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
Deception
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 6- The Way of the Outlaw
Jean, Jim, and Melfina looked from the observation deck of the repair bay at the Outlaw Star, docked at an anti-grav platform within the base and now, for the first time in a week, free of Grappler Pods busily making modifications, installing weapons and advanced equipment, and pretty much doing surgery on it. NightShade stood nearby, likewise looking out the wall of windows at the crimson grappler ship. Bluestone, still untrusting and somewhat embittered, stood nearby with her back only halfway to the foursome.
"I have to give you people credit. As far as grappler ships, the Outlaw Star is a diamond in the ruff. We were able to upgrade the engines, maneuvering thrusters, armor, grappler accessories, sensors, lasers, and even install a ship-scale PWD driver without any complications." NightShade stated. "Although we did run into a little difficulty installing MUI-Quantum missile racks on the sides under the wing, but a little retrofitting of the missile tubes fixed that. Although you might find your engine room a good deal smaller now than before."
"All things considered, I think we can live with that." Jean stated, his thought being more like 'who cares?! We'll let Gilliam handle things in the engine room, I just wanna try out these upgrades!!' The look in his eye gave away the kid-with-a-new-toy mentality that he was doing his best to hide. Then he added, "I bet the McDougal brothers'll be drooling in envy if I ever get the chance to show off these upgrades."
"… Don't be to sure about that." Bluestone stated in a low voice, with her back still to the group. Jean looked over his shoulder at her with a 'what do you mean by saying that?' look.
"Bluestone, what do you mean?" NightShade inquired, with a tone that hinted at a clue what Bluestone was talking about, but wasn't entirely sure.
"… Not that it's any of your business, Starwind,… but last night I had a dream about a golden bullet killing your android friend Melfina." She turned to look at him. "But you can call it an overactive imagination if you want to."
"Whoa, hold on a sec." Jim exclaimed. "Are you saying you can see the future in dreams?"
"Yeah, just what do you mean by that?" Jean inquired, somewhat defensive.
The look in Melfina's eyes was one of barely restrained horror. Bluestone continued.
"I may not have the inherent special powers to make me part of the Outcast Legends, but I do believe in a power far beyond myself that can choose to send prophetic dreams, maybe as warnings of the future." She turned and began to walk slowly away. "If the gold bullet I saw represented the McDougal brothers' ship, the El Dorado as I remember, I can assume we'll be hearing from them soon enough, which implies several things of it's own. But there's no reason any of you need to listen to me; after all, maybe you think I'm just ranting and raving to-"
Jean suddenly darted in front of her and looked her square in the eye.
"I think you'd better explain yourself. What 'power far beyond yourself'? What are you talking about??"
She looked at him almost coldly for a second, then squared her shoulders and returned Jean's look of stubborn determination.
"If I were to tell you I know the answer to what the Galactic Leyline's been trying to figure out for eons, you'd think I was nuts. So for the time being I'd like it if you could just take my word for it, OK Jean Starwind?"
The look on Jean, Jim, and especially Melfina's faces was one of total and complete astonishment and utter paralyzing disbelief. Bluestone, taking her cue to leave, walked past Jean and continued down the hallway before rounding a corner and disappearing.
By the time DragonMage got to the docking bay, it was already too late. Entering the massive chamber, he could see the El Dorado through the force-fielded docking bay door, engines ablaze, quickly making it's escape. He frowned somewhat halfheartedly. Soldiers from all around the room were just now starting to pick themselves up off the ground, likely due to the tremendous power the El Dorado's engines had used to make their sudden escape. Suddenly, Cerpa was at DragonMage's side.
"Should I send out our forces to bring them back?" He inquired.
DragonMage smirked silently, then responded.
"A small number of auto mechs. Let them think they've made a clean getaway by escaping when we least expected. When they destroy the mechs, send out no further ships unless this fortress itself is attacked."
Cerpa's voice gave away surprise. DragonMage knew by now that his 'second-shadow friend' was adept at reading a person's thoughts through what they said or did.
"You wanted them to escape?" Cerpa was somewhat surprised by this unannounced strategy change. "For what purpose?"
"Cerpa, my friend, isn't it obvious? They would never have been of any use under my command to begin with. The thought that they could persuade Melfina to join our cause, leaving the protection of the Remnant and betraying her friends; what a ridiculous notion that would be!" He paused, then grew more serious. "No,… outlaws such as themselves would never conform to my plans. The technology I gave them was but a triviality compared to what will be gained. I admit, Cerpa, this was my plan all along."
"I see…" Cerpa thought for a second. "But I still don't understand why you'd let them go. Now they'll go straight to the Outcast Legends and warn them of our plans."
"Yes, of course they will. In fact, I'm counting on it. After all, the El Dorado is now my Trojan horse." He turned to Cerpa, who was now also quite amused by the whole situation. "Are the new phase-variance warp modulators ready?"
"Yes, and fully functional. Our ships will be invisible even to the Remnant forces." He paused and snickered. "The McDougal brothers should've listened to that old warning about Greeks bearing gifts. Now it's checkmate for the Outcast Legends."
"Losers." Ron McDougal scoffed to himself as the El Dorado quickly put more and more distance between itself and the Eclipse asteroid fortress. Harry, floating motionlessly in the aquatic guidance tube, also smirked slightly at the brilliance of their strategy. Ron continued his thought. "Once we get to that Remnant base DragonMage told us about, we're free-flyin' from there on out."
"I gotta say Ron," Harry said, voice projected through the cockpit's speaker system. "Making DragonMage believe we would help him and then stealing his technology is our best plan yet."
"Yeah," Ron smiled mischievously. "With all this new power, we'll be the most legendary grappler pilots ever." Suddenly, the console in front of him let out a series of beeps as little red dots appeared in the sensor map.
"23 auto-mechs just exited the base." Harry stated. "They're headed in our direction."
"So they did have a few of those things ready to launch." Ron scoffed, quickly assuming that to be all the forces DragonMage could muster due to the mining missions DragonMage had sent DragonMage had sent most of his auto-mech fleet on recently. Harry and Ron had planned things out carefully, using the 7 minute launch time for the Leviathan cruisers in-dock and the relatively few number of auto-mechs to their advantage. "Let's teach em' a lesson about messing with the McDougal brothers. A volley of scatter-blast missiles should deal with those puny robots."
Armor plating on the outside of the ship quickly slid aside to reveal rows of recently-installed missile racks. Before the auto-mechs could get within firing range, half a dozen missiles were already headed towards them. As each missile exploded, it also released three or four miniature missiles that had been stored inside the first one. Within five seconds, the auto mechs were utterly and completely annihilated.
"Ha! That's what happens when you play with the big boys, 'DragonMush'." Harry laughed as the El Dorado began to glow neon green, then vanished in a flash of light from the scene of battle.
"Have you told anyone else about this?" Dawn Sword inquired. He and Bluestone were in the briefing room, sitting on opposite sides of the table but directly across from each other. She nodded, a worried expression on her face.
"Jean, Jim, and Melfina." She paused, then sighed deeply. "I realize now I was just trying to show off that I resented their being here. I should never have used a prophetic dream like that."
"What do you mean?" He asked, compassion in his voice.
"… I guess I just sorta let it slip out when I heard Jean talking about the McDougal brothers." Her voice gave away that she was being harsh on herself. "I was disrespectful, rude, and uncaring to them. I'm sorry, sir; I shouldn't have talked to anyone else about this."
"I wouldn't go that far, but you're right, you should ease up on Jean and his crew some." He looked away for a second, deep in thought. "If you're positive about this dream, we'll need to take precautions just in case."
There was a long period of silence.
"Sir," Bluestone added, gathering her courage. "You promised to explain this entire Suzuka matter to me?"
He looked at her, then nodded.
"I'm sorry to put you through so much and make you wait so long." He paused, looked away, then looked directly into her eyes. "Suzuka is my sister."
Bluestone's eyes went wide instantly and her jaw dropped somewhat.
"Katrina," Dawn Sword said, referring to her by first name. "I want you to know I'm not angry with you for what's happened; in fact, I owe you my thanks for helping reunite me with my sister. And as for the other actions you took, don't worry to much. Almost anyone would have reacted in the way you did. I just didn't want this whole thing to create a rift between us." He then quickly added "I mean,… I don't want to be on bad terms with anyone under my command. OK?"
"That's… perfectly alright, sir." She stated with a gentle smile.
It was 1300 hours standard time, and the cafeterial facilities of the North Star defense base were bustling with activity as soldiers and personnel from all over the base flooded in for their lunch break. Almost nobody seemed to complain about the food, considering that many of the officers had, during times of emergencies, been forced to rely on the largely unpopular emergency rations for nutrition. Tables were filled in much the same way as one might see in a high school lunch room: different groups with similar interests or duties meeting together at prearranged tables, close friends gathering for conversation in-between bites and spoonfuls, and everyone else pretty much just sitting where there was room. Suzuka, having ordered a tray of fried noodles, rice, soup, and tea, decided to sit down at one of the still-empty tables, considering to herself that many people around the base still considered her an outsider and an oddity amongst them. There was no point making people uncomfortable when she could just as easily eat her meal in solitude. As she reached her table, she saw Jean, Jim, Aisha, and Melfina emerge from amongst the crowds and, not noticing her, group together at a table three rows away, which was fine by Suzuka.
"Hey, is it alright if I join you?"
She turned her head to identify the voice. She was slightly surprised to find Bluestone standing behind her, holding a tray of mashed potatoes, french fries, a hamburger and drink. Suzuka found the no-longer-unfriendly expression on Bluestone's face to be somewhat perplexing, and wondered if Bluestone would try to embarrass her in some way through a false impression of friendship.
"I usually eat alone." Suzuka said plainly.
"Well, how about a little company?"
"Why?" Suzuka asked, slightly suspicious.
Bluestone sighed slightly, then walked to the other side of the table and put her tray down but didn't sit herself.
"Listen,… I'm sorry I gave you and your friends such a hard time. What I did was almost totally uncalled for. And I hope that maybe you can forgive me."
Suzuka could tell Bluestone was being honest in what she said. Almost reluctantly, Suzuka motioned for her to sit down.
"Is this sudden interest in a truce, per chance, because of something Dawn Sword said?" She inquired, then took a sip of her tea.
"Actually, yes."
"Then I take it you know?" Suzuka asked.
"Yeah. He told me the whole story. I owe you an apology."
"That's good enough for me." She paused for a second. "Tell me something. How is it that you were able to fight Hitiriga one on one? He is rather powerful."
"Maybe more than any of us know." Bluestone stated somewhat cryptically. "Well, I had the advantage of surprise, and I was able to hit him with a freeze missile shell, which did a good number on him, but he was able to break out of it with the aid of his cyborg enhancements."
"Cyborg enhancements?" Suzuka inquired.
"Yeah. Apparently whatever you did to him at the galactic leyline had a strong effect, because he's at least 70% technology now. The freeze missile shell pretty much just slowed him down, but when he burst out of it I accidentally hit him with a neuro-dart. I'm still not sure how exactly that effected him, but he looked like he was really distracted somehow, maybe trying to purge the dart's effects from his system. At any rate, I was running low on ammo not long after and had to take to hand-to-hand combat. Seems that he'd put an energy-resistant shield around his body, so most of my shells and bullets were doing zilch. And that's about when I ran into you."
"And he used my life as his means to make a getaway." Suzuka thought out loud. "No wonder you were so frustrated with me; you saved my life and all I wanted to do was force information out of you."
"Yeah, I wasn't exactly thrilled." Bluestone stated.
"At any rate, Hitiriga must have been pretty desperate to have had to resort to a tactic like that. Whatever effect that dart had on him must have been drastic."
Suddenly, Bluestone's communicator beeped. Dawn Sword's voice came over the comm unit's speakers.
"Bluestone, report to command deck ASAP. It looks like our 'golden bullet' has arrived. Over."
The expression on Bluestone's face was a combination of sudden shock and frantic action. She quickly jumped up from the table and headed for the door while responding "On my way, Dawn Sword. Over and out."
Suzuka wasn't too far behind her. Jean, seeing the two rush past crowds of people on their way out, quickly exchanged glances with Jim, Melfina, and Aisha, then all four rushed after them, leaving their lunches behind.
As soon as Suzuka entered the room, what Dawn Sword had meant by 'golden bullet' became clear. Displayed on the giant 30 foot vid-comm screen was the El Dorado. Dawn Sword, standing at a console on the second level of the command room, quickly looked up as Bluestone, Suzuka, Jean, Jim, Melfina, and Aisha entered. Jean was the first one to speak.
"The McDougal brothers!!" He exclaimed in surprise.
"What are they doing here?" Jim wondered out loud.
Bluestone quickly rushed up the ramp connecting the different command levels and joined at Dawn Sword's side.
"They just showed up on scanners." Dawn Sword explained. "They were using an advanced particle-modulation field when they dropped out of ether drive, so we can assume they've been in the company of some Dragons lately. So far they haven't charged up their weapons, but I've got Grappler Pods and Nova Cruisers on standby just in case." He looked directly at Dawn Sword. "Looks like your dream was on the mark."
"Well, what are you waiting for?!" Aisha demanded. "Blast them out of the stars!"
"We're getting a transmission from them now, sir." Backtrack stated, standing at a console on command level 3.
"Put it on screen." Dawn Sword instructed. Instantly, a vid-comm window opened, displaying the features of Ron McDougal.
"This is the captain of the El Dorado requesting-" He suddenly cut himself off as he spotted Jean glaring at him. "Well, if it isn't Starwind and company. Long time no see. I guess you guys escaped the galactic leyline after all."
"Yeah, no thanks to you." Aisha retorted.
"What do you want, McDougal?" Jean demanded.
"And where'd you get that advanced ether drive?" Dawn Sword added.
In the background, Harry smirked.
"We conned a guy named DragonMage out of it." Harry stated from within his transparent tube of liquid.
"We were hoping you could offer us some kind of sanctuary." Ron added. "Considering that he was trying to use us to get to the galactic leyline, and that we can probably help you all out, I'm hoping that harboring us for a while won't be a problem."
"And just why should we trust you?!" Jean exclaimed.
"OK, let me rephrase. Those Dragons are likely to be coming after us first chance they get. You people keep them from blasting us apart, and we'll let you in on some of their secrets. Deal?"
"… Give us a minute to talk this over, El Dorado." Dawn Sword said, then pressed a button and the vid-comm window vanished. He turned to Bluestone and the others. "Well, what do you think?"
"They're unquestionably untrustworthy." Suzuka stated. "First, they might only be pretending to have conned DragonMage; they might still be working for him right now. Secondly, assuming that they did con the Dragon forces, what's to keep them from trying to do the same to us."
"I say we give the Outlaw Star a test drive and give them both what's coming to them." Jean stated, cracking his knuckles.
"Forget that; we should just blast them from here." Aisha stated. "That way, Melfina's in no danger and we don't have to worry about this whole dream thing."
"… Unfortunately," Bluestone interjected. She looked over at Dawn Sword. "We're under obligation by the Remnant code of law. Fugitives from Dragon forces are to be protected until such time as the threat to them is null-in-void. I don't like it either, but we don't have much of a choice."
Dawn Sword looked at her blankly for a second, looked away, then down at the console. With the press of a button Ron McDougal was once again on the screen.
"So, I take it you've decided to help us?" He asked, slightly smug.
"Here's the deal, Mr. McDougal." Dawn Sword stated, making it clear by his tone that this was against his better judgement. "Our Grappler Pods will escort your ship to docking bay 3, from where you will be required to vacate your ship, at which point our engineers will make thorough examination of every component in the ship. You are to leave all weapons onboard and you will be escorted to our brig, where you'll await until inspection is complete and we can be certain your motives are exactly as you have stated. Failure to comply will result in retaliatory actions on the part of the Remnant forces. Are we clear, gentlemen?"
"So long as you don't hand us over to those Dragons, I'm willing to put up with rules and procedures." Ron stated, arms folded in a relaxed posture behind his head. "Alright then, it's agreed. We'll do as you say so long as you protect us from the Dragons. El Dorado, over and ou-"
"One more thing, El Dorado." Dawn Sword inserted quickly. "Due to recent events here at the base, it will be required of you that no contact with Melfina, remotely or directly, be made until otherwise stated. Understood?"
"What?! What the heck for??" Harry exclaimed.
"Will you comply, El Dorado?" Dawn Sword restated.
Harry gave an annoyed grunt, and Ron nodded.
"Good. I'll see you in docking bay 3, gentlemen." Dawn Sword stated politely, then closed the vid-comm window.
"I don't like it." Jean muttered to himself. "I don't like this one bit."