd like to discuss with Mr. Darkman," Gene answered heatedly.
"Take your business else where!" the voice screamed and suddenly all five of the ships were closing in on them.
Jim fought with the controls and did a vertical drop. Two of the enemy ships collided into each other and became entangled in one another's arm.
The other three gave chase. They were incredibly fast, to Gene's dismay.
"There's one on top of us!" Melfina warned. Gene propelled the grapplers to grab the arms of the ship right above them. The metal "hands" grasped onto a pair of the other ship's arms. The second pair of grapplers on the ship took hold of the Outlaw Star's and tried to pry them off.
"Shit!" Gene screamed as a second ship fired missiles at them.
"Firing anti-missiles!" Jim announced. Several missiles blasted from the Outlaw Star to meet the oncoming wave of warheads. They met in a dazzling explosion. Debris rained out and sprinkled onto the Outlaw Star.
"Yeah! Alright!" Jim cheered, but his victory was short lived. The third ship was zooming towards them at an alarming rate.
Gene continued to struggle against the other grappler ship. He had a firm grip on the arms, but the second pair was proving to be a real nuisance.
"Alright, sucker. You wanna' play?" Gene muttered. He retracted both arms and grabbed the gun. Then he fired point blank at the ship before they had a chance to react. It exploded in a burst of flames and charred metal.
The force of the blast sent the Outlaw Star flying backwards. All kinds of alarms went off.
"We're losing auxiliary power fast!" Suzuka cried, glancing from her screen quickly.
"They're coming in from both sides!" Aisha screamed, a note of hysteria in her voice.
To Gene's surprise, both grapplers pulled out weapons. They weren't guns like the Outlaw Star. Gene gasped. They were particle beam cannons, a type of weapon that had been banned from manufacturing long ago because of how dangerous they were.
"What are those?" Jim cried.
Little specks of light began to gather inward into the cores of the cannons. They began forming a massive ball of hot light blue light.
"LET"S GET OUTTA' HERE!" Gene yelled, but it was too late. The last thing he remembered was a bright, blinding flash of light that engulfed the ship and immense, sweltering heat...before everything went dark.
Author's Notes: Thanks for the reviews! I'm glad I did the characters right. I hope you enjoy the next part.
Chapter 2: The Helix Hourglass
"What are you talking about, Fred?" Gene asked with a frustrated frown. Since when did Fred Lowe become serious about things?
Fred took another deep breath before continuing. "Have any of you ever heard of the Darkman Foundation?"
" Darkman? You mean that wacko scientist who wants to rule the universe as emperor?" Jim replied.
"Yes, James. That's exactly who I'm talking about," Fred said sounding happy for some reason. "His name is Jerok Darkman."
"Well, what about him?" Gene tried to keep the annoyance out of his voice.
"You see, Jerok has this absurd obsession with the study of time. He wants to be the first to discover a way to alter time to his control."
"Yeah? So what's the problem, Fred? Did he steal money from you or something?"
"No, no. It's not that Gene. What he stole is far more valuable than any riches."
"Then stop it with the melodrama and tell us already!"
Fred laughed a little, a sound so feminine that it sent shivers down Gene's spine. Shrugging it off, the outlaw did his best to keep his expression neutral.
"Now, now. Calm down, my friend! I'm getting to that part," Fred chided and giggled again. Gene shuddered. "I recently acquired an ancient artifact called the Helix Hourglass."
"Helix Hourglass? Why's some artifact so important? I thought you said it was something that could control time!" Jim complained.
The humor had completely left Fred's face. "Oh, but it can. The Helix Hourglass is not just any artifact. It was said to have been built and left behind by those who created the Galactic Layline."
"WHAT?!" Gene, Jim, and Melfina all cried at the same time.
"It's true. When I encountered the man, from whom I got it from, he told me to use this piece with caution," Fred said and took a sip of his wine.
"How do you know it works?" Melfina asked, speaking for the first time.
Fred looked at her seriously, "Oh, believe me, Melfina. I know. I thought what Pansy-his name-was saying about it was absolutely ridiculous so I tested the hourglass..."
"And?"
"I ended up meeting myself when I was two years old. And I have no idea how I did it or how I got back!"
"What? Are you sure?"
"Oh yes, Gene. Only I would have had those adorable eyes as a child. And I recognized my parents. There's no doubt about it. The Helix Hourglass is a thing of real time control capabilities."
"Great...so what do you want us to do?" Gene asked.
"I would like the Helix Hourglass back. Jerok and his men were last seen heading towards the outer regions of space."
"Outer regions? Do you mean the Dragon's Lair?"
Fred nodded. Melfina looked confused. "Dragon's Lair?"
"The Dragon's Lair was once one of the richest parts of space because a lot of Dragonite was found there. It's a really hard place to navigate through. There's a lot of interference on radar and unexpected stuff happens," Jim supplied.
"Over the decades, that region of space has become a haven for criminals because all of the Dragonite was mined. You can't go there and not expect to run into trouble," Gene added. "This mission might take us on quite a ride."
"So I take it that you accept?" Fred asked.
"Sure, Fred, but how much are you offering?" Gene answered.
"750,000 wong."
Gene shot out of his seat. "Are you serious?"
Fred nodded. "Absolutely. For something this valuable, I'm willing to pay a bit more. Are you interested?"
"Hell yeah, we are!"
"Wonderful! Now that that's settled, how about we eat? I heard their steak is simply to die for..."
Jim was still thinking about Fred's incredible offer when after the three of them left. Fred had treated them to an amazing meal, but Gene seemed anxious to get started on tracking this Jerok Darkman guy down. The outlaw had simply thanked Fred for the meal, endured another one of that man's bear hugs, and led them back to the Outlaw Star.
"Welcome back," Gillium said as they entered the ship.
"Hey, Gil. Anything interesting happen while we were gone?" Jim asked.
"As a matter-" Gillium didn't get to finish as two figures emerged from the interior of the ship.
"Suzuka! Aisha!" Gene exclaimed in surprise. "Hey guys! What are you guys doing here?"
Twilight Suzuka, as usual, was sipping a cup of tea in one hand while the other held her finely crafted wooden sword. Her quiet, stealthy manner was reflected in her dark eyes. It hid the highly skilled and self-sufficient warrior inside.
The loud, rowdy Ctarl Ctarl warrior woman stood proudly beside Suzuka. Aisha's cat/human face and body were very well defined with whiskers and muscles. Her long white hair was pulled back in a careless braid. A wide, ear to ear grin ran across her face.
"We thought we'd come by and see how you all are doing," Suzuka said with a smile.
"We were wondering what ya' were up to!" Aisha added in her gleeful voice.
"We're about to go on a mission to Dragon's Lair. You wanna' come? Fred's offering some major money," Jim said eagerly.
Suzuka blinked. "Dragon's Lair? Why would you want to go there?"
"Come on," Gene interrupted, waving them into the cockpit. "We'll explain while we're on the way."
After the initial take off sequence, Gene put the autopilot into action and explained the situation to Suzuka and Aisha. Jim saw the looks of surprise pass on both women's face at the mention of Fred's bounty. When Gene finished, both Suzuka and Aisha were willing to offer their help.
"Great. Then we'll be just fine," Gene said ecstatically. "How long until we get to the coordinates we set, Gillium?"
"In approximately one hour and thirty minutes if we go at full speed," Gillium replied.
"Then let's go!" Gene hollered and pushed the Outlaw Star to its fastest possible speed. The red grappler ship shot into an incredible pace, seen only as a blur by an outsider's eyes.
"Gene! Five ships are approaching us!" Melfina suddenly cried after a while.
"They're coming in fast!" Gillium added.
Gene glanced down at his radar to see five blinking dots coming quickly into the Outlaw Star's vicinity.
"They're surrounding us, Gene!" Jim cried.
"Looks like we don't have a choice but to fight," Gene muttered. Then he called louder, "Scatter the camera pods, Jim!"
"Right!" Jim's small hands flew over the keyboard and released the camera pods out around them. He looked up and saw several of the round, mechanical cameras spreading out.
"Done!" He declared and glanced up quickly to look at Gene. A small metal mechanism was attached on Gene's right ear and had a small screen for him to see the enemy.
"Releasing grappler arms," Gillium declared. There was a loud clunk as the metal coverings of the grappler arms bolted off. The pair of spidery mechanical red arms jutted out, ready for action.
Gene gripped the controls to the grappler arms tight. "Jim, how are we doing with ammo?"
"We still have 65% left from last time. I told you we should have stocked up when we got back!"
"We'll worry about that later!" Gene said as the Outlaw Star jerked backward sharply to avoid a barrage of gunfire.
"Those are grapplers too!" Gene cried in surprise when the five ships came into view. They were all black and red with an insignia sporting "DF". Each had two sets of grappler arms momentarily ready to do the Outlaw Star some damage. Darkman Foundation.
"Who do you think you are?" a shrill voice suddenly blared on the intercom. "How dare you enter Mr. Darkman's space! Leave at once!"
"Sorry, but we have some business we'd like to discuss with Mr. Darkman," Gene answered heatedly.
"Take your business else where!" the voice screamed and suddenly all five of the ships were closing in on them.
Jim fought with the controls and did a vertical drop. Two of the enemy ships collided into each other and became entangled in one another's arm.
The other three gave chase. They were incredibly fast, to Gene's dismay.
"There's one on top of us!" Melfina warned. Gene propelled the grapplers to grab the arms of the ship right above them. The metal "hands" grasped onto a pair of the other ship's arms. The second pair of grapplers on the ship took hold of the Outlaw Star's and tried to pry them off.
"Shit!" Gene screamed as a second ship fired missiles at them.
"Firing anti-missiles!" Jim announced. Several missiles blasted from the Outlaw Star to meet the oncoming wave of warheads. They met in a dazzling explosion. Debris rained out and sprinkled onto the Outlaw Star.
"Yeah! Alright!" Jim cheered, but his victory was short lived. The third ship was zooming towards them at an alarming rate.
Gene continued to struggle against the other grappler ship. He had a firm grip on the arms, but the second pair was proving to be a real nuisance.
"Alright, sucker. You wanna' play?" Gene muttered. He retracted both arms and grabbed the gun. Then he fired point blank at the ship before they had a chance to react. It exploded in a burst of flames and charred metal.
The force of the blast sent the Outlaw Star flying backwards. All kinds of alarms went off.
"We're losing auxiliary power fast!" Suzuka cried, glancing from her screen quickly.
"They're coming in from both sides!" Aisha screamed, a note of hysteria in her voice.
To Gene's surprise, both grapplers pulled out weapons. They weren't guns like the Outlaw Star. Gene gasped. They were particle beam cannons, a type of weapon that had been banned from manufacturing long ago because of how dangerous they were.
"What are those?" Jim cried.
Little specks of light began to gather inward into the cores of the cannons. They began forming a massive ball of hot light blue light.
"LET"S GET OUTTA' HERE!" Gene yelled, but it was too late. The last thing he remembered was a bright, blinding flash of light that engulfed the ship and immense, sweltering heat...before everything went dark.