I'll be handling the intros a bit differently in this sort of story. Just felt…you know…do it a bit like the old times. OH! Last chapter, the name of the island is Wingedy, not Eingedy. OH! One thing you should know is that it's the Anniversary of the Wright Brother's Flight in 1903. I guess I could tribute this chapter to them. OH!. To answer your review Pitbulllady. In this story, NOW, Randall is 25. You see, it's a parody of what happened in 2001 that happens in the time mentioned in the last chapter. So NO. Randall is not old, he's 25 in this story.
Anyway. In short, this chapter will focus a bit on some plane fight, as well as relationship between the captains of the Blackswan and Pandora. Anyway. See if you can guess who Ruby portrays in the story. It's actually a character's middle (or nickname) name in this story. Oh! And Pitbulllady. I think you know what the symbol on Randall's plane is. Oh. And I apologize. For some reason the dividers (what seperates parts of the story) are not seeming to work on So instead I must use a "NS" for the next part. So if you find and "NS" (Which means "next scene") in it's own sentence, then thats a new scene.
LAST TIME WE LEFT OUR HERO, RANDALL AND THE ROUGH RIDERS HAD
DISCOVERED MORE THAN WHAT THEY WANTED. AFTER LANDING ON WINGEDY,
RANDALL CAUGHT MORE THAN HIS FAIR SHARE. RUBY OF THE BLACKSWAN ONCE
AGAIN TRY TO TOPPLE RANDALL AND HIS CREW. WILL RANDALL SUCCED AND CATCH
THE LOOT?
GET READY FOR ANOTHER EPSIODE OF "SKIES OF ANOTHER WORLD".
Chapter 2 A Lover's Trap
Caylin and Fungus were eared to the communication box for the ground
crew, a radio device fused in with one of the diagonal stations.
"The Black Swan?" Caylin asked again. "Yes yes...its Ruby...why didn't
you guys tell me she was coming!?" Randall yelled, angry at them both.
"I wonder..." Caylin whispered to himself.
"Ugh...Anyway...just get the defense ready! I'm not getting beat with
my tail between my legs!" Randall agitatingly replied. Caylin thought
on that. "Both sets? Cause you've got kind of a long tail and all and
that...".
"Put him off Fungus and get the bloody ships out!".
NS
Meanwhile...on the Black Swan...
Ruby stood at the mid center of her ship's command deck. Looking rather
smug, she was pleased to be in a good mood today. Randall had taken the
bait and fell into her trap so easily. She was surprised he was caught
off guard so well. "(So like Zachery,,)" she smirked. It was all
planned out. She'd take Zachery's ship, hand him over to the Aviation,
take the loot, then be off before the Aviation battleships could get
her. It was perfect.
Her smug look disappeared, thinking of another option. Randall could
have very well expected something. He was slightly gullible, naïve
sure, but not stupid. Far from it in fact. He was just as good as she
was, then again she'd never would admit to something like that.
"But that's all about to change..." Ruby whispered to herself, the snakes in her hair hissing with glee.
NS
Randall found himself running. Running through trees, the grass, moss,
and anything else that could relate to a jungle. He'd ordered the
ground team to evacuate, though it would take them just as long to
leave as they had came. Finding loot and treasure was good, but Randall
cared more about his crew and ship more than anything else. Well...then
again...maybe his own tail.
He thought that Ruby would be attacking by now, so he had to count on Caylin and the others to ward them off before he came.
NS
The alarm just went off, but the red warning lights kept flashing. The
metal hulls of the airship's inside were beaming different flashes of
red in conjunction with the over head lights.
Caylin was getting his suit on to head down to the hanger, but went up
to the command deck to see what they were dealing with. He stood beside
Fungus at the thick glass panels to the front of the ship, Fungus
looking across at the Black Swan.
It was when he was getting his gloves on that Caylin noticed a few of
the Swans' sides broke off. Six equal-distant panels on the left side
fell off.
"Ha!" Caylin chuckled. "They're falling apart already and I haven't
even got out yet!". Fungus looked down at the panel on the left
console. There was a heat variation checker that was used to find the
positions of missiles, which was used for the Pandora's own defenses.
"Its warm inside those cuts..." he reported, but Caylin simply laughed.
"Ha! They're burning from the inside! Ha! They must have known the
"Great Caylin" was on this ship! Ha!...Huh? That's weird...there's a
big metal...round... thing coming out...". "What?". Fungus came over,
his flesh going white his eyes going wide. Caylin still tried to tell
what it was. "Looks long...like it goes into the ship and...!!! Holy!
It's a cannon!!!!".
When he finally figured it out, Caylin jumped back, landing on the de-elevated ground. "OW!...I'm ok...".
NS
Randall stopped ushering the ground team into the Carry-All. His
attention turned to the overhead Black Swan, and its extending cannons.
Ruby's voice cracked through the sky from a near microscopic speaker on
the bottom of the ship.
"Like them Zachery? I know you had a fancy for these...I got them
especially for you...want to see what they're capable of?" she asked.
Randall growled, but then snickered quickly, talking into the headset
he had.
"Oh...what a shame...I didn't get anything for you...". Running into the Carry-All, it started off.
NS
The alarms were starting again as the defensive planes took off. Randal
was just as strategic as any Aviation admirable. He could design plans
for several situations. The defense planes were heavier than the
fighters, but less than the Carry-All. They were large bulky, heavily
armed bomber-design planes. Their main, and considerably only, weapon
were machine guns attached to it's wings and a co-pilot gunner station.
Their job was mainly to help protect the Pandora. The next was the
fighters. As their name implies, they attack opposing airships and
scramble enemy fighters. Some were specifically equipped with smoke
dispensers to blind cannon fire. Randall was looking into adding other
additions as well. Of course, every fighter came with two switch-able
machine guns and a few missiles that fit the person riding them.
NS
Caylin had come down to the ground floor, along with Fungus, the few
defenders were currently shooting outside, the others getting ready to
join them. Caylin's plane was a Gypsy Magic, like Randall's. The hull
was painted orange with green stripes, a picture of a black gecko on
the tail. Caylin wanted a little more, but Randall told him to keep it
simple. The plane itself was a modified version of the Gypsy magic.
There was a Drag Hook attached under the plane's tail. It was used to
pierce a ship's armor and drag its sharp end through till is split
whatever it was in half. Randall made sure that if the Hook couldn't
get through, that Caylin could detach it from his plane. Another
modification.
Caylin looked proudly at his modified plane, heading toward it. Caylin
didn't have a suit like Randall's, it was a light gray coat, one that
he figured just made him look good. He also had his lucky thick leather
gloves in his hands. Of course...he got them from a ship he and Randall
had taken down single-handedly.
Hoping up the steps, he jumped into the awaiting cockpit.
"Alright boys! Lets have some fun!" he shouted out, buckling in as he
closed the cockpit's upper pod. Odri unhooked the weight wire and
Caylin's plane started off. It took a few seconds, but it got out,
falling out of the airship.
"Yaaaahhhhh hooooo!!!!!". The plane started spinning downward, and just
as suddenly raised upward, cutting through the clouds. Caylin eased up,
leveled the plane, when he saw the scene near the Blackswan.
"Whoa...".
NS
The defenders and few fighters were already in a scuffle. But the
Swan's ship was piling out fighters like, as Randall would say, a rust
monster in a construction site. It was an air dog fight now, and
neither was leaving without proving to the other that they were the
best.
Randall paced around in the Carry-All, wanting so badly to scowl
himself for not brining his plane with him. He always hated getting
caught by surprised, getting caught when his tail was turned. He hardly
DID get surprised, which is what made this frustrating.
He kept looking out the portholes of the plane, seeing the various
missile fire and machine gun rattling. He loved fighting allot. It was
one of the things that made this occupation so...well...fun. The fact
that Randall never use to have that in his life was something that he
now had everyday. Excitement.
Still, he put most of his hands in Caylin for such situations. Either
he or Fungus would be considered his "vice captain". Though, Randall
didn't really like the idea of ranking, just didn't feel right being
above others for some reason.
Placing a hand over the porthole, he waited.
NS
"Come on!".
The planes from each side began the fight in the air. Machine gun
bullets flew in any direction, bursting metal and scrap iron, breaking
clouds and cutting the wind. Missiles and cannons started firing, the
noise almost beyond comparison. One plane was caught from behind, one
of Randall's, swaying side to side to avoid machine gun fire from one
of Blackswan's ships from behind. It was almost out until another of
Randall's ships came in from behind the Blackswan's and blew it to
smithereens.
"Yeah yeah! Take that!!!".
Another was tork-spinning, firing flack missiles. Flak missiles,
Randall's favorite. Could crash into metal, or damage planes in that
area, the wide spread is it's uniqueness. One was swirling into the
clods, avoiding fire from a Balckswan, then suddenly rocketing upward,
blasting the plane from it's under hull.
"Argh! Come on! You can do better than that!!!!".
One of the pilots was behind a Blackswan, firing twin flak missiles at
his target. They impacted, blowing the metal vehicle to oblivion.
"Yeah!...What!?!". Another Blackswan came on him, a flak missile
impacting the other pilot's left wing. "Shoot! Hey! No fair!".
"Tsssh….Better help me out here! Come on!" the pilot called through a
speaker, contacting any of Randall's planes within the vicinity.
The Blackswan pilot chuckled with delight, firing with his machine
guns. The bottom of the plane started chipping away at the weakened
engine of the pilot. "Somebody get here! He's tearing me up! ARGH!".
The left wing blew, the plane slowly losing altitude. The Blackswan
plane moved close, locking on with a pierce missile.
"One down..." he whispered, "Ha ha! Watch your tail!". "What?!". The
Blackswan ship's tail was shot up and a pierce missile impacted the
central hull. The plane started down, but saw who shot him. Caylin's
plane passed by, circling. "Beter luck next time!!!".
The Blackswan plane fell, leaving Caylin to deal with the other pilot.
He eased down, matching speed. "Rick you ok in there?" Caylin called
through his speaker, one hand on his plane's stick. "...Y...yeah I'm
fine". "Alright then". He eased his plane backwards. "Hey!".
NS
The Carry All finally landed in the Pandora. Randall was the first out,
running off to where his ship was, pushing Fungus out of the way as he
did, though Fungus kept up with him.
"Uh Randall...there's something you need to know" Fungus started, but
Randall didn't seem to be listening, just kept walking. "I think that
we should get out of here because...".
"Fungus...I don't have time to talk ok...we've got rivals here and
there's no way I'm letting Ruby get me..." Randall stated, making
Fungus stop while he continued.
"B-ut...!!! Whoa!". Fungus backed away as Randall's plane flew off,
dropping out of the Pandora. Fungus picked up his fallen glasses,
looking at where Randall had gone.
"But...the Aviation...".
NS
"Yeah hooo! Come on!".
Caylin was weaving through the clouds, evading two pursuers. Over a
large cloud, straight through a small one, spiraling upward. One of
them seemed to have gotten lost, as he had only one behind him now.
"Heh heh...Let me make it easy!" Caylin said, coming to a clearing and
going straight. The Blackswan ship came up behind him, but Caylin
seemed ready for it. He hummed a slight tune as he grabbed a small
controller on the right side of the cockpit. As he moved it, the hook
on the back of his plane started moving. When he got it right where he
wanted, he pressed the switch on top.
The Blackswan was about to lock on, but was caught off guard when a
hook slammed into his right wing. "What in the!?". Caylin chuckled,
pulling forward. Caylin started speeding, taking the enemy ship with
him, the hook was caught on the wing's metal end frame.
Caylin just smiled, turning back ahead. "Wha!?". Theo other ship that
was following him was now coming straight for him. Caylin quickly
pulled upward, releasing the grip his hook had. The two enemy ships
slammed into each other, causing a massive explosion. Caylin sighed
with relief, falling back down into the cockpit's chair, hearing the
plane's hook lock back in.
"Phew...close one...". Then. "Gah!". A three series of machine gun
bullets slammed into the front of the Gypsy Magic. Caylin turned his
head to see another Blacksawn behind him. "Yikes!". Caylin started back.
His plane spun backward, but the Blackrose instantly followed. Caylin
was about to spin, but a missile was coming on his side. It didn't
impact, it just came out in front of him. Just then, a beam of light
shot out. Caylin covered his eyes as it did. A flash missile, which
could cause the targeted pilot to lose vision for a short period of
time. It was all the Blackswan plane needed. It started plugging away
at Caylin's wings. Thankfully, Randall upgraded Caylin's armor, though
it wasn't as much as it should be.
"Say good by gecko worm!" the Blackswaner mocked. He was about to fire,
but his head turned to a sound on his right. "Wha the...!! That's!".
A purple and blue painted pain. It had four machine gun fire pods in
each of its wings. There were missile tubes, one on each wing holding
six missiles. Another Gypsy Magic. It had a green symbol, Celtic of
some sort, on its wings. It could only be one plane, Randall's. His
emerald eyes were peering through the cockpit glass, his mouth a smile.
"That's enough action for you".
A pair of flak missiles fired out, hitting the plane in its tail,
blowing it. The Blackswan plane fell, leaving Caylin to getting back to
his relief.
"Oh jeez...thanks Rand..." Caylin whispered to himself as Randall's
ship came on his right. "How many times am I gonna have to save your
tail Caylin?" Randall asked, his ship spiraling over to the left side
of Caylin's. "Heh heh...just put it on my tab alright...".
Randall quickly lost his jokish nature, pulling his ship further. "What
do ya say? Lets take the Blackswan down...". Caylin gave a thumbs up,
even through Randall could hardly see it. "Righto!".
NS
Ruby was frustrated now. She didn't like being beat when she had the
upper hand. "(Zachery! How does he always...ugh!)". She headed down to
the hanger, ordering everyone to get her plane.
She waited as they did what she ordered. "(If that radar is right, I
only have a few minutes! Err...Zachery...you won't beat me again!)".
NS
Randall and Caylin teamed up, moving through toward the Blackswan.
Randall took the lead, as always, Caylin bringing up the rear. Caylin
pulled up a little closer, coming to Randall's side.
"Hey Rand! Look who came to join the party!". Randall turned to the
drop-hanger of Ruby's ship. THE Black Swan,, Ruby's own plane, came
out. It was painted black, the wings designed with a black rose and a
black swan. The model was that of a NS.
Randall smirked, he still had the head headset on. "Hmph...well
to play with the big boys?" Randall mocked. Your not one
for the sky Zachery...I'm sure the ocean is wanting you more..." Ruby
replied through the speaker. "I'm quivering in my scales...".
Randall took his plane downward, Caylin following. Ruby's plane shifted
downward through a clod. She moved trough it to catch Randall coming on
her left. She pulled up diagonally, Randall and Caylin passing under
her. Ruby turned to her left, following them and firing flaks. Randall
and Caylin split off, Randall taking the left, Caylin the right. Ruby
stopped where she was, slowing her plane's speed.
"Why are you running Zachery...I thought you were the brave kind..."
Ruby remarked, still looking around. "What's wrong Ruby? Can't find
what you can't see heh heh heh..." Randall chuckled. Ruby growled,
taking the headset she was wearing off. She pulled her plane left,
finding the nearest clearing she could. Still looking for him, Ruby
noticed something was wrong.
NS
Randal smirked to himself, he was right above Ruby's ship. "(Oh
pity...well...I'm a little grateful she's here...makes this
funnier...)" Randall smirked, diving. He was about to open firer, but
his emerald eyes trailed on something else in the distance.
Immediately, he stopped, slowing down and lowering beside Ruby, who
didn't seem to care he was there. The two starred at something they
both hated.
A long steel battleship was coming near the island. It's hull was
coated in polished steel. Its four frontal cannons were armed on its
bowl side and two on it's stern. The bridge was set in the middle, also
steel coated. There were also steel, battle class ships flying around
it. Randall also noted what was on it's side. Two large cannons. They
were long and firmly attached, like the end of a gun. It would seem to
take down a ship in one hit. Randall knew who's ship it was, and he was
about to make the announcements.
A crackle was heard, and his voice sounded through the sky. "...This is
Admiral Sullivan...Air Pirates...leave at once or we shall engage
you...". Ruby simple huffed it off, changing the frequency she was
using to the one the Battleships of the Aviation use, as did Randall.
"Who do you think you are!?" she said.
"I say again...leave now or we'll destroy your airships...". Randall
growled. "Who invited YOU to the party Sullivan?". A shocked gasp was
heard on the other line. "Randall!? Its you!". Randall spoke more
firmly this time. "Yeah its me...and if you think I'm going to hand
this find over to you your gladly mistaken!".
Ruby looked over at Randall's plane, through the cockpit at him.
Randall and Sullivan had something she couldn't place. She knew Randall
well, but not so much. He seemed to know Sullivan, and Sullivan to him.
Still, Randall continued.
"Listen here Sullivan! I've already had something taken away from me by
you and it's not going to happy again!". Randall was thankful that his
plane could only tune into one frequency at a time, so his crew
couldn't hear him. Randal didn't want to lose his fine, especially to
Sullivan. "Randall...I'm warning you...this is Aviation property...".
"I don't see you name written on the island...". "Randall your tempting
me!". "What? Are you going to fire those big...powerful cannons of
yours?" Randall mocked. "That's it! Attack the Air Pirate planes and
airships! I warned you Randall...".
The Aviation ships broke off, starting toward them. Randall saw
something on his right, seeing Caylin stop over by him. Switching
frequencies...
"What'd I miss?" Caylin called over, then looked forward. "WHAT!? THE AVIATION!?".
"Looks like we had ourselves an UN-reliable resource Caylin" Randall
said, looking over at Ruby. "This isn't good..." Ruby remarked. Randall
had to admit to himself, him or Ruby didn't stand a chance at winning
against battle class ships. "What do we do Randall?" Caylin asked.
Randall knew fighting would only lead to heavy casualties. "Er...I'll
get him...I swear it..." Randall mumbled, pulling his plane back.
The three flew backwards, going as fast as they could. "Blackswan
units! Dis-engage! I repeat! Dis-engage!" Ruby yelled urgently through
her speaker, her own frequency. "Everyone into the Pandora! We have
some uninvited guests..." Randall called. "Run run run!!!!!" Caylin
shouted.
The three came through, seeing the immediate halt of the battle between
the two. Everyone retreated to their respective airships. "We'll pick
this up later Ruby..." Randall said casually through his speaker.
"Watch your tail Zachery...".
When Randall's plane landed inside, he headed straight for the command
deck, making sure everyone was at their posts. "Alright! Everyone get
us out of here!".
NS
The Pandora began it's slow turn, as did the Blackswan. Both of the
airships fired their turrets blindly through the clouds, hitting only a
few of the Aviation fighters approaching. A few made it through, firing
at both of them.
NS
Randall was on the edge now. He didn't want losing to someone he KNEW
he was better than. He stood at the ship's front, spotting several
Aviation fighters firing at them as they made their low retreat. Fungus
and Caylin were standing beside him.
"Come on Rand! Let me and the guys go out and blast'em! It'll be easy!"
Caylin urged, but Randall quickly answered. "No...if anyone gets shot
down we can't come back for them...". Randall knew Caylin hadn't
personally gotten in a scuffle with the Aviation, meaning he hadn't
fought an Aviation fighter before. "Besides...don't want to end up
captured..." Randall added, getting a gulp from Fungus.
Randall had to think of something. The Pandora was a heavily study
ship, but continuing fire could tear her apart. "Er...Hand me the com
Fungus" Randall ordered.
NS
Sitting in the central chair of the bridge, Sullivan was contemplating the events that were going on.
"(Randall?)" he thought. The general's meeting had been more than what
his crew had thought. Of course, Randall us to be a well know figure
from the older generation around the ship. The chances of meeting
Randall were close to zero. Every since word about him left, it was
thought he wouldn't be seen again. Sullivan didn't want to fight him,
not at the current point. If it wasn't for Randall, he wouldn't be
where he was.
The loud speakers at the ship's sides cracked to life, Randall's voice
coming through. "Alright! Fine! You want those Iris Crystals so bad
then just take'em! We've got better catches to make!".
This was what Sullivan wanted to hear.
NS
"Hey! Look at that...".
Through the ship's glass front, the three spotted the cease firing and the return of the Aviation ships.
"Well umm...I guess...I guess this is one of those run away...fight
another day moments a Rand?...Rand?" Caylin remarked. Randall didn't
reply to him. A moment passed before he acted, throwing the speaker
down on the metal floor and swearing.
A DOG AND CAT FIGHT IN THE SKY. BOTH SIDES LOST WHAT THEY HAD WANTED THANKS TO THE AVIATION.
WILL RANDALL OVERCOME HIS LOSS?
WILL RUBY RETURN?
WHAT HAS SULLIVAN DONE IN THE PAST?
WILL CAYLIN EVER LEARN NOT TO SHOW OFF?
STAY TUNED FOR THE NEXT EPISODE.
AND THE ANSWER TO THE FOURTH QUESTION IS NO.