There are secrets in the universe that may never be fully explained.
Where there are mysteries, there are always three kinds of people connected to them. One is the kind of people who want to seek the mysteries out to their fullest.
The other are the people who are out to destroy any secret they believe threatens their security or positions of power.
The third type are the defenders of mysteries.
This is the tale of several such defenders.
Outcast Legends: And Outlaw Star fanfic
Encounter
Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters from the original Outlaw Star TV anime. I'll make a list of those characters and concepts I do own at the end of the fic, if there are any.
Chapter 2- Dawn Sword
"Tell me you've got some kind of plan, Suzuka." Jean said as the Outlaw Star's engines roared loud in the background, the ship now in process of leaving the planet. "After all, I got the feeling you and this Dawn Sword guy weren't exactly on good terms."
Suzuka motioned to Jean that it might not be safe to talk.
"If you want to talk about that, Jean," Suzuka stated. "It wouldn't hurt to be aware that this ship is likely bugged."
"I don't detect anything." Gilliam stated.
"You didn't detect those phantom warriors either, did you?" Suzuka countered.
"Good point." Jim stated.
"Got any suggestions then, Suzuka?" Jean inquired.
"In fact, I can think of one place on the ship which couldn't possibly have been bugged." Suzuka stated. She then looked over at Melfina. "Is there by chance room for three in that dunk tank?"
"... I guess so." Melfina stated unsurely.
"Then it looks like we're going for a swim, Jean." Suzuka stated.
"Whoa... it's been a while since I've been in here." Jean thought out loud.
"This is very strange..." Suzuka thought, looking around. "It's like there's blue crystals everywhere."
"That's because this is a mind link, not the actual access tube." Melfina stated. "Here we can talk completely unheard."
"So tell me about this Dawn Sword guy." Jean asked.
"It all goes back to four years ago, before I met up with you and the others." Suzuka stated. "I heard about a warrior named Dawn Sword and fought him one-on-one. I thought for sure I killed him, but it appears I was wrong."
"You mean you weren't sure?"
"Let me put it like this: I dropped a cliff on him. I didn't exactly have time to go looking through the rubble before the authorities would have arrived."
"Oh." Jean and Melfina said at once.
"But then how could he POSSIBLY be alive?" Jean inquired. "I know I wouldn't have survived that."
"You think I know the answer to that? I thought he was dead too."
"In my opinion, these's a lot of factors that just aren't adding up." Melfina stated.
"So that brings me back to my original question, Suzuka. What's the plan?" Jean inquired once more.
Suzuka was silent for a long moment.
"Listen; I have a score to settle with Dawn Sword. If he's still alive, I'll need to destroy him in order to retain my honor as never failing to kill my foes."
"You didn't kill me." Jean stated.
"Consider yourself spared." Suzuka returned, in a 'do you really want to bring that up again?' tone. "But considering how outmatched we are by their level of technology, we'll need an ace of a plan if we're going to get out in one piece."
"Here's an idea. Why don't we bring along a few Gilliam bots loaded with explosives. When things turn ugly, they scatter and start destroying the place. We make our getaway in the midst of the confusion, and then send a couple dozen missiles down their throats to make sure nobody else makes it out." Jean proposed.
"Simple, but effective. It won't be easy to guarantee our safety, even once we make our escape. But at least we can put some distance between them and us before we have to deal with any more dangerous situations." Suzuka stated.
"Once we're in sub-ether we should be safe." Melfina stated, then her face registered with information. "We're receiving a communication ... but I'm not picking up any ships within broadcasting range."
"Must be them." Suzuka surmised.
"I'll open the hatch to the bridge, then." Melfina stated, the strange crystal-blue world fading out of Jean and Suzuka's vision.
"OK, your story checked out with Dawn Sword." Bluestone stated. Her image was now pasted on a holographic comm-vid on the Outlaw Star's main viewport. "Firstly I'd like to apologize for treating a friend of his with such disrespect, and secondly I'd like to apologize for the listening devices I planted aboard your ship. Your scanners should be able to detect them now; feel free to remove them."
"Oh my," Gilliam suddenly pipped up. "Yes, scanners are picking up multiple small transmitting devices throughout the ship."
"Jim, think you could clean those bugs outta here?" Jean inquired. Jim nodded and took off into the hallway adjacent the bridge. Bluestone continued.
"OK, with the apologies out of the way, let me lay down the laws for this little trip." She stated. "In case you haven't become aware of it yet, our ships are invisible and likewise untouchable by any run-of-the-mill weaponry you might have. I'll be transmitting you a set of coordinates along with this communication. Follow those coordinates and keep your communications systems on jamming until we arrive. Don't change course; if you're attacked, we'll cover for you, just stay on course."
"Attacked? Who by?" Jean questioned.
"We all have enemies, Jean Starwind, as I'm sure Suzuka can attest to of our first encounter. For now, do what I'm asking, and everything should be fine."
"Is it OK if we use our sub-ether drive?"
"I don't see a reason not to. We'll follow you in sub-ether. Over and out."
The comm-vid flashed and vanished. Jean turned in his seat to look at Suzuka.
"Your impressions, Suzuka?" He inquired.
"She seems genuine but still slightly distrusting. I can't blame her really. Also, I think you should know that, if the 'enemies' she mentioned are what I suspect, they likely have the same technology as Bluestone's ships and warriors. We're probably best off following her instructions."
"If you ask me," Aisha chimed in. "This whole thing wreaks of a setup."
"But if they wanted to kill us, they could without a second's notice." Suzuka stated, arms folded. "No, she's truthful about what she's said, although it's obvious that her standpoint is one of regrettably taking orders from higher up."
"Well, we'll find out soon enough, won't we?" Jean stated, hands racing over his console. "Alright; Gilliam, key in those coordinates, and prepare for sub-ether drive."
"I don't like it." Bluestone thought out loud. "Not one bit."
"But we don't have much of an option, do we?" One of the nearby warriors, clad in what appeared to be standard issue dark green reflexive armor over a black jumpsuit, stated. "If Dawn Sword says-"
"She couldn't even describe him." Bluestone exclaimed in a huff. "And I have absolutely no idea where, how, or even if, Dawn Sword met 'Twilight' Suzuka the class A assassin."
"Agent Bluestone," One of the other officers said, rather surprised. "Why would you think Dawn Sword wouldn't level with us?"
"... I dunno." Bluestone sighed. "Was it just me, or did he seem a little evasive about the issue?"
"What do you mean?"
"I mean this: he didn't explain any of the how or why, he just verified that he knew her and gave her an escort to HQ. I don't know about you guys, but this whole thing seems kind of fishy."
"He must have a good reason." A third officer, piloting the ship from the front of the rather large command bridge, stated. "I mean, we all know Dawn Sword is the most trustworthy, honorable person we've ever met. That's why general Calhoun approved him for leadership of operations, and of particularly the Outcast Legends, before he died. I don't see any reason we should start questioning him now, after everything he's done to protect ZX-7."
"Still..." Bluestone stated, letting her thought trail off. She then sat down in front of a small console and requested "Computer, bring up the datafile on Dragon agent Cerpa again. I want to be more prepared for the next time we encounter each other."
"Gilliam, are we near any planets?" Jim inquired after they'd been traveling for about three hours in sub-ether.
"Not really. In fact, the area our travel coordinates are taking us to is directly in the middle of a large nebula." Gilliam replied.
"What kind of nebula?" Jim asked.
"Class G-2, according to my star charts."
Jim keyed in a search command to the console in front of him, then whistled in surprise and leaned back in his chair.
"Now this is interesting."
"What?" Jean inquired.
"Well, class G nebulas are known for their semi-delicate chemical balance. To give ya some brief info, while the gas combinations are generally nonflammable, combined with certain elements the entire nebula can be set ablaze like as if it were made of kerosine. Class G-2 are particularly stable, but if the gases come in contact with disodium chloride anything within the nebula will have less than twenty seconds to get out before temperatures reach that of a supernova on the moment of explosion."
"Disodium chloride? What's that?" Jean inquired. "And more importantly, can we whip some up for our escape plan?"
"Disodium chloride would be common table salt, Jean." Gilliam reported. Aisha couldn't help but snicker, along with Melfina, as Jean's cheeks turned a hue of red. Gilliam continued. "And I believe we have four large bags of salt in the cargo hold."
"Hmm,..." Suzuka thought to herself. "Gilliam, what if we were to release the salt sacks from the airlock. What would be the immediate damage to the ship?"
"So long as gases from the nebula can be kept out of the airlock, the ablative armor should be sufficient to protect the ship." Gilliam stated. "Although I highly recommend against it, considering that the armor will be seriously damaged." Gilliam paused for a second. "However, if instead of opening the sacks completely before releasing them we were to just create a small rip in the sacks, the explosion, while still intense, would be much smaller and spread more slowly, and determined on the size of the opening the entire nebula may not be effected. We could avoid damages almost completely if we moved away from the sacks fast enough."
"Well, I think we have out distraction, Suzuka." Aisha stated.
"Yeah. Now to figure out how best to use it." Jean stated.
"OK, Outlaw Star, listen carefully." Bluestone instructed. "We're nearing the base now. Like our ships, you won't be able to see it, so we're going to have some of our grappler pods guide your ship over to a docking pylon. To assure the secrecy of our base's location, I want you to shut down *all* of your sensor equipment right now. Once your inside the barrier, you'll be able to see the base. Any questions?"
"What's so important that you're going through all this trouble to hide your base?" Jim inquired.
"That's classified, little guy. Any other questions?"
"How soon will we arrive?" Jean asked. "And what are grappler pods?"
"Half an hour roughly, and grappler pods are exactly what they sound like: small humanoid pods equipt with grappler arms and built for all types of space and sub-ether uses, including combat, so no sudden moves, Starwind." Bluestone warned. "Anything else?" There was a moment of silence. "Ok, then. Bluestone out."
Not even more than a few seconds later, the ship rocked slightly with the sound of grappler arms latching onto the outer hull. Jean quickly cut the engines and sensors as he'd been instructed, and not moments more felt the ship veer in a different direction.
"Well, this should be interesting." Jean muttered. "We're blindfolded and being led around by a bunch of space ghosts. Never thought I'd hear myself say something that strange and actually make sense."
"Don't worry, Jean." Suzuka stated calmly. "When we get to their base, then you can start to worry."
"No kiddin'." Jean muttered.
Half an hour later...
Jean, Suzuka, Jim, Aisha, and Melfina looked out the viewport with nothing short of utter astonishment. Seconds before, the massive space station that they saw before them had been literally invisible. From a distance, it appeared to be like a large black pinecone, but as the now-visible grappler pods brought the Outlaw Star closer more of the finite details of the station became clearly visible. The exterior of the station appeared to be constructed out of millions of black crystals, but signs of familiar technology peeked out at regular intervals and at what appeared to be 'docking crystals' positioned at regular intervals near the central equator of the base. Large ships, designed not all that different than Ktarl-Ktarl war ships and heavy cruisers with dark-blue and dark-green paint jobs, were stationed at different docking crystals. Jean guessed that the ship Bluestone had communicated to them from was similar to the ones in dock. Grappler pods, similar in many aspects to the ground assault units owned by the Kay pirates, were docked along the outside of the base at regular intervals, held in place by small alcoves that probably allowed direct access to them by anyone inside the base. Two such pods had hold of the top and bottom of the Outlaw Star and were steering in towards one of the docking crystals.
"Whoa...!" Jim and Aisha exclaimed at the same time.
"Incredible..." Suzuka added.
"Looks like the whole thing is built out of those crystals." Jean stated. "I don't see any weapons turrets on the outside of the station, but I wouldn't put anything past somebody who's got an army like this."
"Having second thoughts about the emergency escape plan, Jean?" Gilliam inquired.
"Do you even need to ask?" Jean muttered, then stated. "I'm guessing there's at least two-hundred ships out there, and that's ignoring the grappler pods. Something tells me that our 'salt bomb' is becoming more of a bargaining tool than an actual escape measure."
"Communication from the ship behind us, Jean." Gilliam announced. "It appears to be Bluestone's ship."
"On screen." Jean instructed, and seconds later the vid-comm box flashed into existence once again.
"Welcome to HQ, Outlaw Star. The grappler pods can take care of docking your ship, so just sit back and enjoy what's left of the ride." Bluestone instructed before the vid-comm hologram blinked out of existence again.
Ten minutes later, with the Outlaw Star docked, Jean and the others made last minute preparations before stepping out of the ship and into Dawn Sword's base. Suzuka made sure to hide her sword so that it wouldn't be seen, and Jean locked and loaded a set of his favorite guns, also bringing along the big gun, just in case.
The airlock door opened, flooding the small airlock chamber with light.
There before them stood a long off-grey hallway, as well as Bluestone and two soldiers dressed similarly to her.
"Enjoy the ride?" Bluestone inquired. "Alright, listen. I've got instructions from Dawn Sword to allow you to bring your weapons so long as you're under guard, but I still need to check you all for any explosives. Understood?"
"We've got nothing to hide." Suzuka stated.
Bluestone held up what looked like a hand scanner and slowly waved it over each of the five.
"I need to inspect your guns, Starwind."
Jean handed over his three weapons and excess ammunition for inspection. Bluestone eyed the big gun suspiciously but returned all the equipment to Jean nonetheless. Then she scanned Melfina briefly.
"Is she a bio-android?"
"Her name's Melfina, and yes, she is." Suzuka stated.
"Fine; just wanted to check. Bio-androids are one thing, but cyborgs are almost always a security problem. Alright, follow me." She stated, turning and walking down the hallway.
Suzuka appeared calm and at ease. But she was in fact hiding her true emotional state. She was tense; ready to fight. Her every warrior instinct was in overdrive.
This time she intended to finish Dawn Sword for sure.
The whole station seemed to have been preparing for their arrival, which didn't exactly settle well with Jean or Suzuka. The corridors seemed to twist and converge for miles without end, and as the group walked towards their destination, they passed many different facilities: medical bays, lots and lots of personal and crew quartering, one or two weapons bunkers, shuttle bays, science labs, construction facilities, as well as a few recreational and sub-command zones. Jean made a lot of mental notes to himself about different key facilities as they walked, and also noted that every 20 feet there were 'hidden' laser nodes. They blended in perfectly with the walls, but Jean and Suzuka could tell on first glance the subtle irregularities that gave away the weapons' positions.
'Man,' Jean thought to himself. 'I've seen high-level military prisons with less security and resources. Where on earth did these people get the materials to build this base?! And as if getting out of a place like this in one piece isn't hard enough, they've got the advantage with those 'phantom belts' they're all wearing. I doubt if our salt bomb strategy will even phase these people!'
Suzuka was having similar thoughts as her eyes calmly scanned every area as the group passed by. 'I bet Kay pirate headquarters can't even measure up to half this place. No wonder they weren't concerned about us carrying our weapons around; any attempt on our part to escape now is literally futile. My only chance is to get Dawn Sword to promise our free passage out of here before I fight him.'
After what seemed like an eternity, they arrived at a large security doorway guarded by six warriors. Bluestone gave a nod, and the soldiers stepped out of the way, allowing them access. Bluestone turned around and addressed Suzuka directly.
"This is central command for the whole base complex. Dawn Sword's waiting for you inside, but let me just make one thing straight first. One wrong move, and I'll toast you myself, Twilight Suzuka. Are we clear?"
"Crystal." Suzuka replied. "Just take me to Dawn Sword."
"Fine. Follow me."
The armored doors to the central command room slid open in total silence, revealing the large, blue-lit chamber beyond. The room size was massive, rings of control consoles surrounding the central point of the spherical dome. On the high ceiling, glowing crystals that sparkled brighter than diamonds seemed to form an organic information relay system as sparkles of nearly-invisible energy bounced between them. On the multi-layered command floor, several figures not in uniform, many of them appearing to be nonhumans, operated controls and talked to others in the room. Bluestone led the group down the ramp ways towards the center of the room.
"Since you don't even remember what Dawn Sword looks like," Bluestone stated with no lack of disrespect and distrust in her voice. "I'll reintroduce the two of you."
"Believe me, I'll know him when I see him." Suzuka replied.
"Then, Twilight Suzuka," Bluestone stated as they reached the center area of the dome. A figure walked up to meet them. "Allow me to introduce our leader, Dawn Sword."
Suzuka could tell from the moment the figure approached that something wasn't quite right. But it was when he got close enough to distinguish his features that Suzuka realized exactly. His short black hair and deep black eyes were his more striking features, and he wore a blue chest plate and arm and leg bracers over a black jumpsuit. Over his back he had a sword strapped into position, and he wore the same 'phantom belt' as Bluestone and almost everyone else in the base. He looked to be in his early twenties, and while Suzuka could tell just by looking at his eyes that he was an experienced warrior, she knew one thing for sure.
This wasn't Dawn Sword.
"What is this?" She demanded of Bluestone. "Just what are you trying to pull?"
"Excuse me??"
"I'm no idiot; that's not Dawn Sword. Is he some kind of decoy? Where's the real Dawn Sword??"
"Watch it, Suzuka; this *is* the *real* Dawn Sword." Bluestone stated with a 'watch it; you're outta line' look.
"Suzuka..." Jean warned in a low voice, noticing that almost everyone in the command room was now looking at them.
"This isn't the warrior who called himself Dawn Sword and fought me on Dead Man's Sheer on Helios-2. I may not remember his exact features, but I can say this." Suzuka stated firmly. "The Dawn Sword I encountered was at least thirty, had long hair not short, and-"
"Excuse me." 'Dawn sword' interjected. "Suzuka, can I talk to you for a minute?"
"I'm not interested in talking to decoys. Where's Dawn Sword??" Suzuka demanded.
Suddenly, one of the people at the consoles spoke up, voice urgent.
"Dawn Sword! Sensors are picking up Quantum-Spectral echoes at two o'clock high; probably Dragon attack ships!"
"Alright, everyone, assume battle stations! Outcast Legends, to your grappler pods, STAT!" Dawn Sword instructed, taking leadership over the circumstances. "Sound Red Alert base-wide. Prepare all battle ships for immediate launch!" He turned to Suzuka, speaking quickly and in a lower voice. "There's a lot you need to know, but I'm afraid it'll have to wait for later. Stay here; you should be safe."
"Hold it!" Suzuka shouted as he and half the people in the command room dashed for the exit. Dawn Sword, or whoever he was, didn't even look back, so Suzuka quickly got in front of him with a spinning forward flip high into the air. "You're not going anywhere until I get some answers, 'Dawn Sword'."
"We don't have time for this, sir." One of the warriors following behind Dawn Sword interjected, pulling out a blaster. Dawn Sword quickly motioned for him to put it away and faced Suzuka.
"Please listen to me, Suzuka. The lives of the people on this station are in danger right now and it's my job to get out there and fight. I give you my word that I have the answers to your questions and that I *will* tell you those answers, but right now lives are on the line. Please let us through, Suzuka."
Suzuka considered it a moment. She could tell by the look in his eyes he was sincere. She stepped aside.
"Thank you, Suzuka." Dawn Sword said in genuine appreciation and thanks, then nodded to the warriors behind him and the group took off down the corridors.
"Somebody mind telling us what's going on here?" Jean inquired to no one in particular.