A/N: Ah, this chapter is much longer than the other. I'd hate to say this but Chapter 5 will be…. Delayed. *Dodges randomly thrown objects* Sorry. Just been a little busy lately with something called SCHOOL. And please review, OK? Good or bad, just review and tell me WHY you liked or didn't like this.
Enough of my babbling.
Chapter 4: The Scrap Yard Brawl
Takato couldn't sleep that night. Sometime after his second trip to the bathroom, he got up, put on an old pair of clothes, and went to his Disutchee.
Inside the deathly quiet mini-hangar, Takato stroked the smooth hull of his ship. After a moment, he decided to climb in the ship. Just for a minute, not like I'm going to take off. The pilot sat down in the cockpit, and felt an air of relaxation wash over him. It was like coming home from a long journey. He almost thought about falling asleep there and then. After all, he certainly felt a lot more tired than before, but Zane's voice interrupted him. Takato blushed like he'd been caught looking at something he shouldn't have, but Zane's expression was friendly.
"Whatcha doing up? Should be sleeping if you want to do your best tomorrow."
Takato laughed somberly. "My best is pretty low."
"Then why'd you join?"
"Huh?"
"Why'd you join?" Zane repeated.
"Um… well," Takato had to take a moment to think about it. "I guess, because Mars was so boring and quiet. And I wanted to fly ships instead of repair them."
The flight leader nodded while crossing the hangar. "Common rookie excuse. Nothing to be ashamed of."
"Rookie?" Takato said a bit testily. Then he slumped down and realized Zane was right. It'd been only several weeks and two missions, hardly any experience. "I guess you're right."
Zane climbed up the ladder of Takato's Disutchee with agility rarely seen in a man his age until he was eye level with Takato. "Listen, everyone starts out as a beginner. Every time you come out of a fight alive, you learn something. Sometimes it's a good lesson, a new technique you never knew you had. But sometimes, you end up with a bitter taste in your mouth and a depressed feeling your mind."
"Boy can I agree with that." Takato said with a smirk, though he was hardly joking.
Zane nodded in understanding. "You know, not many people get better at piloting, even after years of jobs. If you want to be an expert, you have to learn something."
"A secret, or something?" Takato asked with interest.
"Well, kind of. Since no one really knows about it."
"What is it?" Takato practically whispered.
Zane smiled and laughed through his nose. "Always want to know everything… well, I'll tell you. You might not get it at first."
Takato wanted to grab Zane by the throat and shake. The elder pilot seemed to notice his impatience and let it out. "Watch everything, keep your mind open, and learn from both mistakes and victories."
Takato sighed. "Why can't you give me straight answer?"
"Because nobody learned anything from straight answers. You have to figure this stuff out. Preferably fast." Zane paused a moment. "When you watch everything, you eventually learn. How things move, what they do, and why. Keeping your mind open gets you prepared for everything, so even in the strangest situation, you're ready to deal with it. And you can learn from everything you do. Take tonight. You'll probably learn tomorrow morning or in the middle of a fight that you should have stayed asleep. You understand what I mean, right?"
"Well, kind of." Takato leaned back and folded his hands behind his head. "I learned when a wingman of mine died, that you can be a jokester in the bar, but serious behind a stick."
"Good, you do have a brain."
"As for the other two, I'll take a stab at `em tomorrow."
Zane glanced at his watch, which read 12:37 AM, but he didn't feel like correcting Takato that "tomorrow" was technically today. Instead, he said, "Get some sleep Takato. And remember what I said."
Takato smiled and nodded. He watched Zane climb down the boarding ladder, then turned back to the console. All the lights were off. But soon he'd be mashing buttons and flipping switches. Tomorrow… man, I wish I could stop tomorrow from coming. But he couldn't halt time any more than he could survive in space with a just a wetsuit and snorkel. Takato spent a little more time speculating, then closed the hatch of his Disutchee and went back to his room. He felt very drained all of a sudden, and sleep came easily.
* * *
Watch everything, keep my mind open, learn from both mistakes and victories. Takato reminded himself as the disembodied voice of a briefing officer that filled over fifty fighters ranging from Dart Light Interceptors to shuttles modified to be gunboats.
In the ship spectrum, Takato's Disutchee was a bit on the smaller side, but the ship was considered, by most, a Multirole fighter. On the other side were big bombers like Ben's Claymore. Weighing in at almost twice as much as Takato's ship, the Claymore was not something you wanted to be on the wrong side of. In response to Bora's "dreadnought of single pilot fighters", Galspan had turned out the Phoenix, which was often in competition with the Claymore. The "dragon of space" was somewhat faster and had more gunpower, but the dreadnought's hide was almost impossible to pierce with small lasers or rockets.
Despite their immense size and cost, companies continued to think bigger ships were better. Oberon, which had recently began making their own ships, produced the TPE-16 "T-Rex" Mark III. With a cost of nearly a million credits up front, it was something to dream about. Let alone own for the average mercenary. Star Patrol even thought about calling it a small corvette, on account of it's size and tendency to settle onto metal platforms and leave cracks.
No big ships here though, just a few Frankensteined shuttles. Too bad, would've liked to see a T-Rex rip through the Blood Clan. Takato thought to himself just before Zane asked his usual: "Y'all ready?" Takato joined the chorus of responses that would've made any vocalist cringe.
"The Roughriders are ready." Zane reported.
"Good, now listen mercenaries," The briefing officer spoke so softly, Takato, and probably half of the other pilots, had to turn up the volume to hear him. "The Blood Clan are very aggressive, I'm sure you all know that. Our presence may very well spark something. Therefore, we'll have to play it safe. We're not looking for a fight, but we do expect one to occur. Therefore, any pilot that fires before my mark will be subject to contract termination."
The voice switched over to a much louder and authoritative woman. "All units, we're transmitting jumpgate codes to you."
Takato's computer became a blur with numbers, then read, 'Codes Transmitted'
"All units, follow the Blue Moon."
The Blue Moon, the biggest and baddest looking of all shuttles, chugged out of the hangar at a considerable pace. The Roughriders and the other squadrons followed it out and to the short distance to the jumpgate. Even though the gate could accommodate three ships at once, it was a lengthy amount of time before all seventy-six ships were through. At the other side of the jumpgate, billions of miles away, seventy-six ships appeared in the one of the biggest eyesores in the Fringe.
* * *
The Scrap yards were just that; a large area where gigantic pieces of anything you could think lazily spun around a huge slab of what was a space station. Long burnt out and decayed by the harsh condition of space, it was now an artificial planet with artificial moons ranging from inch long bits to metal sheets big enough to hide a cruiser.
"Alright pilots," The softer, male voice said. "Just hang tight. Arm your weapons and turn on your shields."
On a broad frequency, the female voice spoke in a loud, solid tone. "Attention pirates, we are a joint team from several companies who have been harassed by your group. Leave the Scrap Yards or we will use force."
It didn't take long before an angry pirate made a nasty reply. "You damn greedy corporate bigwigs! All you care about is making money and smoking your fancy cigars!"
They sound like my kind of people… Ruki thought to herself, then dismissed it and tried to pay attention.
Another rough, accented voice was heard in every local ship. "Let's give them a welcome, Redship Rory style!" Cheers came up to support him.
Ruki fidgeted, waiting for her wingman Ben to issue a command.
"Pilots, get ready, they're going into aggressive formations."
Watch, open, and learn. Takato drifted up next to Viktor.
"They're firing! Pilots, engage at will!"
Laserfire began to brighten up space. It was a very strange battle because of the debris floating about. They provided hiding places and also became obstacles. It would be like fighting in a thin asteroid field.
"Takato, stay on my wing and help me kill what I target. I'll send the targeting data to you." Viktor said, then gunned the throttle. Messy at first, but with obvious effort, Takato matched speed and movement. After a few seconds, he wished he didn't. Viktor was recklessly going head to head at high velocity with several pirates who were looking for a fight, or a premature death.
Well Takato was up for a good game of chicken, so he followed Viktor into the fray with lasers firing. The Russian pilot juked back and forth, nimbly dodging dozens of searing bolts. Takato more or less followed him, but kept his shield recharge on high as he was pelted. Viktor whooped as a pirate took more damage than it could take and burst into flames. In a spectacular display of misfortune, his wingman got in the way as the dying ship lost control. The collision caused both ships and their pilots to meet an untimely death.
At one kilometer, Takato began to peel off. Viktor waited out for five hundred meters more. The Disutchee made a two hundred and seventy degree loop, and waited for the Pegasus to roar by. When it didn't for 2 seconds, Takato checked his radar and saw the Pegasus was very far away and going into another one on one. Jesus, Viktor, you're as crazy as they come. Takato lined up the targeting recital and created a second source of damage to the pirate. Completely unaware of Takato, the pirate in his aging Shrike was blasted to smithereens.
Something caught Takato's eye. Watch everything. Another red dot was steaming in at an angle that the sensors of any ship would have a difficult time reading. Viktor was flying into a trap. "Viktor, port!"
Like a voice-controlled robot, the Russian did fly port. A barrage of lasers narrowly missed his hide. Sounding hardly shaken, Viktor said a quick "Thanks." then began seeking other targets. Takato swept around and stayed at his side.
Toward the center of the melee, ships darted back and forth. More than one crashed into a wall trying to avoid an attack. Takato tried to scan the amount of green dots compared to red dots, but they looked fairly even. Though, the dots disappeared on a steady basis.
"The Blue Moon is heading home, she's taken a lot of damage." Someone reported.
"Dammit! The Blue Moon is our main weapon."
Meanwhile, several kilometers away, Ben and Ruki were proving to be a versatile team. Ruki would pester the target, taking potshots and trying to herd it toward Ben. Then, the Claymore would pummel it into space dust. They'd taken out four Redship pirates that way when something very odd happened.
It took everyone by surprise. Even the veterans in the mercenaries needed a second to absorb it.
The large, old space station… exploded. At least, that's what it looked like. When the curved metal plates drifted away (and swatted several unwary fighters) everyone realized the station had metamorphosed into another one. A sudden wave of fire from it indicated this one was alive and well. Thirty seconds went by, and twenty mercenary ships were destroyed.
"Mercenary units, fall back! I repeat, fall back! Return to base!"
"Well look at that! We scared off the companies!" A pirate said with a laugh. More merriment went through the airwaves.
"Guys, go back through the jumpgate." Zane commanded his squadron, but continued a dogfight with a Nighthawk who had a pretty experienced pilot behind the joystick.
"Zane, that station looks pretty weak, A few good missiles will take it out." Ben said.
"We'll talk about it later, get through the gate."
The pirates now outnumbered the mercenaries at least four to one, based on the red ships compared to non-red ships. Viktor squeezed into the crowded jumpgate and hit it at full speed. Takato had to roll sideways to follow the maneuver. It was the opposite for Ruki and Ben.
Once Zane was sure all the Roughriders were through the gate, he went through it, leaving only a few mercenary stragglers and several dozen angry pirates.
* * *
Back in the Hub's main space station, the Blue Moon was cruising back to the enormous hangar for repairs and a full report. The other ships killed throttle and aimed at the jumpgate they'd come out of, in case pirates had decided to persue.
"Roughriders, everyone here?" Only six responses came back. Zane immediately knew who would be crossed off "The List" when they got back. "Migs, where's Jasper?"
In his cockpit, Migs shrugged. "Lost him I guess." He said it as though he'd lost a few pennies.
"Well I'm not getting you another one, OK? Those things are nothing but money eaters." Zane was almost glad the robot pilot was gone. It never talked, only fought. Now that it was gone, Zane could cancel his account and get a human pilot. "Alright Ben, what were you babbling about back there?"
"That station isn't complete."
Zane patched Ben through so all of the mercenary ships could hear. "What was that, Ben?"
"The station the pirates made isn't finished. They probably saw they were losing and deployed it ahead of schedule. The core itself is only partially covered. If we wait for too long, it'll be finished and you'll need a sizable force to destroy it. The ships we have now could take it out."
"What d`ya say captain?" Zane asked. "I've known Ben for awhile. He knows his ships."
After a long moment, the captain of the operation said, "Alright, I'll contact base and request permission. The TNS shuttles will be swarming around soon. Don't expect it to work though."
While the ships waited for an attack order, Takato's mind came out "flying-mode", as he liked to call it, and back to reality. He was feeling very hot all of a sudden. He probably had been for awhile because his mind was on more important things. Takato looked at the thermometer, which read a normal 22 degrees Celsius. He manually turned on the air conditioner. Since it was usually the last thing pilots worried about, it was way back and to the right.
By the time he'd located it and actually turned it on, the captain of the operation came back with news. "They've given us approval, by some miracle, only because they want to keep TNS shuttles out of the sector. They'd go nuts over this. I hope you know what you're doing."
"I'm sure I do, and I'm sure he does." Zane said. "Ben you've got bombs up to your ears, right?"
Only laughter came from the Claymore.
"That's what I expected." Zane switched over to private frequency. "Now then, if you could hand control over to me, sir…"
"Excuse me? Hand over control?" The captain replied, stunned.
"He's part of my command. And I'm sure I can sneak him in there to blow up the station if you'll let me lead."
"Are you kidding me? Look, I can't just give you control…"
"Then allow me to suggest."
For a long moment, Zane feared he would have the contract cancelled on him for lack of discipline or respect or some other reason, but the other man replied, somewhat sullenly, "What do you suggest?"
Zane smiled, then turned back to broad frequency. "If we send in the other ships to distract the pirates, I think Ben could sneak in with his wingmate flying cover."
"…Alright, it sounds like a plan. All units enter the Scrap Yards sector and engage. If possible, cover Roughrider 3."
"Negative!" Zane replied hastily over the private channel. "That'll draw suspicion and they'll focus more on him. Only Roughrider 4 covers him."
"Er… cancel that. Only Roughrider 4 covers Roughrider 3." The officer corrected over the public frequency. "All units, enter the Scrap Yards."
"Sir, with all due respect, I think this is crazy. We lost a third of our forces back there, and the Blue Moon is useless right now. I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm canceling this contract immediately."
"You can't just quit now!" Zane protested.
"We don't have to go back in there. Even so, the contract said to investigate and possibly engage pirates. I investigated, and engaged. As far as I know, my job is done." Numerous other pilots murmured agreements. "And how do we know this will even work?"
"Look, the pirates will only get stronger over time. You want to chicken out now, the odds will only get worst. And as for Ben, he's the best damn bomber you'll ever see." Zane said
"Well I'm not going to put my life on the line for that chance. I'm done for the day." One of the dozens of ships turned to the Starbase and jetted back to it. Hesitantly, other ships began to follow him, muttering agreements and excuses. As the number of ships decreased, the odds worsened. Other pilots didn't like those odds, and they began following the easy path out. Zane sighed as he realized only nine ships remained. Seven Roughriders and two shuttles.
"Well, it looks like we're out of luck. Sorry Roughrider 1, but…"
"We're not out of luck." Zane said somberly. "Continue with mission."
"Roughrider 1, we're outnumbered three to one."
"I hate odds. And I'm not about to give up. You're still abided by the contract, so you'll be following us. Ben, Ruki, give a ten count after the last ship goes in. Everyone else, form up and follow me.
Takato had to admit Zane was determined. And damn crazy! Takato had that strange, fluttery feeling, not unlike when he first walked into High School.
Seven fighters and two shuttles entered the fight. Only six fighters and one shuttle emerged.
* * *
"Hey look! They're back for more!" One pirate said with a laugh. "I get dibs on the Orion if we can salvage it!"
"Steady guys, remember, Ben will do the killing. Migs, you don't have a wingman, so you have to rely on yourself."
"Got it cap`n. Jasper wasn't that great anyway."
Five ships danced about, irritating the pirates. Skillfully, they peeled the pirates away from their station. Takato found these tactics difficult and tedious. He had to rush into a gang of pirates, fire a few shots then turn and run like a rabbit while they gave chase. Once they had given up on him, he'd do the same. His engine labored as he tried to restore shields and keep up a strong speed at the same time.
Zane's voice cut through the battle chatter. "Ruki, Ben, come on in."
"Aye. That station's gonna blow up real good."
After a moment, a Claymore, which nearly hid the Cutlass behind it, came through the Jumpgate at full throttle. When one of the two shuttles got too near the station and blew into tiny bits of shrapnel, Ben almost hit his afterburners. But that would only leave a long trail of ion. At full throttle he only left a small tail of energy.
The station grew closer and closer. The men in the half dozen turrets finally noticed a very heavily armed Claymore with a bright yellow happy face on its bow approaching. Before Ben could take a moderate amount of fire, he was close enough to the station so that he was beyond the turrets' range of motion.
All the while, Ruki blasted back Nighthawks and Shrikes, the main ships of the Blood Clan. A drop of liquid rolled down her brow and into her eye. She wiped it away, then wiped her forehead. She stared at the sweat
(When's the last time I sweated in a dogfight?)
like it was some kind of alien substance.
"OK Ruki, give me a minute and I'll set the bomb. When I say to turn and burn, you do it, and you do it fast. I can't set the timer for too long."
Ruki only grunted a response. Her shields were really hurting after that missile. Everything in the world seemed to slow down, and yet, speed up. When the alarms went off she uttered a yelp. My shields are down… she thought. It wasn't a serious, panicky thought, more dreamy and mystical.
"Got it! Ruki let's go!" Ben turned and sped out full throttle with the afterburners roaring. Ruki tried to move forward, but something had been hit. The throttle flopped uselessly back and forth. The realization that she was less than a quarter kilometer from a very large bomb came in bits and pieces. "Ruki!" Ben screamed. It seemed like he was right next to her. "Get out!" Wait, that was from the Goggle Head.
"I've been hit bad!" The words finally came out of her mouth. "Engines are dead!"
"Eject!" Someone said. She couldn't tell who because her mind was busy trying to undo the eject safety. Of course it was still locked, apparently she hadn't taken enough damage for it to release.
Ruki flipped the cover and gripped the switch to pull down. It went down on it's own, then her computer said, "Eject Safety released." Oh now it unlocks. Some rational part of her mind said over the calamity at hand. She gripped a pair of handles above her head, turned them 180 degrees, then yanked down like she was doing a pull up.
Suddenly, momentum pressed her into the cushion seat. And she was very, very far away. It was bad enough she was completely naked to enemy fire, but the explosion sent her twirling and spinning away. Stars blurred past in nauseating lines. Aw Christ, this is bad.
* * *
"Oh no, did she get out of there?" Takato's voice was filled with worry.
"I didn't see anything come… wait, there's something on my radar! I think she ejected!" Viktor said.
"Shuttle, can you pick up our comrade?" Zane asked.
"Negative, we took out the cargo bays."
"Oh that's just great." Zane muttered. "Pixie! Get the Prospector out here!"
"I'll be there as soon as possible." Pixie replied.
"Roughriders, get over to Ruki and keep the pirates away!"
"Zane that might be a bit hard. They're not thrilled with us…" Migs said.
"Do your best. We've lost too many lately." Zane's second sentence was about twice as dismal as the first.
"You damn corporate servants! You're gonna get it now!" There were still a few dozen more pirates in the area.
Mullen, in her superior Demon, was on Ruki's twirling cockpit first. She lashed out approaching pirates like a mother guarding her young. But even a demon pirate and five other ships couldn't hold back the waves of ships. In a tight sphere, the Roughriders looked like a loosely formed space mine. But it wasn't enough, and shields began to buckle.
"Look guys, I appreciate you helping but don't kill yourselves over me." Her voice was chillingly calm.
Pixie and the Lucky Prospector burst out of the Jumpgate then turned and made a beeline to Ruki. Thirty-six pirates, like angry bees, swarmed and stabbed. The Prospector's not gonna make it in time. Takato was barely able to defend himself from the onslaught of attacks.
"My shields are down!" Migs cried.
"Keep it together!" Zane responded.
The Prospector was still on its way, but they'd need another minute before it arrived. They didn't have a minute.
Great, everyone is going to die and it's all my fault. Ruki thought glumly to herself. Tried to tell them to leave me here, don't waste their lives on me, but no, they go ahead and act like heroes.
And then the number of pirates on Takato's screen was suddenly halved, and halved again within two seconds. Takato whipped his head left and right, trying to find out what had destroyed three-quarters of the pirates in five seconds. Pixie was firing, but the small lasers couldn't mow down that many ships.
Then Takato saw a shape, black as the space behind it. The only way he could tell there was something there were the stars that suddenly winked out then on again. As far as he knew, there were only two or three black shapes. Then the pirates were gone. Only clouds of parts drifted about.
Silence ruled over the comm. "OK, did anyone else see what I saw?" Takato asked.
Faint echoes of agreement went through the channel.
Pixie brought Ruki into the cargo hold while the Roughriders escorted the Lucky Prospector home, one Roughrider short. Nothing but docking permission was said among the mercenaries
* * *
Hours later, TNS shuttles were dying for interviews, but were turned down by most, including the Roughriders. The few that did squeal, or broke under the pressure, told everything. By two P.M the same day, the pirate's defeat was all over the news and spreading like wildfire. It told of a large band of mercenaries that came together under contract. They were beaten back by a platform hidden by the junk of the Scarp Yards. Most of them abandoned the contract, despite permission to destroy the station. A single squadron of seven ships went in and bravely destroyed the station and the pirates under heavy odds.
Several days later and several interviews later, TNS finally squeezed out the name of the mercenaries. Zane continually turned down fresh-from-college reporters, and turned down interviews for his squadron as well.
Puzzled, Takato asked why Zane didn't want to be known.
"There is such a thing as being too famous." Zane replied while adjusting the anti-inertia system.
Just as puzzled as he was before asking, Takato turned and left.
Days later, Takato would learn what Zane meant. And in a week or two, he'd re-learn it in an unbearably hard way.