Chapter 2: A Shocking Discovery
Majin sat on his bed with his laptop, clicking away at the keys. He was hacking into the Dominatrix, the central system of the Unified Solar System, looking for information useful to the mercenaries. He scrolled through classified files, finding unusual radioactivity on Calypso, a lack of oxygen on Phobos, unimportant things.
Then something sparked his interest. A document containing the headline 'Transmission with Other Unknown Galaxy' flashed on the screen. 'Hmm' thought Majin. 'Something to investigate.' The document was as such.
May 15, 2440 12:52 SGT Today the Dominatrix headquarters received a signal from a routine patrol ship in the far reaches of the galaxy, near Pluto, at coordinates 847'924. The ship had been contacted by another unidentifiable carrier resembling that of the mercenaries. The patrol ship told Dominatrix headquarters that a humanoid vulpine appeared to be at the helm of the ship along with a humanoid avian, toad, and hare. Images obtained from the signal are available. The patrol ship attempted to tell Dominatrix headquarters more but their transmission was cut short when the carrier opened fire on the patroller and destroyed it. Further investigations will be looked into.
This was a chance for a job and better yet, something to do. He'd have to tell his teammates about this.
"Guys," Majin said over the intercom after thoroughly looking over the document. "Meeting on the bridge. Subject: Possible job."
"Stupid brat." muttered Black as he started from his quarters to the bridge, still pulling on one boot. "Thinking he's our leader or something. He probably hears me right now over his God forsaken listening devices. And he'll pull one of his stupid stunts where he sneaks up on me and puts a gun at my head and says 'You're never alert at all. Just careless.'" Black trudged the rest of the way down the metallic hall and entered the door lazily. But Majin, this time, was the least alert. He sat in the pilot's chair- 'That's mine' thought Black- with a document of some sort projected on the wall. Demon and Shadow were already there.
"So what's the story this time, Majin?" Black said annoyingly. Majin would call the four together for the most trivial things sometimes.
"Oh, shut up," Majin said quickly. "This is actually quite interesting. An unidentified carrier in the middle of space. The article should brief you on what's going on."
"Yes M. Shall I have Moneypenny write a memo?" mocked Black.
"You know I didn't watch any of those old movies; why is it you even bother?" retorted Majin harshly.
"Always the bitter one," Black sighed and began to read the document.
"I'm going to set the ship towards the coordinates you will read about. You'll understand what I'm talking about." And to that Black couldn't complain. Even if he had tried to stop Majin from sending the ship into deep space, Majin was the technical expert. He could send the ship there just by saying so, even after he was safely in his quarters.
Having finished the article, Black stood up, slightly intrigued. "This could indeed hold promise."
"Yeah," Demon said in his dumb-sounding voice that Majin could never get used to. "It, uh, could mean we could get money."
"No." Majin muttered.
"That's right," Shadow said. "And then we could go to Las Sorentos on Calypso and have a little fun."
"Not again," Majin said. "The last time we went there you two almost forced Black and I to make one of the pole dancers from a club a member of the team."
"She had potential," Shadow retorted.
"When she was wearing clothes," finished Black. "Anyway, the first priority is to get there and find what's out there. Majin? ETA?"
"The estimated time of arrival at the coordinates is 5:00 A.M. SGT. I suggest you get some sleep early. We'll want to get up around 3."
"Dismissed," said Black with a wave of his hand and the four went their separate ways.
As he walked back to his quarters Black was nervous. 'What if it involves fighting?' he asked himself as he typed his stories at his computer. 'What if I get hurt? Why am I a mercenary anyway?'
The next morning seemed to come quickly as the four once again assembled at the bridge at 4 in the morning.
Majin led the lecture. "You see, the carrier was last seen here," he said, pointing to the map. "But I think that." His sentence was interrupted by the ship's computer.
"WARNING! WARNING! Four unidentified fighters and one hunter class carrier approaching at speed of 20,000 miles per second." "What?" screamed all of them. Black tried to be calm as he led his team
"Ok, everybody, get ready for a dogfight. Everybody to the docking bay! Now!
The sirens on the Attou began to ring out their shrill cry of warning. In the docking bay, Black and the team members stood ready in their flight suits.
"Well boys, it looks like we're gonna get some action. Since we haven't found out who they are, stay close and fire your signal beams."
"Right," Shadow said.
"However, our main objective is to protect Majin until he can analyze their shields and find out who they are. Let's move out."
The four walked to their respective Six-Asseis, the fighters of their mercenary squadron. They were named for the six weapons they could use including nova bombs, plasma lasers, signal stun beams that reduced visibility, EMP shockwave cannons, retractable plasma beam wings on the side to cut through things, and radioactive missiles.
Each of their Six-Asseis meant something different to each of the team members. To Black, his fighter called the Pluma, meant a machine which he entered to do the thing he hated most. To kill. To Demon and Shadow, their ships, the Chaos Spear and Master Emerald, meant a place to have a good time and maybe get jostled a bit. But to Majin, his ship, the Rage of Aruba, was his tool of revenge for the evil ones who had stripped him of his life.
The pilots were situated in the cockpits of their ships ready to go when the great titanium door opened, allowing them to enter the vast void of space. The four flew from the safety of the Attou into what they would later perhaps call the fiercest melee of their lives.
After flying for about one hundred miles they came upon the fighters they'd spotted. Four of them flying at ungodly speeds right towards the team. 'At least we can pair up,' thought Black as he cruised somewhat ahead of the pack.
"Attention, fighters," Black said into his intercom after Majin supplied the necessary channel. "We come in peace."
The screen of Majin's communicator came on. He saw on it a familiar face, brown hair, brown eyes, the blue glasses, the twisted smirk. Ethan Lucas.
"It's been awhile, Patrick Woods the 4th," cackled Ethan. The name pierced Majin like the knives the demented 14-year old had enjoyed stabbing him with on Aruba. Ethan was the descendant of another Ethan Lucas, the person who had betrayed Patrick the 1st.
"Time for a little payback!" Majin roared into his communicator. "I challenge you to a duel, on your ship, that'll make it fair." Ethan stared into the screen.
"Uh, are you feeling ok?"
"Yes, I'm fine thanks," spat Majin. "Use whatever weapons you have. I have a surprise for you."
"Ok," managed Ethan. This kid was nuts. He had escaped from Aruba only to go and get himself killed. Oh, well. Someone to kill. Always fun. "Fine, computer, give the Rage of Aruba clearance to enter the Malevelos."
Majin pulled his Six-Assei tight into the docking station. Armed with a mere short plasma sword and pistol, he entered the metal expanse known as the Malevelos. He and his team had only come into contact with the Death Spirit mercenary team once before, and that was on Io, neutral ground. The team was made up of Ethan, the leader, Alec Seco and Sean Gannon, two people who acted not unlike Demon and Shadow, and Davis Elliot, a disgusting 16-year-old who reminded Majin of a bloated pig. He suspected the other members of his team were locked in fierce combat, as he was to be soon. 'Trust yourself and your knowledge,' he implored himself.
Majin finally reached the bridge of the ship, having seen no security or any traps. Apparently Ethan wanted to play fair this time. Ethan was there, sitting in the pilot's chair, with an impatient look on his face.
"I see you had no trouble finding the place," Ethan said casually.
"All I had to do was follow the trail of crap that Elliot left and it led straight to you," flicked back Majin in a tone that faked confidence.
"Funny. I thought you were smarter than to come looking for your death. Well you never know, do you?" Ethan's glasses flashed as he said the last you and pressed a button. "You see, I am always prepared for anything. And no doubt, you will remember this."
Majin was ready in a defensive stance with his sword. The sound of cannons clicked through the air. The cannons whirred. Majin's grip grew tighter. And then.Majin flicked a switch on the hilt of his sword causing it to materialize in a neutron-like shape around his body just as the cannons fired. The shots from the cannons glanced off pathetically. Ethan gasped.
"But.but.but."
"You see while we were talking, I was analyzing the room. DRT-5600 model cannons. Only fire at the angle they're originally fixed at. They were placed at a 134 degree angle so I adjusted the plasma shields accordingly. I am always prepared for anything."
And with a burst of rage, Majin lunged forward and slashed at Ethan's chest, leaving incredibly large wounds.
"Time for my torture treatment," said Majin happily. "The Alpha and the Omega. The beginning and the end." Majin took his sword, and with it slashed the Greek characters Alpha and Omega into Ethan's heaving chest.
"It's all Greek to me," Ethan managed to sputter.
"How nice," Majin said sarcastically. "Hell could use some comedians." Smiling, Majin impaled the knife into Ethan's forehead. "Goodbye."
Majin started to leave when he heard a strange noise. It sounded like Ethan moaning at first, but when Majin glanced over, Ethan was dead.
"Help us!" crackled the noise, which was definitely a voice. "We're trapped!"
Majin rushed over to the consoles of the Malevelos and activated the thermal sensors.
"Hmm. There's a detection of four heat containments coming from the cargo bay. They don't look like anything I've seen before though. Either they're alien or they've been messed up by Ethan. Either way, I had better investigate."
As Majin cautiously stepped down the corridors of the ship to the cargo bay, he noticed the Malevelos looked exactly like the Attou. Most mercenary carriers were made the same, but he had never associated his ship with the enemy's. A few halls later, the door marked Cargo Bay came into sight.
The glass panel slid open.
Majin sat on his bed with his laptop, clicking away at the keys. He was hacking into the Dominatrix, the central system of the Unified Solar System, looking for information useful to the mercenaries. He scrolled through classified files, finding unusual radioactivity on Calypso, a lack of oxygen on Phobos, unimportant things.
Then something sparked his interest. A document containing the headline 'Transmission with Other Unknown Galaxy' flashed on the screen. 'Hmm' thought Majin. 'Something to investigate.' The document was as such.
May 15, 2440 12:52 SGT Today the Dominatrix headquarters received a signal from a routine patrol ship in the far reaches of the galaxy, near Pluto, at coordinates 847'924. The ship had been contacted by another unidentifiable carrier resembling that of the mercenaries. The patrol ship told Dominatrix headquarters that a humanoid vulpine appeared to be at the helm of the ship along with a humanoid avian, toad, and hare. Images obtained from the signal are available. The patrol ship attempted to tell Dominatrix headquarters more but their transmission was cut short when the carrier opened fire on the patroller and destroyed it. Further investigations will be looked into.
This was a chance for a job and better yet, something to do. He'd have to tell his teammates about this.
"Guys," Majin said over the intercom after thoroughly looking over the document. "Meeting on the bridge. Subject: Possible job."
"Stupid brat." muttered Black as he started from his quarters to the bridge, still pulling on one boot. "Thinking he's our leader or something. He probably hears me right now over his God forsaken listening devices. And he'll pull one of his stupid stunts where he sneaks up on me and puts a gun at my head and says 'You're never alert at all. Just careless.'" Black trudged the rest of the way down the metallic hall and entered the door lazily. But Majin, this time, was the least alert. He sat in the pilot's chair- 'That's mine' thought Black- with a document of some sort projected on the wall. Demon and Shadow were already there.
"So what's the story this time, Majin?" Black said annoyingly. Majin would call the four together for the most trivial things sometimes.
"Oh, shut up," Majin said quickly. "This is actually quite interesting. An unidentified carrier in the middle of space. The article should brief you on what's going on."
"Yes M. Shall I have Moneypenny write a memo?" mocked Black.
"You know I didn't watch any of those old movies; why is it you even bother?" retorted Majin harshly.
"Always the bitter one," Black sighed and began to read the document.
"I'm going to set the ship towards the coordinates you will read about. You'll understand what I'm talking about." And to that Black couldn't complain. Even if he had tried to stop Majin from sending the ship into deep space, Majin was the technical expert. He could send the ship there just by saying so, even after he was safely in his quarters.
Having finished the article, Black stood up, slightly intrigued. "This could indeed hold promise."
"Yeah," Demon said in his dumb-sounding voice that Majin could never get used to. "It, uh, could mean we could get money."
"No." Majin muttered.
"That's right," Shadow said. "And then we could go to Las Sorentos on Calypso and have a little fun."
"Not again," Majin said. "The last time we went there you two almost forced Black and I to make one of the pole dancers from a club a member of the team."
"She had potential," Shadow retorted.
"When she was wearing clothes," finished Black. "Anyway, the first priority is to get there and find what's out there. Majin? ETA?"
"The estimated time of arrival at the coordinates is 5:00 A.M. SGT. I suggest you get some sleep early. We'll want to get up around 3."
"Dismissed," said Black with a wave of his hand and the four went their separate ways.
As he walked back to his quarters Black was nervous. 'What if it involves fighting?' he asked himself as he typed his stories at his computer. 'What if I get hurt? Why am I a mercenary anyway?'
The next morning seemed to come quickly as the four once again assembled at the bridge at 4 in the morning.
Majin led the lecture. "You see, the carrier was last seen here," he said, pointing to the map. "But I think that." His sentence was interrupted by the ship's computer.
"WARNING! WARNING! Four unidentified fighters and one hunter class carrier approaching at speed of 20,000 miles per second." "What?" screamed all of them. Black tried to be calm as he led his team
"Ok, everybody, get ready for a dogfight. Everybody to the docking bay! Now!
The sirens on the Attou began to ring out their shrill cry of warning. In the docking bay, Black and the team members stood ready in their flight suits.
"Well boys, it looks like we're gonna get some action. Since we haven't found out who they are, stay close and fire your signal beams."
"Right," Shadow said.
"However, our main objective is to protect Majin until he can analyze their shields and find out who they are. Let's move out."
The four walked to their respective Six-Asseis, the fighters of their mercenary squadron. They were named for the six weapons they could use including nova bombs, plasma lasers, signal stun beams that reduced visibility, EMP shockwave cannons, retractable plasma beam wings on the side to cut through things, and radioactive missiles.
Each of their Six-Asseis meant something different to each of the team members. To Black, his fighter called the Pluma, meant a machine which he entered to do the thing he hated most. To kill. To Demon and Shadow, their ships, the Chaos Spear and Master Emerald, meant a place to have a good time and maybe get jostled a bit. But to Majin, his ship, the Rage of Aruba, was his tool of revenge for the evil ones who had stripped him of his life.
The pilots were situated in the cockpits of their ships ready to go when the great titanium door opened, allowing them to enter the vast void of space. The four flew from the safety of the Attou into what they would later perhaps call the fiercest melee of their lives.
After flying for about one hundred miles they came upon the fighters they'd spotted. Four of them flying at ungodly speeds right towards the team. 'At least we can pair up,' thought Black as he cruised somewhat ahead of the pack.
"Attention, fighters," Black said into his intercom after Majin supplied the necessary channel. "We come in peace."
The screen of Majin's communicator came on. He saw on it a familiar face, brown hair, brown eyes, the blue glasses, the twisted smirk. Ethan Lucas.
"It's been awhile, Patrick Woods the 4th," cackled Ethan. The name pierced Majin like the knives the demented 14-year old had enjoyed stabbing him with on Aruba. Ethan was the descendant of another Ethan Lucas, the person who had betrayed Patrick the 1st.
"Time for a little payback!" Majin roared into his communicator. "I challenge you to a duel, on your ship, that'll make it fair." Ethan stared into the screen.
"Uh, are you feeling ok?"
"Yes, I'm fine thanks," spat Majin. "Use whatever weapons you have. I have a surprise for you."
"Ok," managed Ethan. This kid was nuts. He had escaped from Aruba only to go and get himself killed. Oh, well. Someone to kill. Always fun. "Fine, computer, give the Rage of Aruba clearance to enter the Malevelos."
Majin pulled his Six-Assei tight into the docking station. Armed with a mere short plasma sword and pistol, he entered the metal expanse known as the Malevelos. He and his team had only come into contact with the Death Spirit mercenary team once before, and that was on Io, neutral ground. The team was made up of Ethan, the leader, Alec Seco and Sean Gannon, two people who acted not unlike Demon and Shadow, and Davis Elliot, a disgusting 16-year-old who reminded Majin of a bloated pig. He suspected the other members of his team were locked in fierce combat, as he was to be soon. 'Trust yourself and your knowledge,' he implored himself.
Majin finally reached the bridge of the ship, having seen no security or any traps. Apparently Ethan wanted to play fair this time. Ethan was there, sitting in the pilot's chair, with an impatient look on his face.
"I see you had no trouble finding the place," Ethan said casually.
"All I had to do was follow the trail of crap that Elliot left and it led straight to you," flicked back Majin in a tone that faked confidence.
"Funny. I thought you were smarter than to come looking for your death. Well you never know, do you?" Ethan's glasses flashed as he said the last you and pressed a button. "You see, I am always prepared for anything. And no doubt, you will remember this."
Majin was ready in a defensive stance with his sword. The sound of cannons clicked through the air. The cannons whirred. Majin's grip grew tighter. And then.Majin flicked a switch on the hilt of his sword causing it to materialize in a neutron-like shape around his body just as the cannons fired. The shots from the cannons glanced off pathetically. Ethan gasped.
"But.but.but."
"You see while we were talking, I was analyzing the room. DRT-5600 model cannons. Only fire at the angle they're originally fixed at. They were placed at a 134 degree angle so I adjusted the plasma shields accordingly. I am always prepared for anything."
And with a burst of rage, Majin lunged forward and slashed at Ethan's chest, leaving incredibly large wounds.
"Time for my torture treatment," said Majin happily. "The Alpha and the Omega. The beginning and the end." Majin took his sword, and with it slashed the Greek characters Alpha and Omega into Ethan's heaving chest.
"It's all Greek to me," Ethan managed to sputter.
"How nice," Majin said sarcastically. "Hell could use some comedians." Smiling, Majin impaled the knife into Ethan's forehead. "Goodbye."
Majin started to leave when he heard a strange noise. It sounded like Ethan moaning at first, but when Majin glanced over, Ethan was dead.
"Help us!" crackled the noise, which was definitely a voice. "We're trapped!"
Majin rushed over to the consoles of the Malevelos and activated the thermal sensors.
"Hmm. There's a detection of four heat containments coming from the cargo bay. They don't look like anything I've seen before though. Either they're alien or they've been messed up by Ethan. Either way, I had better investigate."
As Majin cautiously stepped down the corridors of the ship to the cargo bay, he noticed the Malevelos looked exactly like the Attou. Most mercenary carriers were made the same, but he had never associated his ship with the enemy's. A few halls later, the door marked Cargo Bay came into sight.
The glass panel slid open.