Chapter Four: Clear skies and Bombing Waters
"Now, this is much better!" Rick exclaimed, stretching out on the deck of the airship. With the turret cannon retracted, and the ship only going at 1/4 cruising speed, he felt a bit of relaxation was needed, especially after the battle with the Bonnes. After setting the ship onto autopilot, he proceeded up the ladder that was within the cockpit area, and up onto the top deck, to get some fresh air. Now, he held onto the railing of the ship he had set up there for such a time as now. His eyes closed as he feels the wind rush past his face, and through his hair- he couldn't feel it on the rest of his body thanks to his armor he had on, while his helmet he had left on the co-pilot's seat below. His boots were magnetically clamped to the deck, to help keep him in place as he stood there.
"Not a cloud in the sky, the Bonnes at least an hour behind me... This is a good time to relax, for now." He whispered to himself, laughing into the wind. The battle with the Bonnes was a not-so-distant memory, but he still relaxed easily. His eyes opened, as he looks around the surrounding sea and sky... a few clouds here and there, no gulls in sight, and no ships on the water. It seemed almost too quiet, except for the constant rumbling of the oversized engines and thrusters behind him. Then, of course, there was the whistling of the air as his ship rushed through it.
Rick couldn't help but to think there was something wrong. Though he'd never been flying in an airship on his own before, there was something definitely unnerving about traveling on your own. "This can't be right," he said out loud, to no one in particular but himself. Maybe it was the fact that he didn't have anyone to fly with, or maybe it was the fact that he was lonely, but something was bugging him... and he couldn't figure out what. What he didn't know, either, was the blip that was closing in, on the radar screen... under his field of vision.
----
A red light came active on the large, single eye of the robot as its sensors picked up something flying above the ocean. The word Charybdis was etched in on its sides in some strange language, and it began to move slowly toward the surface of the ocean, stalking its newfound prey. A single large, metal gray spike crested the water, the ocean parting around the spike as the shadow of its body was vaguely visible along the top of the water. The body itself was a light sea green, but it also had metallic portions upon it as well. It looked much like a snake, but it had what seemed to be wings, or fins, along its sides to help keep it afloat easier. Of course, no one was watching, least of all the human in the airship, it seemed.
The single occupant inside looked up and into his view-screen and grinned slightly. "I've got you now!" it said in a high-pitched voice, as it flipped several switches on the console in front of it. Along all 8 segmented sections of the swimming snake 'bot, small turreted guns came out and began blasting away at the unsuspecting ship above. "You won't get away from us this time!" it said to itself as the bolts of yellow Vulcan energy was fired quickly overhead. The sheer volume of firepower being poured into the sky made a targeting system unnecessary... and too expensive, too.
----
Rick opened up the hatch to get below, and into the airship, as he thought he saw a signal flare go up fairly close to his ship. "What in the world?" he muttered, and he stopped, stepped back up onto the deck, and stumbled, skidding into the railing as the ship shuddered. That was no flare... it was a Vulcan energy shot, and it hit the ship, he thought, eyes going wide as he winces a bit, having hit the rail with mostly his armor, but the back of his neck hit as well. "Damn!" he exclaimed, staggering to his feet as he slowly made his way back to the hatch, and dove inside... the hatch closed behind him, even as he hit the metal floor with a resounding thud, almost landing head first.
"Ow..." he muttered, picking himself up as he shakes his head, quickly opening the door into the cockpit as the ship shuddered again, and he could hear something very, very troubling- his engine was sputtering. "Shit. Computer, activate engine repair sequence!" he yelled, jumping into the pilot seat and punching the throttle forward, causing the engine to stop sputtering and fall back to its original routine. "Thank goodness for safety bypasses" he muttered, rather glad that he had installed a redundant energy flow system into the engine housing. Looking around, he couldn't see anything above or around the ship, even with the radar. "Below..." he whispered and he winced slightly as another shot hit. His ship was now moving about half speed, even with the redundant system in place, thanks to the damage.
Taking the Control stick in hand, he maneuvered out of the way, and began climbing further into the atmosphere at high speeds. The armor, now dented, blackened and smoking from the Vulcan fire that had flashed at him from below the ship, now burned a slight reddish hue at the sudden incline, and the whole ship shuddered again. "Damn it..." he muttered, and fought to keep the nose up, even as he could tell that he needed to land, and soon. "Computer, how long until we can reach Nino Island?" Rick asked, gritting his teeth as he managed to keep the ship stable in the air for now.
"Estimated time between our current position and Nino Island is three hours, 42 minutes and 12 seconds." The computer responded, and Rick sighed. "I can't hold this thing aloft that long..." he muttered, and blinked, noticing a large blip on the radar moving toward his position fast. "Oh no... please no, it can't be, not now!" he cried, shaking his head, and uncovering the turret cannon button, even as he realized what was happening. He had thought he had a large enough head start to not have to worry about them for at least a few hours longer, but no such luck- they were here.
----
"Great work, #2! You slowed him down! He doesn't have any choice now but to surrender to us!" said that loud, mature, and slightly annoying voice over a private channel. "Master Teasel, that airship has begun to slow down a lot. We can overtake his position in less than 5 minutes," a whiny voice said, from the console of to Teasel's left. Teasel began laughing, and then looked to Tron, who was standing off to his right, next to his chair. "That was a great idea, Tron, to use our Snake sub to disable his engines! Now, we can take his ship and deal with that annoyance once and for all!"
"That's right Teasel, but make sure we get the kid alive. With his help, I'm sure we can make our forces much more powerful than ever before, and then we can take Kattlelox easily! After that, we can take Ryship Island, Manda Island, and so on... The way he managed to modify his ship like that, he must have figured out how we can improve our own! If not, well, we at least get to sell his ship, right?" She raised the back of her hand to the side of mouth, and laughed evilly at that thought. There was more to it, she knew. The fact that some nobody had managed to best her own designs like this angered her. It wasn't Mega Man, or even that girl Roll that helped him out. This was just some kid from an island they were defeated on years ago, and now he was making a mockery of her family! "I'll make him pay!" she whispered to herself, even as she turned to head out the hatch, back to the launch bay for her Fokker Falcon, which she had repaired already. "Just for embarrassing me, I'll lock him in the torture room for two weeks!"
"Hey Teasel, while I'm out, order some pizza, 'kay?" Tron yelled back into the bridge, and Teasel shook his head. "Oh, all right!" he said, in that slightly annoyed tone of voice. Here he was, about to finally capture the kid who had humiliated them less than two hours ago, and Tron wants pizza! Teasel sighed... and shrugged, picking up the phone that was on his chair, and pressed Speed Dial #5. Teasel sighed again, wondering why Tron had to make it so that the Servbots all used actual food to replenish their energy. She had told him once before when he asked about that and her answer was because food was cheaper than refractors. "Ain't that the truth," he muttered, while the phone was dialing, just before the person on the other end picked up. "Hello, High Fly Pizza?" he spoke into the phone, and began ordering pizza for the 43 people on board.
----
Servbot #2, on the other hand, was still on the intercom as Teasel ordered the pizza. "Yes, a large pepperoni, sausage, mushrooms and onions... make that 5 of those, and then a dozen large Canadian bacon and pineapple pizzas... finally, a half dozen large pizzas with the works, minus sardines." Teasel's voice came over the intercom. The Servbot winced and flailed its arms around wildly. "Master Teasel, come pick me up!" its whiny voice rang out, even as the intercom died off. Then, its trademark, whining yell could be heard even by Tron who passed by overhead in the Fokker Falcon. "Oh, no!"
----
Rick, on the other hand, had his hands full with keeping the ship upright without having to worry about the approaching Fokker Falcon. Then, the speaker came to life as a somewhat familiar voice filled the small cockpit. "Well kid, it's the end of the line for you! The nearest island is at least two hours away, and from the damage you've taken, I doubt you have half that time left in the air! Ha!" her laughter made him winced, even as another shudder rained down along his ship. "Surrender, and we'll let you live, and you can be my slave!" she cried out to him, all the while grinning as she gripped the talons of her mech onto the top of the Shadow Nova. "Power down your weapons, or else I will tear this hunk of a Drache pile to pieces!"
"Not much of choice, have I?" he spoke, after turning on his microphone for her to hear him on her end. A short laugh could be heard, in agreement to his assessment. "Well then... I surrender." He said softly, even as he began to grin slightly, moving his fingers over to the tilt-thruster button, and pressed it easily. Servos could be heard, and he grabbed his helmet from the other seat, slipping it on quickly. "Computer, lock all hatches except the top hatch as soon as I reach the top deck," he said quickly, locking the chinstrap on his helmet into place under, where else, his chin. "Acknowledged," the computer said, as he nodded in response.
"Nova, bring weapon systems one and two online." He said, slapping the boosters into his buster gun quickly, and he stepped over to the ladder. Starting to climb, he reached up, and opened the hatch, letting himself out of the ship and then he closed the hatch behind him. As he stood to face the cockpit of the mechanical falcon keeping his ship aloft and trying to drag it back to where it came from, he put a hand onto the side of his helmet, where his hearing receptors were. Pressing a small button on the left side of the helmet, a tinted visor slid down and over his face, obscuring his facial features from Tron's view.
"Nova, patch into the Shadow Nova's computer system, and let me know the extent of the damage." Rick said simply, as the Head's Up Display (HUD) came to life on his visor. He whistled softly, and laughed, as he walked to the tail, and carefully, after clicking the magnetic boots to on, made his way to the now barely working engine. Finding the panel he was looking for, thanks to the damage display on his visor, he reached to his left arm and pressed a button, causing his buster gun to form. He changes its output to a low yield beam, he opens the panel, and then blasts into the wiring with that gentle beam. The heat in return melds the wiring that connected the two secondary cables between the engine and refractor together, and Rick waits for a moment. Then grins, as he listens to the dull roar of the engine flare back to life.
"Perfect! Shadow Nova Computer, begin ascent!" he yelled out, as he flipped the panel back into place, looking back up at Tron's Falcon mech, and grins. If she could see my face now, wouldn't she be surprised, he thought. Then, as he stepped back along the deck, he began to lose his balance as the Shadow Nova actually began ascending thanks to the tilt thrusters being in the vertical position.
----
"What is he doing?" Tron asks herself, watching her captive as he blasted away at something inside of his ship, near the engine. "Is he trying to blow us both up?" she asked herself in a panic, before noticing how light the beam from his gun was. "No... he's doing something, though. The buster looks a lot like Mega Man's, too..." she mumbled to herself, and then suddenly got lurched backwards, nearly tearing off the tail fin of the kid's airship at the sudden increase in speed. "Tricky little devil," she whispered, finally realizing the kid's plan as she unlatched the metal talons from his ship
"What's going on here!" Teasel yelled at the Servbots in the bridge, demanding to know how that surprising increase in speed happened. The Gesellchaft II had been almost on top of the ship when its engines suddenly flared to life. However, what really surprised them was when that same ship began ascending, right into their path! "Hard to starboard, hard to starboard! Hurry up, you Servbots!" Teasel screamed, as the giant ship slowly turned, and the much smaller red and gray ship barely missed them. "How'd he do that!" he yelled once again.
Deeper in the Gesellchaft II, Bomb was playing when the craft suddenly tilted to the starboard. He suddenly went flying into the wall, the shell shaped like a wrecking ball with the human inside getting a rather large dent in it. His eyes were spiraling as his shell got knocked about the room like a ping pong ball. "Ba, Babooooo..." could be heard throughout the ship, even as several Servbots went to try and help. "Master Bomb, are you all right?" several voices said at once, even as their pupils went extremely small. A hushed "Oh no!" was heard as the dented shell of Bomb Bonne rammed straight into the Servbots that went to help, knocking them all over the room like a Bowling Ball does when it bowls a strike.
----
"Nova, initiate autopilot on the Shadow Nova! Deactivate Nova weapon systems!" Rick gasped, his magnetic boots losing their grip as the small ship was shoved this way and that, from the sheer closeness of his ship and the Bonne's. Suddenly, he screamed, tripping up and over the railing of his own ship, one hand lashing out to grab hold of the railing. He was just barely able to hold on with that right hand, his left hand still encased by a cannon. "Help me!" he yelled, unaware that the radio within his helmet was on, and that anyone within a 5 mile radius would hear him thanks to that. The emergency beacon, a powerful transmitting device he had installed in the armor, which would only activate when he said those two words, became active. The signal went out for many miles around, but none would be there in time to help him, he thought. This was the Bonne's move, he thought. Checkmate... I've lost.
"Now, this is much better!" Rick exclaimed, stretching out on the deck of the airship. With the turret cannon retracted, and the ship only going at 1/4 cruising speed, he felt a bit of relaxation was needed, especially after the battle with the Bonnes. After setting the ship onto autopilot, he proceeded up the ladder that was within the cockpit area, and up onto the top deck, to get some fresh air. Now, he held onto the railing of the ship he had set up there for such a time as now. His eyes closed as he feels the wind rush past his face, and through his hair- he couldn't feel it on the rest of his body thanks to his armor he had on, while his helmet he had left on the co-pilot's seat below. His boots were magnetically clamped to the deck, to help keep him in place as he stood there.
"Not a cloud in the sky, the Bonnes at least an hour behind me... This is a good time to relax, for now." He whispered to himself, laughing into the wind. The battle with the Bonnes was a not-so-distant memory, but he still relaxed easily. His eyes opened, as he looks around the surrounding sea and sky... a few clouds here and there, no gulls in sight, and no ships on the water. It seemed almost too quiet, except for the constant rumbling of the oversized engines and thrusters behind him. Then, of course, there was the whistling of the air as his ship rushed through it.
Rick couldn't help but to think there was something wrong. Though he'd never been flying in an airship on his own before, there was something definitely unnerving about traveling on your own. "This can't be right," he said out loud, to no one in particular but himself. Maybe it was the fact that he didn't have anyone to fly with, or maybe it was the fact that he was lonely, but something was bugging him... and he couldn't figure out what. What he didn't know, either, was the blip that was closing in, on the radar screen... under his field of vision.
----
A red light came active on the large, single eye of the robot as its sensors picked up something flying above the ocean. The word Charybdis was etched in on its sides in some strange language, and it began to move slowly toward the surface of the ocean, stalking its newfound prey. A single large, metal gray spike crested the water, the ocean parting around the spike as the shadow of its body was vaguely visible along the top of the water. The body itself was a light sea green, but it also had metallic portions upon it as well. It looked much like a snake, but it had what seemed to be wings, or fins, along its sides to help keep it afloat easier. Of course, no one was watching, least of all the human in the airship, it seemed.
The single occupant inside looked up and into his view-screen and grinned slightly. "I've got you now!" it said in a high-pitched voice, as it flipped several switches on the console in front of it. Along all 8 segmented sections of the swimming snake 'bot, small turreted guns came out and began blasting away at the unsuspecting ship above. "You won't get away from us this time!" it said to itself as the bolts of yellow Vulcan energy was fired quickly overhead. The sheer volume of firepower being poured into the sky made a targeting system unnecessary... and too expensive, too.
----
Rick opened up the hatch to get below, and into the airship, as he thought he saw a signal flare go up fairly close to his ship. "What in the world?" he muttered, and he stopped, stepped back up onto the deck, and stumbled, skidding into the railing as the ship shuddered. That was no flare... it was a Vulcan energy shot, and it hit the ship, he thought, eyes going wide as he winces a bit, having hit the rail with mostly his armor, but the back of his neck hit as well. "Damn!" he exclaimed, staggering to his feet as he slowly made his way back to the hatch, and dove inside... the hatch closed behind him, even as he hit the metal floor with a resounding thud, almost landing head first.
"Ow..." he muttered, picking himself up as he shakes his head, quickly opening the door into the cockpit as the ship shuddered again, and he could hear something very, very troubling- his engine was sputtering. "Shit. Computer, activate engine repair sequence!" he yelled, jumping into the pilot seat and punching the throttle forward, causing the engine to stop sputtering and fall back to its original routine. "Thank goodness for safety bypasses" he muttered, rather glad that he had installed a redundant energy flow system into the engine housing. Looking around, he couldn't see anything above or around the ship, even with the radar. "Below..." he whispered and he winced slightly as another shot hit. His ship was now moving about half speed, even with the redundant system in place, thanks to the damage.
Taking the Control stick in hand, he maneuvered out of the way, and began climbing further into the atmosphere at high speeds. The armor, now dented, blackened and smoking from the Vulcan fire that had flashed at him from below the ship, now burned a slight reddish hue at the sudden incline, and the whole ship shuddered again. "Damn it..." he muttered, and fought to keep the nose up, even as he could tell that he needed to land, and soon. "Computer, how long until we can reach Nino Island?" Rick asked, gritting his teeth as he managed to keep the ship stable in the air for now.
"Estimated time between our current position and Nino Island is three hours, 42 minutes and 12 seconds." The computer responded, and Rick sighed. "I can't hold this thing aloft that long..." he muttered, and blinked, noticing a large blip on the radar moving toward his position fast. "Oh no... please no, it can't be, not now!" he cried, shaking his head, and uncovering the turret cannon button, even as he realized what was happening. He had thought he had a large enough head start to not have to worry about them for at least a few hours longer, but no such luck- they were here.
----
"Great work, #2! You slowed him down! He doesn't have any choice now but to surrender to us!" said that loud, mature, and slightly annoying voice over a private channel. "Master Teasel, that airship has begun to slow down a lot. We can overtake his position in less than 5 minutes," a whiny voice said, from the console of to Teasel's left. Teasel began laughing, and then looked to Tron, who was standing off to his right, next to his chair. "That was a great idea, Tron, to use our Snake sub to disable his engines! Now, we can take his ship and deal with that annoyance once and for all!"
"That's right Teasel, but make sure we get the kid alive. With his help, I'm sure we can make our forces much more powerful than ever before, and then we can take Kattlelox easily! After that, we can take Ryship Island, Manda Island, and so on... The way he managed to modify his ship like that, he must have figured out how we can improve our own! If not, well, we at least get to sell his ship, right?" She raised the back of her hand to the side of mouth, and laughed evilly at that thought. There was more to it, she knew. The fact that some nobody had managed to best her own designs like this angered her. It wasn't Mega Man, or even that girl Roll that helped him out. This was just some kid from an island they were defeated on years ago, and now he was making a mockery of her family! "I'll make him pay!" she whispered to herself, even as she turned to head out the hatch, back to the launch bay for her Fokker Falcon, which she had repaired already. "Just for embarrassing me, I'll lock him in the torture room for two weeks!"
"Hey Teasel, while I'm out, order some pizza, 'kay?" Tron yelled back into the bridge, and Teasel shook his head. "Oh, all right!" he said, in that slightly annoyed tone of voice. Here he was, about to finally capture the kid who had humiliated them less than two hours ago, and Tron wants pizza! Teasel sighed... and shrugged, picking up the phone that was on his chair, and pressed Speed Dial #5. Teasel sighed again, wondering why Tron had to make it so that the Servbots all used actual food to replenish their energy. She had told him once before when he asked about that and her answer was because food was cheaper than refractors. "Ain't that the truth," he muttered, while the phone was dialing, just before the person on the other end picked up. "Hello, High Fly Pizza?" he spoke into the phone, and began ordering pizza for the 43 people on board.
----
Servbot #2, on the other hand, was still on the intercom as Teasel ordered the pizza. "Yes, a large pepperoni, sausage, mushrooms and onions... make that 5 of those, and then a dozen large Canadian bacon and pineapple pizzas... finally, a half dozen large pizzas with the works, minus sardines." Teasel's voice came over the intercom. The Servbot winced and flailed its arms around wildly. "Master Teasel, come pick me up!" its whiny voice rang out, even as the intercom died off. Then, its trademark, whining yell could be heard even by Tron who passed by overhead in the Fokker Falcon. "Oh, no!"
----
Rick, on the other hand, had his hands full with keeping the ship upright without having to worry about the approaching Fokker Falcon. Then, the speaker came to life as a somewhat familiar voice filled the small cockpit. "Well kid, it's the end of the line for you! The nearest island is at least two hours away, and from the damage you've taken, I doubt you have half that time left in the air! Ha!" her laughter made him winced, even as another shudder rained down along his ship. "Surrender, and we'll let you live, and you can be my slave!" she cried out to him, all the while grinning as she gripped the talons of her mech onto the top of the Shadow Nova. "Power down your weapons, or else I will tear this hunk of a Drache pile to pieces!"
"Not much of choice, have I?" he spoke, after turning on his microphone for her to hear him on her end. A short laugh could be heard, in agreement to his assessment. "Well then... I surrender." He said softly, even as he began to grin slightly, moving his fingers over to the tilt-thruster button, and pressed it easily. Servos could be heard, and he grabbed his helmet from the other seat, slipping it on quickly. "Computer, lock all hatches except the top hatch as soon as I reach the top deck," he said quickly, locking the chinstrap on his helmet into place under, where else, his chin. "Acknowledged," the computer said, as he nodded in response.
"Nova, bring weapon systems one and two online." He said, slapping the boosters into his buster gun quickly, and he stepped over to the ladder. Starting to climb, he reached up, and opened the hatch, letting himself out of the ship and then he closed the hatch behind him. As he stood to face the cockpit of the mechanical falcon keeping his ship aloft and trying to drag it back to where it came from, he put a hand onto the side of his helmet, where his hearing receptors were. Pressing a small button on the left side of the helmet, a tinted visor slid down and over his face, obscuring his facial features from Tron's view.
"Nova, patch into the Shadow Nova's computer system, and let me know the extent of the damage." Rick said simply, as the Head's Up Display (HUD) came to life on his visor. He whistled softly, and laughed, as he walked to the tail, and carefully, after clicking the magnetic boots to on, made his way to the now barely working engine. Finding the panel he was looking for, thanks to the damage display on his visor, he reached to his left arm and pressed a button, causing his buster gun to form. He changes its output to a low yield beam, he opens the panel, and then blasts into the wiring with that gentle beam. The heat in return melds the wiring that connected the two secondary cables between the engine and refractor together, and Rick waits for a moment. Then grins, as he listens to the dull roar of the engine flare back to life.
"Perfect! Shadow Nova Computer, begin ascent!" he yelled out, as he flipped the panel back into place, looking back up at Tron's Falcon mech, and grins. If she could see my face now, wouldn't she be surprised, he thought. Then, as he stepped back along the deck, he began to lose his balance as the Shadow Nova actually began ascending thanks to the tilt thrusters being in the vertical position.
----
"What is he doing?" Tron asks herself, watching her captive as he blasted away at something inside of his ship, near the engine. "Is he trying to blow us both up?" she asked herself in a panic, before noticing how light the beam from his gun was. "No... he's doing something, though. The buster looks a lot like Mega Man's, too..." she mumbled to herself, and then suddenly got lurched backwards, nearly tearing off the tail fin of the kid's airship at the sudden increase in speed. "Tricky little devil," she whispered, finally realizing the kid's plan as she unlatched the metal talons from his ship
"What's going on here!" Teasel yelled at the Servbots in the bridge, demanding to know how that surprising increase in speed happened. The Gesellchaft II had been almost on top of the ship when its engines suddenly flared to life. However, what really surprised them was when that same ship began ascending, right into their path! "Hard to starboard, hard to starboard! Hurry up, you Servbots!" Teasel screamed, as the giant ship slowly turned, and the much smaller red and gray ship barely missed them. "How'd he do that!" he yelled once again.
Deeper in the Gesellchaft II, Bomb was playing when the craft suddenly tilted to the starboard. He suddenly went flying into the wall, the shell shaped like a wrecking ball with the human inside getting a rather large dent in it. His eyes were spiraling as his shell got knocked about the room like a ping pong ball. "Ba, Babooooo..." could be heard throughout the ship, even as several Servbots went to try and help. "Master Bomb, are you all right?" several voices said at once, even as their pupils went extremely small. A hushed "Oh no!" was heard as the dented shell of Bomb Bonne rammed straight into the Servbots that went to help, knocking them all over the room like a Bowling Ball does when it bowls a strike.
----
"Nova, initiate autopilot on the Shadow Nova! Deactivate Nova weapon systems!" Rick gasped, his magnetic boots losing their grip as the small ship was shoved this way and that, from the sheer closeness of his ship and the Bonne's. Suddenly, he screamed, tripping up and over the railing of his own ship, one hand lashing out to grab hold of the railing. He was just barely able to hold on with that right hand, his left hand still encased by a cannon. "Help me!" he yelled, unaware that the radio within his helmet was on, and that anyone within a 5 mile radius would hear him thanks to that. The emergency beacon, a powerful transmitting device he had installed in the armor, which would only activate when he said those two words, became active. The signal went out for many miles around, but none would be there in time to help him, he thought. This was the Bonne's move, he thought. Checkmate... I've lost.