A/N: Bah, so this is two days late. I had to reinstall Windows 98, then reinstall Word. Gimme a break. And I know it's short, but who really cares. Another note, PLEASE guys, when you review, I don't care if you rant for twenty lines about how good it was, or is it's a simple "This sucks" Just tell me WHY it was so good or bad, and if there's anything I can improve on. OK, you're free! Enjoy the chapter.
Takato's job that day was groceries. Ben said it was an honor, because the newbies weren't usually trusted with money. Takato couldn't decide what to think of Ben. He seemed like a nice, easygoing guy, albeit, a two-meter, eighty-kilogram pyromaniac, but otherwise he was calm and composed.
During the errand, Takato got to know a bit about the Claymore-riding, bomb-loving bear of a man. "So why did you join the Roughriders in the first place."
"I had too much time on my hands, or so my parents said. A week before I joined, I got this." Ben pointed to a golf-ball sized discolored scar.
"You lived with your parents? How old are you now?"
Ben seemed distracted "Thirty-one."
If he had said the same thing later, Takato would've snickered under his breath. But he was still getting to know Ben, and didn't know the man had a patience level from here back to Sol. When it came to human taunting at least. Computers were a different story. He knew people would be people, but computers couldn't really change their minds. They frustrated him easily.
Afterwards, the Roughriders took up two tables at the local tavern. "Don't get too drunk guys." Zane said as he was heading out. "Don't want you to blow up on me `cause of some beer." Everyone laughed, thinking it humorous, except Takato, who politely chuckled.
The Roughriders sat and talked amongst themselves while several TVs played. All had been turned to different news stations, and all were talking about Jake Logan. The tavern was rarely this quiet. Usually, some drunkard was always causing a racket, but no one wanted to black out and learn Jake Logan died all over again.
Save for one heavy alcoholic who spent more of his life drunk than sober.
Ruki was walking by that person's table at an unlucky moment when he was discussing women with his bored buddy. In somewhat slurred speech, he said. "Ah, I's ain't never been with… a woman befores, but… I's jus` bi-bidin` my time." As Ruki walked past, the guy took a long look at her backside. "Now thath a… a woman. Her hairs is all red, an` thas my f-favorite color!" He said with a bit too much giddiness. When Ruki came by again, he leaned out and slapped her bottom. "Hey babe. Whaddah `ya say to… to a night at my place?"
In a blur, Ruki had her blaster unhooked from her belt, and brought it around to slap the alcoholic in the face with the muzzle. When he turned back, he saw three guns pointing at him, all spiraling around. The whir of the gun charging up was the only sound in the bar.
"Hey, hey, hey! Put that blaster away!" The bartender complained. His assistant stood behind him, showing much more fear.
Ruki adjusted her grip on the handle, deciding what to do. She hated to be touched like that. Anyone who did it learned about Ruki's bad side. The side that was worst than her normal badness, anyway. The poor guy, who had been scared to soberness had his hands feebly raised, and babbled apologies. Finally, the tension drained. "Go home and join AA. And if you lay a finger on me again, I'll make sure to put a battery pack in this next time." She struck him on the head with the butt of the blaster once (ha, he touches my butt, he gets hit by a butt, Ruki thought to herself), then turned and sat back down, not paying attention to any of the stares.
* * *
Zane gave Ruki a stern talking-to on the way back. Like (Being?) a rebellious don't-care-about-anything teen, she hardly listened. Zane had never had to cut a pilot on a count of disobedience. Then again, he'd never met a person like Ruki before.
There was no time to consider though. The Roughriders needed some money.
"So what're doin` today?" Migs asked. He had leaned back with his hands behind his head and his feet propped up.
"Recon duty." Zane said, and met with a low groan. The Roughriders were hoping for something a bit more exciting. "No, this is pretty important, and worth a bundle." Zane played the contract statement.
"Star Patrol farscout drones have been reporting some odd radar signatures about five hundred kilometers out. Most drones have returned in terrible condition with their data banks wiped or warped, or haven't returned at all. We would like someone to investigate these strange happenings, preferably people with better knowledge and experience. It is also recommended fighters equip a radiation card in their ships, as radioactive meters on the farscouts have been abnormally high."
"Ooh, sounds exciting." Viktor mumbled.
"Why can't Star Patrol send it's boot-lickers to investigate?" Ruki asked.
Zane shrugged. "It's money though, and I picked it. Get yourselves ready, I've gone through too many pilots lately."
* * *
Instead of going through the whole: "Roughrider 2 ready, Roughrider 3 ready…" procedure, Zane asked, "You all ready?" Six varied replies and one monotone "Affirmative." filled Zane's cockpit interior. "Good. Let's get moving." Zane adjusted the comm to Star Patrol frequency. "General Obulo, we're ready for clearance."
General Obulo, who'd worked his way up from Captain since before the war, was one of the most decorated Generals around. His deep, raspy voice gave him a judge-like aura. "We are waiting for your squadron Mr. Kenth. You have clearance to enter Star Patrol Farpost. Sending jumpgate codes."
"We're receiving them now. Thank you, General, we'll be arriving shortly." Zane spoke fluent brown-noser. He switched to Roughrider frequency. "We have clearance from the boss-man. Power up engines and follow me. Wingmen, stay in a neutral position."
Uh-oh, Zane didn't tell me about that. Takato turned to a private channel to Zane. "Hey, what's the neutral position?"
There wasn't any reply from Zane.
Dammit, what's wrong with you? Takato rapped the comm, but no voice came through. Just have to watch and learn.
An Orion (It was barely recognizable under all the modifications and patches) which was the same ship Zane had flown since day one, lifted up and took off through the huge hangar and into space. Mullen, flying in her scarred, artificial Demon, followed the Orion slightly below and farther back. Her Demon was one that, Takato learned, had been slowly scavenged and pasted together. For that reason, one of its three jutting wings was slightly tilted. It wasn't as powerful as the ones you'd find in the Twilight Sector, where the Demon Pirates roam, but Mullen was still able to decimate enemies quickly and efficiently.
Migs and Jasper the robot went out as a pair of Piranha Multirole Bombers. One had about twice as many guns and missile racks.
Then, Ben and Ruki blasted into space. Takato smiled a bit because Ben's Claymore eclipsed Ruki's smaller Cutlass. Finally, it was Takato and Viktor's turn. Messily at first, Takato hovered in the back of Viktor's Pegasus. After a tedious moment, he was loosely in formation with Viktor. No one commented though, because everyone's flight path was somewhat flawed compared to more strict flight groups.
"Alright Roughriders, Star Patrol is probably just getting jumpy again, but keep your hands on the stick." Zane said as he splashed through the field and disappeared in the jumpgate.
Takato got an eerie chill as he remembered this scene which occurred not so long ago.
* * *
Light-years away, back at Sol, deals were being made.
"You know what to do with this."
"Yes…" The woman was sweating profusely as she received the tiny pistol. She never hated Maggin, but she'd had it with child support. "Please, just make sure the money gets to my family."
"You have nothing to worry about. And don't forget this." Vazquin tossed the woman a tag, a forged reporter ID to be exact. The Council had given it to him. It would be almost impossible to catch. I see a gale coming Maggin. You'd better watch your back.
* * *
Jumpgates had an interesting phenomenon. Since you travel faster than the speed of light riding the waves of Tachyon particles, if you quickly used a telescope, you could see yourself entering the jumpgate because the light reflected off your ship's hull is slower than the speed you traveled. Takato had never tried it, but he was sure if he saw himself from several seconds ago, he'd see a scared little boy who had taken too big a step in life.
Zane spoke to his squadron after all eight ships were in the Farpost Sector. "Alright, we're here. Obulo already gave me the flight path to the…" He paused a second to add emphasis and ridicule. "Disturbance." Zane made a steep dive, relative to the Farpost station upon entering the sector. The Roughriders followed in less than perfect unison.
Takato tried to keep himself occupied. The last thing he wanted was another Kuiper Belt incident. He watched the Hub nebula; a bright mishmash of blue, purple, and copper colored hydrogen gas. He ran a partial diagnostic, which turned up clean. He counted the number of visible stars, but fortunately, Zane spoke up before he got too high and bored.
"Well, we're entering the area designated by Star Patrol, and I'm turning up nothing. Anyone else have something different?" The Roughriders responses were negative.
Except for Takato's. "I'm getting a little over-the-norm radiation."
"Why are you picking up radiation?" Ruki asked.
"Well, since he's riding a fairly new Disutchee, so it probably has stronger sensors." Ben replied.
Ruki didn't bother to turn off the comm as she muttered, "Little Sol boy gets all the goodies."
Takato ignored her, because Zane had given him a task. "Takato, since you're the only one with an updated radiation detector… thing… go a few kilometers out. Test the water for us."
The Roughriders came to a halt. Takato gently pulled the throttle towards his belly until it was about a quarter away from zero thrust. If he charged headlong into an area that had extreme radiation, first his shields would dissolve, then, his hull would react with the radiation and fizzle. If the hole were a pinprick, he'd eventually be frozen as cold vacuum leaked in. If the hole was gaping, he'd be uncomfortably sucked out of the through a hole the size of a coin. Both of course, would be assuming that the radiation didn't instantly poison and kill him.
Shunning off those thoughts with a nervous smile, Takato went ahead of the group, keeping an eye on the radiation readout. It was just a fancy kind of Geiger counter, but it was starting to jump. The green bar, which fluttered just a tad above normal reading, began to rise. At two hundred meters, Takato was sure it had grown a bit more. But just a hundred more meters in, the bar doubled in size. The warning alarm remained silent, but at the rate the radiation was growing, it wouldn't be long before the computer began to protest.
Takato's squad mates were growing more distant. At three-quarters of a kilometer away, Zane checked up on Takato. "How's it looking?" His voice seemed like it was coming through an old radio, rather than a high-quality comm.
The radiation meter was getting uncomfortably high. It was becoming a sickly green color. "Gettin` a little hot in here." Takato came to a full stop, but the bar remained steady. "It's not moving or anything. Seems like there's something making it. I'm going in further."
"Don't burn yourself." Surprisingly enough, it was Migs who spoke. Granted, it was sarcastic, but that's the most words he said to me at once since I came here. Maybe they were finally warming up to him.
Shortly before reaching the one-kilometer mark, Takato's ship computer spoke up in its calm, feminine voice. "Please be wary that radiation levels are becoming unnaturally high." Five seconds later, it spoke again, with a little more urgency. "Warning, radiation levels are approaching danger threshold."
"Zane, my computer's whining about the radiation. This place is a hotspot alright." Takato strained his eyes. A flash of metal had caught his attention. "I see something up there. I'm checking it out."
"Takato, you're getting fuzzy on my comm and my radar. Don't go much further." Zane sounded like he was trying to retain his calmness. His voice was tinny, and the seven green dots behind him were fading like they were a hundred kilometers away. Still, he pressed on.
From his computer, "Radiation levels have bypassed threshold to dangerous levels. Please turn back immediately." The bar was going from yellow to orange. Takato would've turned off his computer, but critical messages like these couldn't be silenced.
"Takato, you're off my radar." Zane's voice was fuzzy and far away. "Come ba-" His voice was instantly cut off like a cord pulled from an outlet.
A noisy, rapid alarm went off. "Shields are being dissolved by radiation. Turn back immediately."
The object was apparently coming closer. Takato tuned out the alarms and shrieking computer. He was so close to it. The thing hypnotized him, beckoned to him.
"Shields are weakening, turn back immediately."
The bar was deep orange.
Closer, closer…
"Shields have been breached. Turn back immediately."
He could reach out and touch it by now…
"Hull weakening. Turn back immediately!"
The bar was the color of blood.
"Eject safety has been released."
It was a small little thing, the shape of a cylinder…
The bar had topped out. It was at it's max… then it dropped like a stone.
The computer said, "Eject safety re-locked." Then shut itself up.
The shield indicator began to glow with strength again.
Takato scanned the two-meter long pipe. It was so ordinary looking; nothing came up from the computer except that it was extremely radioactive. "Some kind of island in the radiation." Often, pilots spoke aloud in the cockpit, because black boxes were usually all that was recovered after a space battle. Takato searched his mind for something to compare it to. "This is probably what Obulo was talking about. The drones were eaten away by the radiation, or warped by it. This definitely isn't natural, I'm sure of that. Maybe something dropped it off."
A dreadful thought reminded itself in Takato's mind. "My hull's taken some damage, I dunno how I'll get out of here." He switched the computer screen to rear view. Seven small dots represented the other Roughriders, so far away now. What am I gonna do, what am I gonna do, what… wait…
He remembered seeing a technique once or twice, on the television of course. It was a technique, a simple evasive maneuver, but it may save my butt.
Takato swung his Disutchee around to face his comrades then activated his computer. "Computer, activate reverse thrusters so they're equivalent to main thrusters."
"This will result in no movement and may waste fuel."
"I'm quite aware of that." Takato said testily. "When I give the command, cut all power to the reverse thrusters."
"Confirmed."
Takato slowly nudged the throttle forward. Just as he had ordered, the main engines and the engines in front put out almost exact power. The pilot was moving nowhere. Guess that computer has some worth. Takato kept the throttle moving ever so slowly then stopped at three-quarters. The reverse thrusters were being pushed to their limit. Also, his ship was beginning to creak from the front and back engines pressing against each other.
"Computer, kill power to reverse thrusters on my mark."
"Awaiting your signal."
Takato recklessly pushed the throttle control all the way forward. The Disutchee squealed in protest, and began to lurch forward. The radiation level remained zero, but it wouldn't for long. "Computer, cut power to reverse thrusters."
The Disutchee instantly took off. The G-forces pressed Takato into his seat, and made his eyeballs roll up in his head. The computer instantly screamed for him to "Turn back immediately." For three seconds, he was afraid it didn't work and he would melt into a puddle. The radiation dropped rapidly though, and the other ships grew until he could identify each one.
"Nice to see you back Takato." Zane's voice echoed through Takato's cockpit. His tone was difficult to identify.
"Zane, we need a transport ship out here, one with really thick armor." Takato looked into the rearview camera. "There's an object back there that's making that radiation. At the center, it's calm, but just a few dozen meters out and it's hot as hell, then gets weaker farther out."
"Like a typhoon?" Ben asked.
"Yeah, that's what it is. A radiation typhoon."
"I'm contacting Obulo," Zane said. "Then I'm getting you to a doctor, Takato. Probably sterilized yourself doing that little maneuver."
Takato looked back at the tiny, gleaming object. It could've just been a randomly discarded piece of nuclear waste. Maybe a tanker had problems and dropped it. Oh come on, what nuclear material has a radiation field like that?
* * *
Back at the Alpha Starbase, Pixie greeted the Roughriders back while the news announced Phobos Proprietary Systems was cutting 15,000 jobs. Takato did get an examination, but the radiation was nothing anyone had ever seen, so he walked out the hospital wondering if he would wake up at all tomorrow.
In the Lucky Prospector, Takato was greeted with laughs. "Take a look, you made the news!"
Under the TNS news board, the headline read: "Local mercenary discovers strange radioactive object." The story didn't even mention his name, but continued to talk about how scientists were completely baffled and amazed at the cylinder's properties.
"Aw c'mon, I got absolutely no credit. Not even an interview."
"Well you got your 15 minutes of fame. That's just how it is." Zane said. "Besides, I've already gotten us another job."
The TV suddenly began beeping madly. "We bring you breaking news from the Sol region. President Maggin has been assassinated. We're still receiving information, but we do have a rough outline of what happened. While giving a press meeting, one of the reporters stood up and shot him directly in the forehead, then the reporter turned the gun on himself. Doctors are already on call but the outlook is grim for Maggin. Meanwhile, the vice president, Chester Vazquis, is preparing to be sworn in as President."
"Oh great, everyone keeps dying on us." Ruki muttered.
"I don't like that Chester guy. He looks kind of shady." Ben remarked.
"I don't like any of political idiots. They all sit around eatin' their thousand credit meals. Put them behind a joystick, and they'll last two, maybe three seconds." Migs said.
"And it has already been confirmed," The news anchor continued. "That Maggin has been pronounced dead."
"Guess some of those fanatics got too fanatical." Pixie flipped throughout he stations, but all of them had the same story.
"Yeah, so like I was saying, I got us another job." Zane started. The Blood Clan has been acting up again. They've been hassling the freight lines, especially the Scrap Yard and more than one company wants someone to tame them."
"Hey, a few more pirates to vape, no problem." Migs said nonchalantly.
"No we're not the only ones helping. The whole Blood Clan is moving into the Scrap Yards. A bunch of other squadrons, Star Patrol, even some Bora are helping out."
"A grand dogfight, what're we waiting for?" Ben asked with that frightening look in his eye.
"A small skirmish is different than a multi-squadron melee." Mullen said softly.
"Well whatever, tomorrow, at nine AM, we kick some pirate ass."